Lillian's voice was a horrible shock, and Lena jerked herself away from Kara, breathing hard.

"Mother. It's not..." Lena trailed off. It was exactly what it looked like. She refused to even flinch in Kara's direction, holding herself stock-still, her back straight.

"Ms. Luthor, this is my fault," Kara was apologizing frantically, clambering off her bed. "I asked Lena if she was okay with it, and I didn't wait for her answer. She didn't want this."

Shut up! Lena wanted to say. You'll only make it worse for yourself!

Lillian gave Kara a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Lena seemed perfectly happy to take advantage of your...urges, then." She turned to go, not needing to say anything for Lena to know she had to follow.

Lena shot Kara a glance, and Kara felt her heart shatter at the resigned look in Lena's eyes. Something in the green eyes kept her from following the Luthors, something heavy that weighed on her chest, making her feel like the wind had been knocked out of here. More than anything, she was worried about Lena and what Lillian's reaction was going to be to catching them in bed.

The worry worked itself up into an anxiety, and she warred with herself for a long while until she couldn't handle it any longer and left the room, her socked feet silent on the plush carpet. She didn't know which way to go, and started wandering about, listening for signs of life.

Lena was panicking. She knew she could handle her mother's wrath, but Kara was a different story. Kara was loving, and gentle, and didn't know the pain of someone who was supposed to love you unconditionally hating you beyond words. Kara didn't deserve whatever Lillian was about to hit her with. Was she going to get her thrown out of school? Blackmail her? Or worse, was she going to scare her off, convince her—no, show her—that Lena wasn't worth her time?

Lillian stopped in front of a closed door and Lena, caught up in her thoughts, almost ran into her. Lillian gestured for her to go in, and Lena forced her feet to move through the doorway even as her brain screamed at her to turn and run, and her spine tingled when Lillian followed close behind. The uncertainty threatened to consume her but she kept her mouth shut, trying to calm her racing heart.

"I knew this would happen."

Lena's mind started whirring. Lillian seemed awfully calm, but that could change in an instant. "What do you mean?" she said timidly, keeping her eyes on the ground. Playing dumb had never helped in the past, but she was distracted by the thought of Kara. She licked her lips, tasting the warmth that had been there minutes before.

Lillian sighed, coming around to face her daughter, an empty smirk curving her lips. "I had wondered when this would happen. Hoped it wouldn't, perhaps, but always expected it. I saw you with her, following in her shadow, smiling behind your hair. Staring at her when you thought she wasn't looking. And I read about her. Popular girl, that Kara Danvers. You must have known she made advances on a trouble maker months ago. A female troublemaker."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything." Despite her arrogant words, Lena swallowed nervously, the lump in her throat threatening to choke her. It doesn't mean anything, her being close to Kara. She's trying to convince herself of that, when her mother clears her throat.

"We both know what I'm talking about, so don't make me say it. Turn around."

A sudden defiance gripped her and Lena clenched her jaw, hating the way Lillian looked at her like she didn't even know her.

"No. Say it."

"Excuse me?" The older woman was shocked, and seething. How dare her daughter disobey her? "I said turn around."

"I said no." Lena met the angry stare head-on, her heart racing in her chest. "I won't let you criticize me for something I can't help."

"I'm not criticizing you, I'm punishing you. You take and take—"

"You can keep your money to yourself!"

"You know I don't care about money. I care about time, and energy, and pride, all things you've sucked away from me since you came into this house a whining child! It must be your nature to be this much of a disgrace, or your birth mother's, because I certainly didn't raise you to be a failure," Lillian spat.

"You didn't raise me at all."

Lillian had viciously backhanded her across the face and she stumbled sideways, biting back a cry of pain and holding her cheek. Stars burst in her vision at the sheer force of the hit—she didn't remember Lillian having that much strength the last time they'd fought.

Scrambling behind a large wooden table, Lena caught her breath. "Mother, wait," she begged, inching for the door.

"Your brother was the genius of this family, not you! Not you!"

Lena barely had time to duck the paperweight Lillian hurled at her and it hit the wall behind her, bits of plaster raining down onto the carpet.

