"Oh, good, I didn't even have to warn you, you already wore something nice," Lena breathed, smiling at Kara as she walked out into the hall to meet up with her before seeing Lex and Lillian. "You look great."

It was true; Kara had chosen a professional blue dress that sat snug to her frame, but that was made with a modest cut and didn't draw too much attention to itself. She was wearing a simple pair of black heels. Lena, meanwhile, was wearing a pale pink blouse tucked into a black pencil skirt and a matching black blazer and heels, her hair pulled into a bun with not a single strand out of place. Her makeup was just as immaculate as her hair, but from the way she was shifting nervously from foot to foot, Kara deduced that she was still incredibly anxious.

"You do, too," Kara said gently, taking one of Lena's fidgeting hands in her own in an attempt to calm her down. "You look perfect, there is literally nothing Lillian can say that is negative about how you look, at the very least. Okay?"

Lena averted her eyes and nodded, glad that her makeup made the blush on her cheeks less apparent. They made their way to the lounge used for family weekend and other family visits, which was where Lena had been told to meet her brother and Lillian and approximately 1 PM. Lena imagined it in her stepmother's snooty, fake tone, and she felt dread run through her at the prospect of this meeting.

Of course, Kara's resilient, relaxed presence at her side made it feel much more bearable. They entered at 1 PM on the dot. Lex was just settling into one of the seats at the four-seat table he and Lillian had chosen. Lena steeled herself as she walked over to them, hearing her voice speak as though it were separate from her body, a cold, diplomatic sound that was nothing like her ordinary tone.

"Lillian. This is Kara Danvers. Her father works for a government agency. She's a friend of mine, and I figured it may be nice for a friend to join us."

Lillian gave Lena a smile, although her eyes were sharp like a hawk's, calculating and daunting. It was as if she were burning the question into Lena's mind as the two of them made eye contact: what game are you playing?

"And, of course," Lena added, breaking their eye contact, "Lex, you've heard about Kara, and Kara, you've heard about Lex."

"A pleasure," Lex said politely, extending his hand for Kara to shake it. He was surprised by the firmness of her handshake, and raised a curious eyebrow at her. "A handshake like that would get you far in the business world."

"Enough small talk," Lillian said, her cold voice chilling all of them to the bone. Well, all of them except for Lex, perhaps. Lena and Kara took that as their cue to take their seats, and Lillian went on. "Clearly, I am not here to waste time. Perhaps it's good you have a friend with you, Lena, because I need to get back to the company immediately to fix the mess it is in right now. I would've told you both sooner, but, frankly, I didn't have the time and it was only a bit of a dent in my wallet to pay the media to withhold any articles until I'd met with you. Your father has passed away."

There was a beat of silence. Lex's mouth fell open. Lena's eyes widened and her jaw clenched. In that moment, Kara felt Lena's pain, and all she wanted was to take it. The three of them had to force themselves to tune back into Lillian speaking. "Against my advice, Lena," the girl's name rolled off her tongue venomously, "your father appointed you the next CEO of Luthor Corp. I will stand in as CEO until you have completed your education and then… you… will take over the company.

"Of course, Lex," she added, in a much more loving and an almost apologetic tone, "the position of CFO is yours, and when you've both moved up into your positions I will be able to… retire and take my leave, I suppose."

There was silence once more. Nobody moved. Lillian smiled a sickeningly pleasant smile. "Well, that was really all I came here to inform you both of."

"You should've told us when it happened," Lex said, his voice low and angry. Lena shot him a desperate look, and Kara got the hint that if Lex tried to fight Lillian, this was not going to be very enjoyable for any of them. "How did he even die? Can you tell us that?"

"I told you, I was busy," Lillian hissed.

"Too busy to tell us our dad is fucking dead?" Lex shouted, slamming his fist on the table. "How did he die?"

Lillian was silent.

"How the fuck did he die?" Lex yelled.

"There was a fire at Luthor Corp. He was the only one there. It was late, everyone else had left, and there was an explosion. He wrote your names in for CEO and CFO in his will only a few months ago. Honestly, Lena, you should consider yourself lucky. If he had waited longer to write it into the will… well, I think it's safe to say that Lex would be CEO, but CFO? Without Lionel's endorsement, it would've been nice to be able to just let you… break off from the family. But, here we are."

