Lillian's game
-Lena-
Jess's voice interrupted Lena's focused concentration, as she tried to identify the optimal vantage point to negotiate from with the Japanese ambassador tomorrow morning.
"Ms Luthor, Lillian Luthor, -eh I mean, your mother is here to see you." Lena's stomach dropped. Her mind instantly clearing of anything but dread.
Wanting time to collect herself the CEO replied evenly, "Thank you Jess, please let her know that I will be with her shortly."
Lena paced her office, hand at her forehead feeling at though it was the only thing that was holding her thoughts inside of her head. She didn't really have a reason to avoid seeing her mother and she knew that she wouldn't even if she did. There was, unfortunately, that ever-shrinking part of her that held out hope that their relationship would eventually evoke emotions in either of them other than disappointment, fear, or animosity.
Part of this hope came from the fact that her mother hadn't ever truly ignored Lena. She kept track of her accomplishments diligently in fact, though Lena was never entirely sure why. She always gloried in all that Lex did, even when he was him finding inventive new ways to murder innocents so that he could get the upper hand on Superman for the span of a few seconds. With Lena she simply noted them, tabulated their relative worth and kept that information for future reference. Like instead of measuring Lena against some unknown benchmark, Lena set the benchmark, defining inadequacy.
Lena hated herself for that hope, the hope she felt that with her father gone and Lex in prison for the rest of his life, Lilian and Lena were the only two Luthors left. She wasn't sure what that might mean, but it might be something.
Lena moved a vase of flowers, restacked the already meticulously organized documents on her desk and checked on the status of the brandy decanter before pressing down the speaker button on the comm at her desk.
"Please show my mother in Jess," Lena said then straightened to walk to the door. Turning she noticed a photo of her and Kara on a bookshelf. It was of them, tilted sideways, laughing at the camera after Lena had gotten splashed on their paddle boat outing in the park last week. She quickly flipped the frame face-down and pushed it back out of sight.
Lillian Luthor in simple grey business suit and pencil skirt, pearls at her neck, wrist and ears walked in with the confidence of royalty.
Lena stepped forward to greet her and Lillian stopped her with a look.
"You've changed your hair." her mother said noncommittally and Lena remembered, as always, that the game was already in progress.
Lena had opened with a couched offense, stalling instead of outright declining her mother's unannounced meeting. Black had chosen to respond with a bid for Lena to seek her approval, giving a factual observation instead of a subjective assessment of Lena's appearance.
Lena always found that cutting through these games entirely was impossible, but her attempts seemed to irritate her mother, so the effort was well worth it.
"Why are you here, mother?" Lena asked, feeling a simultaneous pang of doubt and satisfaction at her mother's momentarily narrowed eyes. Lillian had then raised one eyebrow in acknowledgement of the statement without responding, instead sweeping gracefully to side-step Lena and take a seat.
"Of course-, I always appreciate our talks mother." Then gave an ironic smile. "May I offer you a drink?" Lena asked then moved toward the decanter despite her mother declining the offer. Lena poured a healthy quantity of brandy for herself, then resettled into her chair. Lena liked to give her mother something obvious to complain about, like her drinking that she despised, so the woman didn't feel the need to search creatively for her insults.
On this occasion, Lillian did not take the bait instead observing, "The company seems to be doing well. Your quarterly projections appear to have reinvigorated the confidence of your shareholders after that stunt you pulled."
"I am quite pleased with the effects renaming L-Corp has had on the company at large." Lena said with a false smile, "I've always found employees are less productive working for a company associated primarily with the production of fleets of semi-autonomous robots flying toward their homes to murder their children."
"Always so dramatic Lena. LuthorCorp has been a fixture in global business enterprise for generations out of mind." She said in rebuke. Lillian then leaned back looking at Lena and offered, "But what's done is done and engineering the future has always been where the Luthors have proved our worth."
Lena could taste the angle her mother was preparing, but felt disconcerted at not knowing from which direction to expect the approach. Fishing for a clue to that end Lena asked with measured curiosity, "So what projects have been keeping you engaged recently."
"Oh, I'm merely a doctor Lena," Lillian said dismissively, "surely it wouldn't be of interest to you."
Humility, Lena thought never safe waters to tread. Lena was careful to offer interest without commitment saying, "Please indulge me. I miss hum of a centrifuge and smell of a soldering iron while I'm stuck in board meetings all day."
"With your background in biogenetic engineering and DNA vector manipulation, there may be a few details of interest to you I'm sure. But that's all shop talk." Lillian said casually, laying out her own lure, then continued, "I am much more interested in knowing about your personal life Lena. You know how a mother worries about such things."
"I assure you my physical trainer and dietitian are more than up to the task of maintaining my well-being, mother, as they have been since boarding school." Lena said dryly, "But I'm more than touched by your concern."
Feeling a familiar headache come on, Lena saw her mother start to speak but was interrupted by Jess's voice, "There is a Ms Katherine Kane here to see you Ms Luthor."