"Turn around, you coward!" The next thing that sailed through the air wasn't as lucky, and the vase shattered against the wall. Lena flinched at the sound of breaking pottery, and her mother took the opportunity to lunge across the table. She dug her fingers under Lena's collarbone, her thumb pressing uncomfortably into her windpipe. Lillian half-dragged her to the middle of the room and both of them were screaming terrible, awful things at each other. Only the fear of what Lillian might do to Kara kept Lena waiting for the blow, tears forming in her eyes as Lillian's belt clinked, the fashionable, thin leather accessory turning into a weapon in her mother's hands.

Fear crept up Lena's spine, anticipation drying her mouth and knotting her stomach. She tried to fight the panic clawing its way up her throat but the whistling in the air and the snap of the belt echoed in her ears.

A split second later the pain hit, a flame that seared the skin of her back and sent her to her knees, biting down hard on her bottom lip.

"I sent you away and you got worse! And you try to blame me!" Lillian seethed, bringing her arm back again. She had been unstable ever since Lex was arrested, on edge, and Lena had done nothing to help that. In fact, her daughter seemed to be rubbing in her face that Lex was locked away and she wasn't going to stand for it—not in her house.

The second strike made Lena scream, the thing nightgown doing nothing to protect her back. Lillian was yelling as she pulled her arm back a third time, the words blurry through the pain; how she was worthless and going to amount for nothing, and a blemish on the Luthor name, how she was never going to contribute anything to society.

"And to make matters worse, I find you with a girl?! Do you really hate me that much, that you would defy me by having relations with a girl?!"

Lena squeezed her eyes shut and the tears dripped down her cheeks.

Kara was pretty sure she was lost. She was trying handle after handle as she walked down the hall, whispering, "Lena!" at each locked door. It wasn't until she heard yelling that she turned down a side passage she nearly missed and started walking towards the door with a mix of trepidation and anxiety. She was alarmed at the volume of the argument she was hearing and carefully inched the door open until a scream drew her forwards, pushing her way into the room without caring how much noise she made.

Lillian stood with her back to the door, her arm raised like an avenging angel. But there was nothing angelic about it when she slashed in a down on her daughter's back, eliciting another scream that rattled Kara badly enough that she felt tears well up in her eyes. She darted forward and shoved her body in the space between Lillian and Lena, grabbing the older woman's arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" She blurted out the question, trying to conceal her shock. The anger that followed was harder to hide, making her blue eyes hard and cold.

Lillian towered over her, a savage sort of destruction gleaming in her eyes. "You should leave," she snarled. "This is none of your business."

"Lena's my friend. This is my business," Kara insisted. "Especially if you're going to hit her."

"Lena is an absolute disgrace and she'll be treated as such," Lillian spat, trying to yank her arm out of Kara's iron grip. The blonde held on, certain that if she let go Lillian would strike her daughter again, and she couldn't bear to see that.

"I think you're the disgrace here," Kara supplied bitterly, ripping the belt from Lillian's hands. She could hear Lena behind her, still sobbing and trying to collect herself.

A horrible mix of disgust and anger twisted Lillian's features and she narrowed her eyes. "Get out of my house," she hissed. Stepping away, she eyed Lena like she was a piece of trash on the side of the road. "We have a dinner at 8. Be ready by then." With an air of finality, like it was her who decided the thrashing was over and not Kara, she turned on her heel and left the room.

Kara dropped to her knees, her hands automatically going to Lena's face.

"Oh my god, oh my god! Are you okay? Of course you're not okay, I'm so sorry. Come on, I'll take you back to the room, you're gonna be fine. I'll take care of you."

She was rambling, wracking her brain for something to say that would comfort Lena, but her friend was crying uncontrollably and the screams she had let out not a minute before echoed in Kara's ears with a horrible clarity. She got the feeling that Lena wasn't all there, her green eyes shiny with tears but empty of any emotion but pain, and as she helped her down the hall back to her room, she scrambled to put a plan together.

No matter what, she was going to get Lena out of here. Tonight.

When she sat Lena down on the edge of the bed, the other girl winced as the duvet brushed her back, her face screwing up in pain.

Shame turned Lena's cheeks red and she turned away from Kara's gaze, wishing she could break down on her own. But Kara was there, somehow, and she was watching her fall apart.

"Let me see. Lena, let me see," Kara pleaded, kissing Lena's forehead until the other girl gave a tight nod. She stretched out on the bed and the nightgown slipped off easily, and Kara sucked in a breath at the three angry-looking, bright red welts that crisscrossed Lena's back.