Lena stood up then, and without a word, walked out. Kara quickly stood as well, trotting after her friend as she stormed out of the room. She followed Lena until the two of them were out in the hallway, which was empty aside from the two of them. The clicking of Lena's heels stopped as she paused in the center of the hall, bathed in the bright fluorescent light that shone from above her. And then Kara heard the most horrible, guttural, broken wail she'd ever heard in her life. She saw Lena's knees start to buckle in what felt like slow motion, and before she knew it, she was lurching forward to catch the young Luthor before she hit the floor.

Getting a grip on Lena, Kara carefully guided her to the floor and helped her sit with her back against the wall. She hesitantly took a seat next to Lena, opening her arms for the raven-haired teen who was now sobbing hysterically. Lena fell into them willingly, wrapping her arms tightly around Kara's midsection as she let out a series of heart-wrenching sobs, her entire body shaking with the force of them. Kara knew this wasn't Lena's first time experiencing grief, and it wouldn't be her last, but she also knew that grief didn't get easier with practice. Each time was just as extreme and painful as the last; they weren't experiences that fell on a list of best to worst.

Kara gently rubbed small circles into Lena's back, closing her eyes and wishing with all her might that she could simply absorb the pain from Lena's body. After a while, the sobs subsided and Lena was left clinging to Kara, a few last tears racing one another down her cheeks. Looking down at her, Kara took her thumb and brushed the tears off of Lena's face, cleaning up a bit of the mascara that was now smudged below her eyes.

"I've got you," she murmured as her eyes met Lena's, and Lena let out a small whimper. "I'm not going anywhere, alright? I'm staying right here, and I'm going to be here for you through this."

Lena gave her a small nod, sitting up a bit and releasing her vice grip on Kara. Straightening up against the wall, Lena allowed her worn-out muscles to relax as she cooled down from the worst of her crying. "I'm… I'm sorry…" Lena mumbled. "I'm sorry you have to see me like this."

"Hey," Kara said softly, capturing Lena's chin gently with one hand and tilting her face back toward her. "Even badass future CEOs need to grieve. You look just as gorgeous and badass like this as you do any other day. Having a necessary, human reaction to devastating news doesn't change that."

Lena's breath hitched. Kara was saying exactly the right things, exactly what Lena needed to hear, and their faces were mere inches apart. She could feel Kara's warmth, and her eyes flicked down to the blonde's lips inadvertently. She instantly felt a burning blush rise into her cheeks and she quickly tore her eyes away from Kara, using the moment to wipe a few new tears from her face.

Once she'd gathered her composure, she took a steadying breath in and said, "Thank you, Kara. I… well, you know that I'm not usually a friend person, but I don't know what I'd do without you."

Kara gave her a small smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes, which instead reflected Lena's pain. Standing up, the blonde held her hand out toward Lena, who was still sitting on the floor. Lena looked up at her and she nodded in the direction of the doors to go outside.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

Lena's face lit up just a little bit, but it was enough to make Kara relax a bit. She wasn't sure if she was going to be able to cheer Lena up, and if she couldn't, she was going to have to be prepared to help Lena through a very dark time. But the look on her face suggested that she, at least, wasn't getting dragged down to a point that Kara couldn't reach. The Luthor reached out and grabbed onto Kara's hand, and the blonde felt a genuine smile cross her face as she helped pull Lena to her feet, careful to make it look like an effort.

Tugging her friend's hand, Kara made her way to the nearest exit, walking out toward one of the school's numerous gardens. Lena trailed along behind her, trying to focus on the beauty of the outdoors and the comforting warmth of Kara's hand gripping hers rather than the thought of her father alone at that huge, daunting office in Metropolis, consumed by flames—

"Take off your shoes! Come on!"

"What?" Lena was shaken from her thoughts. But before she could protest, Kara had already kicked her heels off and was running up a grassy hill to the side of the path they were on. They were right at the edge of the garden, which was enclosed by hedges and sat at the base of a small hill. Lena had assumed Kara was going to make her sit in the garden and appreciate nature or something like that. What the hell was this?