Muttering back to Jess to keep Kate waiting, Lena noticed Lillian's eyes look bright.
"Now there's some good news. Kane may actually be an acquaintance worth cultivating," she said with approval. "Certainly an upgrade to your most recent company."
Lena felt her stomach sink, "I'm assuming you are referring to my friendship with Kara. I assure you mother, she is more than impressive in her own right. There is no need for you to be concerned for my social contacts."
"Ah yes, the reporter." Lillian commented disdainfully. "Your dalliances are rarely of concern to me Lena. I simply have an interest in you forming relationships with those who matter. Kate Kane's idiosyncrasies aside, she would be an asset to our -cause." Lillian said with a light in her eyes. In a conciliatory tone she reasoned, "You even share similar preferences. You could do worse than making a more personal connection with the heir-apparent to Wayne Enterprises and the largest weapons development company in the world. Perhaps you could influence her attention toward more productive goals. If you're absolutely insistent on continuing in your current lifestyle-. Well," Lillian continued in an offhanded tone that made Lena wary, "you may have some interest in our lab's work in genetic manipulation. We've made some advances that may be personally relevant to you," she finished glancing at the door.
Lena felt ill at the prospect of her mother having any involvement in her reproductive future. Knowing full well her mother would be aware she was lying, Lena said, "I really wish I had known you were coming mother. I have a meeting that I have to prepare for with our partners in Japan and if I am going to take the time to cultivate relations with Kate Kane, then I'm afraid I will need to take a rain check."
Her mother nodded at her knowingly and responded, "Of course my dear. You will hear from me soon."
Lillian Luthor stood to walk out, then turned to the bookshelf at Lena's side and up-righted the frame Lena had moved earlier and made a tisking sound before shaking her head and walking purposefully out of her office.
After she had left, Lena grabbed the photo and shoved it into her purse, chastising herself for having made the mistake of personalizing any area her mother was likely to visit.
After Lillian Luthor, the appearance of Kate Kane's winsome charm was nearly jarring. She entered, both arms up grabbing on to the door frame and swinging like she was on a trapeze. Making her landing 3 feet in front of the door, Kane took a deep self-congratulatory bow. Then straightened greeting Lena brightly with, "Hello gorgeous."
"Kane, if you're going to swing around like that, at least get the black leather back on so I can appreciate it." Lena said in a wry tone after Kate closed the door. "It's a wonder you're able to keep that a secret from anyone who's met you."
"Well it does usually take more than a couple of minutes at least." Kate objected with a self-deprecating smile, "You're a quick one Little Luthor. -So, what did mommy-dearest want to coerce you into this evening?"
"She just offered to breed our lovechild to ensure the continuation of the Luthor bloodline. That is as long as I agree to use my bedroom wiles to win your shares of Wayne Enterprises of course." Lena replied with a dry tone, leaning against the front of her desk.
"My father will be thrilled. Though you aren't exactly the nice Jewish girl he'd imagined." Kate responded with a smirk plopping herself in a chair in front of Lena's desk.
Lena, massaging her temples against the migraine she felt coming on, said, "Kate, you of all people know I am not in a mood to talk after I've to deal with my mother. Please tell me what you want or save it for some other time."
Kate made no move to leave and propped her Vans up on Lena's desk again. "I just wanted to come to talk about our ongoing projects."
Knowing Kate was likely referring to Cadmus, Lena pushed Kate's feet off her desk, back on the floor and circled around to sit in her comfortable leather office chair. Replying in a cool professional tone she offered, "Excellent, L-Corp has a vested interest in maintaining the contacts with Wayne Enterprises we've developed thus far. Particularly with the success we've had in improving our access to efficient supply chains in India."
Kane waved a hand dismissively, "You know me Lena, I've never been a dollars and numbers kind of woman. Let the accountants figure all that out. I was thinking a little more about our off-the-books enterprise."
"It's been a month since our little rendezvous. I assumed you'd lost interest." Lena said chidingly, "You weren't answering my calls and National City doesn't have one of those nightlights to flash in the sky at you."
"I've been a touch -indisposed the last couple of weeks." Kate said, tension lining the humor of her tone, "You know how it is, capture one little terrorist and the whole cell has to come hunting you down demanding blood and vengeance and first-borns and all that."
"Sounds like you've been involved in some games that should have killed you several times over," Lena observed dryly feeling a flash of concern for the young vigilante.
"Oh," Kate waved dismissively, "Bat-people never die. That's what we have a Lazarus pit on hand for, and why we tend to get so dark and broody in our old age. Well, that honestly might just be Bats. I met him after he'd taken a couple of dips already."
"Bruce Wayne I'm assuming," Lena guessed watching Kane's reaction closely.
Kate shifted in her chair. "Um…No comment. He-of-the-black-moods does not enjoy getting fingered. And even so much as disabusing you of such an obviously false conclusion may allow you to narrow down the field as it were." Her tone changed, "Moving right along. So, Ms Luthor what information have you managed to uncover?"