"Jesus, Lena," she breathed, a little lost. Rushing to the bathroom, she soaked a face towel in cold water and wrung it out, her brain in overdrive.

Lena flinched when the cloth touched her back and she gripped Kara's hand to stop herself from crying out.

"I know it hurts, Lee. I know. But this will help, I promise," Kara soothed, draping it lightly over Lena's back. "Do you have a suitcase?"

Lena seemed incapable of speaking, so Kara rummaged through her closet to find a matching set of a luggage bag and an overnight, both of which she started filling in a frantic whirlwind, shooting out random comments to an unresponsive Lena as she opened drawers and rifled through the closet. She started to throw clothes in the bags; shirts, pants, jumpers, essentials. The last thing she grabbed was Lena's toothbrush and a few random books, and in less than an hour both bags were bursting at the seams

Putting her hands on her hips, Kara blew a loose hair out of her face. "Alright, I'm done."

No answer.

"Lena, come on. You gotta get up."

A small shake of her head was all the response Kara got, and the blonde sat on the edge of the mattress.

"What do you need?" Kara asked softly, touching Lena's arm with her hand.

"You should go," came the muffled response from the pillow.

"That's what I'm trying to do, I just packed for you—"

"Without me."

Kara's eyes widened. She had never seen Lena this disconnected and it was terribly worrying, but her suggestion that Kara leave her behind completely baffled the blonde. It didn't make sense to her. "Lee, I just watched your mother hit you. You're coming with me and I'm calling the police."

"No!" Lena's forceful objection took them both by surprise and Kara leaned back, not understanding. She felt like she was missing something, something that she couldn't see without Lena explaining it to her but no such explanation was forthcoming.

Bristling with anger at Lillian Luthor, Kara blinked. "You're coming with me," she repeated, standing up, "And I'm going to report her. She just whipped you, Lena. You need to tell someone."

"I'm not telling anyone anything," Lena insisted, the towel falling onto the bed as she sat up. The defiance in her eyes caught Kara off guard, because it was directed at her. "I don't want her getting in trouble. Please, just leave me alone." Her eyes were still empty and the resigned look from before hadn't left them, ringing them with grey and blue.

"No. No, I'm not leaving you here. Please just come with me," Kara begged, leaning over Lena and putting her hands on her shoulders. "You'll be safe with me. Don't you think you deserve that?"

Lena answered the rhetorical question with a blunt "No," shaking her head. She was about to tell Kara to leave off it, go back to Aspen and forget about her, but then Kara was kissing her and both of them were crying and the next thing Lena knew they were outside the front door and James was pulling up in a black car.

"You called, Ms. Luthor?"

"Actually, that was me." Kara stuck her hand out and James shook it with a lopsided smile. "Kara Danvers."

"I recognize you," James grinned. "Only this time you aren't hammered."

"Ah, yeah. Anyways...I need to borrow this car."

James raised an eyebrow, taking in the scene. Lena, standing behind Kara with two full suitcases, clear signs of crying on her face, and Kara, asking him for a getaway car. "I can't let you do that."

"Lena, tell him—"

"I can't let you do that, because then Lillian Luthor could have you arrested for grand theft auto," he clarified. "If I go with you, I can just say I dropped Ms. Luthor off and didn't know when she was returning."

Kara considered for a moment then turned to Lena. He watched her touch her on the arm and whisper something in her ear, and Lena got a sad look in her eyes that he tried not to read into. The brunette nodded once, then Kara kissed her on the cheek and turned back to him.

"I guess you're coming with us. I'm driving."

"I don't know, sweetie, they're upstairs right now. How's Maggie? How's New York? I'm glad you moved out, but I miss you."

"Maggie's good, the city's good." Alex frowned, absentmindedly scratching Roscoe behind the ears. He was sitting under the dining room table and Maggie kept throwing him chunks of tempura. "Quit it, you're going to give him diarrhea."

"What?"

"Nothing. Maggie's ignoring my advice, as per usual," Alex explained as Maggie stuck her tongue out, tossing her dog an entire slice of eggplant. "So what are you going to do?'

"Not sure. Kara says that Lena is pretty adamant about not reporting it, but I feel like I have to. What would you do?" Eliza kept her voice down, shooting the stairs a wary look.