Despite her confusion, Lena quickly kicked her heels off and raced up the hill after Kara, taking her blazer off and tossing it down by her shoes once they'd reached the top because at that point, she was breaking a sweat and very out of breath. Kara was surveying the area around them, and eventually, she stopped, eyeing a certain side of the hill that had lush grass all the way to the bottom.

Kara turned to Lena and pointed at that side of the hill, grinning proudly. "We're going to roll down it!"

"We're going to what? Kara, how is this going to—"

"Trust me! We're going to roll down the hill," Kara stated. Lena was still standing there giving her an incredulous look, so Kara continued, "Like this!"

Lena observed with one eyebrow raised as her friend flattened herself to the ground and proceeded to log roll down the side of the hill, whooping and laughing by the time she'd gotten to the bottom. She jumped to her feet and looked up at Lena, pieces of grass and leaves sticking to her dress and her hair a bit wild around her face, although her glasses were intact.

"You look ridiculous," Lena called down, to which Kara let out a loud laugh.

"Do it!" she shouted back.

For a moment, Lena didn't budge, her arms crossed over her chest as she stood neatly at the top of the hill, eyes locked with Kara's. Kara had her eyebrows raised with a look that said, well? What are you waiting for? Finally, Lena cracked, rolling her eyes before lying down on the ground much more tentatively than Kara had. With one last thought to herself of, This is absolutely crazy, Lena rolled down the hill.

The last time she'd rolled down a hill, she'd been with her mother—beautiful, carefree, the only person who ever let Lena act like a child while she was one. The Luthors expected perfection, advanced in everything, which included behavior and maturity. But she could remember her mother making her a flower crown out of dandelions at the top of the hill while she caught her breath. Setting it on her head and laughing, a sound like bells to Lena's ears. Then, come on, let's roll down the hill!

What if I lose my crown?

I'll hold it for you, and I'll be right there to put it back on your head when you get back up here.

It felt freeing to let herself have fun and act like a kid. Watching the world spin, feeling the warmth of the sun, not caring about keeping everything perfectly neat and in order… by the time she was at the bottom of the hill, she, too, had erupted in a fit of laughter. Kara was looking at her with a grin.

"See?" Kara said, her smile taking on a smug appearance, "Wasn't that fun?"

"Okay, fine, you got me," Lena replied as her laughs subsided. "That was pretty fun."

Suddenly, Kara's stomach let out a loud growl, and her face tinged a bit red.

"It sounds like it's time for lunch," Lena commented, chuckling. Gathering their discarded clothing and putting their shoes back on, the two of them headed back inside, making their way to the dining hall.

Lena got a small salad while Kara loaded up on her typical obscenely large amount of food. Kara noticed that Lena hadn't grabbed much and offered to split some of the fries and fruit she'd gotten with her, to which Lena politely declined. Kara had anticipated as much, but nonetheless, she put the finger foods in the middle of the table in case Lena changed her mind and felt happy that her friend was hungry at all. The two of them ate in silence for a bit, mainly because Kara was too busy stuffing her face with food to get a word in, but once Lena was about half way through her salad and Kara was eating at a normal pace, the Luthor spoke up quietly.

"I don't know if this makes me a bad person," she said, "but I actually didn't feel that surprised when Lillian told us. I mean… I'm sad. I'm going to miss him. He was the only person who could keep Lex on an okay path, he was at least less ruthless than Lillian, and I don't think I'm capable of doing that myself. He's the only reason I have the Luthor name and the only reason Lillian can't just get rid of me. And now… he's the reason I have Luthor Corp."

Her eyes met Kara's then, wide and shining, her eyebrows knitted together as if that fact was only just then truly dawning on her. "I mentioned I'd be splitting the company with Lex, remember? I always knew we would inherit it. But there's no way my father would've simply retired. No, I always knew…"

She trailed off. Kara was quiet. She could tell that there was more, but Lena's lower lip was trembling. The Luthor looked away for a moment, gathering herself before taking a deep breath and looking back at Kara, her eyes not quite meeting the blonde's this time.

"He did some really, really bad things, Kara, and he was mixed in with a lot of really awful people. It was only a matter of time before he was arrested for doing something illegal under the guise of Luthor Corp, or killed over some business mishap. This is going to haunt me, I'm sure… but he wasn't ripped from me the way my mother was, you know? And in the end, I know he believed in me, because he chose me. I'm his legacy."