Lena sighed and laid out the details of what she had gleaned from Lex's hard drives. "More a flushing out of things that we already knew than anything that provides any clear new direction to look in. I know that Cadmus is connected with alien experimentation, trying to use viral genomic vectors to insert distinct alien allele sets into a human genome. All of the trials that we uncovered with that goal were failures at the level of simple cellular replication. Later trials had them experimenting more with outright cloning but the process led to the production of subjects with various levels of cognitive dysfunction. What they're up to with those pods now is anybody's guess."
"That's creepy enough to know that we need to shut them down, but the question is, where are they operating out of?" Kate asked absently fingering the pocketknife at her belt.
Lena admitted, "We haven't had any significant success in that area. Whatever Cadmus is up to, they're not interested in their exploits being made public. Cadmus itself may be a name that they've abandoned or only use internally now. Since they've gone to ground with no paper-trial to track them, I don't really have much more to -."
Lena felt her head slam down as Kate grabbed her laptop and flipped onto her desk.
"Hmm.. Off target," Lena hear her mutter, still crouched on top of Lena's desk holding the laptop out in front of her.
Lena quickly tapped several buttons under her desk which caused electromagnetic shields to spring up around her office, protecting the two women inside.
"Handy," Kate said, "a little impractical to install in all your boardrooms, but I appreciate a woman who keeps her own stash of defensive weaponry."
"People try to kill me a lot," Lena said evenly, rubbing her head where it had hit the desk.
"That, my dear-ray-of-moonlight, was not an assassination attempt." Kate informed her confidently.
Lena, having survived her first assassination attempt at the age of six, offered sarcastically, "So, someone is shooting projectiles through my office window to check its tensile strength, I'm touched."
"No," Kate replied showing her the metal rod sticking through her now destroyed laptop. "This bolt was aimed one foot above you and 10 inches to your left. If you had stood, it's possible it could have gone through your left arm, but nothing vital. And they would have had time for a second shot before you got those shields activated." Taking out a knife, Kate cut at the bolt and unfurled a piece of paper that had been wrapped tightly around the shaft.
"I would say this was to send a pretty specific message." The short-haired woman said holding out a curled photo to Lena with a grimace. Looking at it, Lena immediately realized it was taken the night of their mission to Lex's lab. In it Lena was looking up at Supergirl with a soft expression as she flew upright, Lena in her arms, between the skyscrapers of National City. Across the photo read the word "LUTHOR" in red written in an aggressive hand.
"Hmm." Kate said peering down at the photo, "Have you thought about choosing a new super accessory? Maybe something in black? I thought blondie was a little uptight myself."
"Can you never be serious?" Lena asked with exasperation.
"Sure I can." Kate said jumping down from the desk. Turning to Lena she grabbed her hand and held her eyes expression soft, "I'm sorry Lena. Are you okay?"
A little too intimate for her taste, Lena silently wished she hadn't said anything. A flippant ridiculous Kate Kane was at least someone she could predict. And she didn't need her life complicated by anymore soulful looks.
Lena made an ironic grimace and playfully pushed her consoling hands away, "Ug, I lied be less serious. Of course I'm fine. -Speaking of accessories in crime, who would you say was behind this morbid love note?
"Well," Kate started in a professorial tone, "The supervillain tactical manual indicates that this would most likely constitute a threat against you based on your connection to Supergirl. Typically, it's delivered by the bad-guy-of-the-week to your given hero as a threat to give up the McGuffin or from some mentor-turned-evil warning said hero to beware the dangers of happiness and intimacy." Casually she continued, "I've had a couple of equivalent experiences myself, though not one with such on-the-nose dramatic flair. Looks like someone's been dipping into the back issues."
Looking thoughtful Kate turned the paper over in her hands, smelled it and said "What's odd is that I get the feeling it's not meant for me and I'm not sure exactly why they wouldn't fling it at blondie's head instead of yours. Less risk of accidentally murdering their leverage. Maybe she already knows or maybe the bolts keep pinging off of her and little-miss-sunshine is too busy holding up buildings to notice."
"This is ridiculous." Lena said snatching the photo out of Kate's hand irritably and moving to throw it in the trash. "If someone wants to kill me, they can get in line. I had a small army come at me last month and I didn't even break a heel."
Kate stopped her hand and took the photo from her. "Not so fast. Your genius brain makes you hot, not indestructible. I'll take this to the Batcave for analysis and let you know what we find. Besides, it'll give me another reason to hit up National City," she finished with a wink.
Lena quirked an eyebrow and shook her head.
-Kate-
Kate grimaced leaving the Luthor's office. She knew broody, genius, tortured-soul types, and there was no way Lena Luthor was going to tell sunshine barbie about that death threat. She doubted this would get the her to overlook that little kryptonite incident, but she took out her phone anyway.
Kate smirked knowing this would probably also have the fringe benefit of being the most effective way to keep super-skirt from poaching her little Irish muffin. Burdened with the weight of heroic responsibility as she was. Kate pulled up the number Oracle had hacked up for her and started, "Hey Blondie there's something you should know about."