"You're asking me for advice? My my, how the turn tables. But seriously," Alex continued, chewing on a mouthful of tempura, "I think you should wait. Sounds like Lena's already been through a lot, and you don't want to put her through another ordeal—especially not against the Luthors. They're a powerful family, and who knows what they could do to you."

"I just don't like the idea of that woman getting away with it," Eliza fretted. The timer dinged and she opened the oven.

"Are you grief baking?"

"I'm stress baking," Eliza said defensively, blowing on her muffins. "I swear, your sister will be the death of me. Every time she shows up with that girl I have to bite my tongue, because clearly she's in love with her. That, and the world always seems to be ending."

"Yeah, no kidding. I bet you wish it was the good old days, when all you had to do was post my bail for the B and E's I racked up."

"Now that, I do not miss." Eliza grinned and turned the oven off, mixing the leftover batter. "I'll let you get back to dinner. Tell Maggie I said hi."

Upstairs, Kara was watching Lena carefully. The brunette had been in a daze since they'd left New York, staring aimlessly out the car window the entire way to Kara's house. James had asked a few questions but eventually even he'd given up conversation, falling asleep in the backseat, and Kara had spent the entire drive worrying about Lena. When they'd gotten to her house, Eliza had welcomed them with open arms and a concerned look when Lena just walked up the stairs without saying anything. Lying down on Kara's bed, she faced the wall and curled up and went to sleep.

Or at least, Kara thought she was asleep. Her eyes were closed and her breathing had slowed, but her mind was in turmoil. Anxiety made her chest tight at the thought of what Lillian would do when 8 o'clock rolled around and she wasn't there to go to dinner—it was a little after noon, and that meant several more hours of gut-wrenching worrying. She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't hear Kara leave the room and go downstairs, trying to keep her stomach from turning at the thought of what Lillian would do.

"How is she?" Eliza asked in a quiet voice when Kara padded into the kitchen.

Kara's frazzled explanation had left a lot to be desired, but now she took the time to sit down and recount her trip from Aspen to New York.

"I thought she was going to do something stupid, mom. I had to go," Kara said, trying to convince herself. "And then Mike broke up with me—or I broke up with him—and she was there, and I just kissed her! How was I supposed to know her mother would see, that her mother would..." She trailed off, the electricity that always buzzed in her veins when she talked about Lena returning.

"You like her, don't you."

"It's my fault her mother did this, that she's upstairs tearing herself apart."

Eliza shook her head. "It is not your fault. Lillian Luthor is a bully and a bad person, and you can't blame yourself for someone else's decisions. And Lena will wake up and you can talk it through and decide what to do next. I'm just glad I raised a woman who can help her friends when they need it."

Kara gave her a wan smile, biting into a muffing. "You don't know her, mom. She hates herself right now. I'm not sure why, but I saw the look in her eyes." It was like hitting a brick wall with nothing but her fists, trying to get to the root of Lena's self-hatred, but god damn it, Kara was going to break down the wall even if she had to break her own hands in the process. "Can you take a look at her back, if she lets you?"

"Of course, honey. Just warning you, Mike's been calling the house. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I told him you'd call back—I figured you two had just had another fight."

"I'm not calling him back, mom. I don't love him anymore, I love—"

"Her." Eliza gave her a knowing look.

Kara swallowed. She had known for weeks, months, that it was Lena she thought about when she was falling asleep, Lena that she wanted to tell about her day, but saying it out loud always seemed scary, like it was the tipping point of something and she didn't want to set the ball rolling.

"I'm going to bring her a muffin."

"Okay. Let me know what you decide." Always understanding, Eliza blew her daughter a kiss and watched her disappear up the stairs with a motherly expression.

Taking a deep breath outside her door, Kara tried to fight the feeling like she had done something wrong. It wasn't her, it was Lillian. Lillian, who had beaten her daughter without caring that they had an audience. Lillian, who expected her daughter to stay even after all that. Lillian, who had raised Lena in such a way that it had taken far too much convincing to get Lena to leave a house she wasn't safe in, from her own mother.

She opened the door. "Lena? If you're awake, there's some lunch downstairs," she whispered.

"I wasn't asleep," came the hoarse reply.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I lied, there isn't lunch but there's muffins. And my mom says you can stay as long as you need." Kara sat down on Alex's bed. It was stripped of its familiar blue sheets and all the posters were gone; Alex had taken them with her when she'd moved in with Maggie. "I think I'll sleep in Alex's bed," she mumbled, nibbling at her muffin with a disinterested air.

Lena sat up gingerly, raising an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't you just sleep in your own bed?"

"Because you'd be sleeping in it." Kara looked confused, like they had already agreed on it and Lena was changing the plan on her. "We'll report your mom, and I told you, you can stay here as long as you like. For the rest of the break." It was frightening, how much she wanted Lena to accept the offer, but she waited for the other girl to nod slowly.

No nod came. Instead, Lena hugged her arms to her chest, rocking back and forth slightly. When she seemed to realize Kara was waiting for an answer, she swallowed and seemed to think about it, but her answer didn't change.

"You can't say anything. Not to anyone, about my mother."

"Lena. I know it's hard, but—"

"Really? You know? What do you know, Kara? Do you know how it feels, to have your mother rather beat and drug you into submission than have an actual conversation? Do you know how it feels to think your brother is a guardian angel but instead, he's a monster?" Lena took a deep breath and Kara watched her gather her thoughts before steamrolling on. "Do you know how it feels to have someone come to you because they think they can trust you, and tell you something about your brother, and you dismiss them? And then, a week later, you see on the news that they've hung themselves? Tell me, Kara, are those all things you're familiar with?"

The silence grew until Kara couldn't bear it, and then she felt exhilarated and frustrated all at once because Lena still couldn't see herself how Kara saw her.

"No, I'm not familiar with that. But I want to be. I know it's not fair, springing this on you at a time like this, but I really do care about you. I want to get to know you, I want you to be able to talk to me about—about all those things. I want to be the person you call at the end of the day so you can tell me about your day." When she finished her small speech, she held her breath, watching Lena's face morph from denial into disbelief, and her heart twinged. Even after everything, Lena still didn't believe she was worth anything, and it was so sad and cute and annoying that Kara blew out a breath and ran her hands through her hair with an angry huff.

"God dammit, Lena. I am in love with you."

I am in love with you.

Lena inhaled sharply and fidgeted with the edge of Kara's blanket, forgetting about the stinging on her back in the heat of the moment. No one had ever said that to her before, not with the hushed sincerity that Kara had in her voice.

"I don't think that's a good idea," she got out, looking around nervously. It was like she expected Lillian to pop up out of nowhere and hit her again, and she shrunk back from Kara's hand.

"Lena, please. You have to know you aren't worthless. I can see it on your face that you think I'm wrong, but I'm not. You're smart, and funny, and amazing, and anyone would be lucky to be your friend. Your mother...she's not a good person. And I'm sorry that you were raised by her, because you deserved so much more."

Lena looked like she was about to bolt for the door, and Kara stood in the doorway, blocking her exit. "Hear me out," she pleaded, holding her arms out. With the wary look of a cornered animal, Lena uncrossed her legs and nodded for her to continue.

"I've been thinking about you for months, Lena. I can't keep telling myself that I'm happy with Mike, and that's why I ended it with him. Not because I got caught up, not because I thought it would convince you to—because I care about you. And I'm not saying this now to convince you to do anything, though god knows I know what I want. And that's you."

Lena was shaking her head but at Kara's words the movement slowed until she was watching her, rapt with attention, clinging to every word like she would never hear it again. And Kara was determined for that not to be the case.

"If you don't want to report your mother, fine. I don't care. As long as you're safe, whether that's here in my house or staying at school, it's fine with me. I care about you too much to watch you get hurt, but I understand if you don't want to go against your mother."

A knock at the door made both their heads whip around to see Eliza standing there, the house phone in her hand.

"It's..." She looked shocked, like the phone was a live wire in her palm and she couldn't think straight. "Lillian Luthor is on the phone for you."

Lena got up from the bed, holding her hand out. "I'll talk to her."

"Not you." Eliza's hand swung from Lena to Kara. "She says she wants to talk to you."

sorry it took so long to update! I keep starting new stories, and then i got the flu :( I'm trying to wrap this one up but i don't want it to be too abrupt. Genuine question, is it better to report child abuse or no, if it directly affects the person being abused (in a bad way, if it doesn't go the way you hope?)