"Yeah," Kara mumbled then, her voice heavy with emotion, and Lena thought she heard a crack at the end. "I know what you mean."

Lena had a thought strike her then, and she gave Kara a bit of a smile. "I don't think he'll be too happy with what I do to his name, though, and how I use that legacy power of mine."

"What do you mean?" Kara asked, forcing her voice to sound steady and relatively normal. Lena didn't know it, but her story hit extraordinarily close to home with Kara.

"I think I'm going to rename the company L-Corp," she said, a wide smile spreading from ear to ear as she started to really envision it, "and I'm going to move from that horrible, dark office in Metropolis and get a building in National City, make it full of windows and light, modern colors. It's not going to be a company marred by the Luthor name anymore, and everything I produce and own will have good intentions; it won't all be shifty endeavors to try to make a quick buck or cut corners to move up a social class. We'll be transparent about all of our dealings, employees will get great benefits and be treated with respect… things are going to change from the way he ran the company."

"I think that sounds amazing," Kara said, beaming at Lena. "Your father chose you for a reason, you know. Even if it's not what he would've done, he knew, deep down, it's what the company needed."

Lena nodded. "Thanks, Kara," she said softly.

From across the dining hall, Andrea watched the two of them with narrowed eyes. She didn't know what kind of spell Lena was casting, but it made no sense to her that Kara hadn't wanted to hear more about the situation immediately and that she was still being all buddy-buddy with Lena in the meantime. Storming off, she made her way to Gemma's room, rapping on the door angrily until the blonde opened it, wearing a mud face mask and looking incredibly irritated.

"Have you heard?" Gemma snapped.

"Have I heard? Have you heard!" Andrea barked back. Gemma glanced over Andrea's shoulder to make sure nobody else was in the hall before she grabbed the brunette's shoulder and yanked her into the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Lionel Luthor is dead," Gemma said. "And he's named Lena CEO of Luthor Corp in his will."

"What?" Andrea said. Then, shaking her head, she added, "I guess that explains why Kara is still so close to Lena. That's what I came to tell you… they're closer than ever from what I just saw. She can't stand seeing a person in need, so if Lena is grieving… that makes this a hell of a lot harder."

"Maybe it doesn't," Gemma said, crossing her arms as her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Maybe we're just… thinking in the wrong direction. Listen, Andrea, I know you want to find the medallion before Lena does. I want you to as well. I can't tell you specifics until you find it, but I can tell you that it will be the best decision you have ever made, and it will change your life and give you power in ways you can't even imagine. The Kryptonian might be our chance for that… if we can reign her in."

"I thought you wanted her dead," Andrea said, sounding confused, "now you want her help?"

"I do want her dead. Her kind deserves to suffer for what they did to my mother. But do you remember what I said in the very beginning? I'm going to mess with her first. I want her to feel the pain of all of those court cases, the loss that we deserved to win, my mother dead in her hotel room, the way I felt it. And if we can use her to get the medallion… why not? Listen to what I have in mind.

"You see, my family has access to all kinds of records yours can't even dream of. You know the other Kryptonian, the one protected by the government that Metropolis so endearingly calls Superman? He has access to all kinds of otherworldly information in a hidden fortress. The only problem is that it is programmed to keep out intruders, so you can only enter with a Kryptonian authorized for entry, and it's incredibly far out of reach. For us; but not for Kara.

"But how to get to Kara?" Gemma tapped her chin, pretending to be thinking about it. "That's where this has just become much easier. See, going after Alex is far too risky. If Kara has Lena's mind, they'll be able to find her in no time. The same goes for Winn and Nia. We have to take the thing that will hit Kara the most—Lena. From there, it's easy. We blackmail her into getting one of us into the fortress while the other one keeps an eye on the hostage, use the fortress's database to figure out where the medallion is, and here's the best part—the fortress is where the seized Kryptonite was relocated. So, we get the Kryptonite, and we can kill the Kryptonian."

"You're a genius," Andrea muttered. "You're a mad genius, Gemma."

"And you're a brilliant lackey," Gemma said. "Although, next time, you should really make sure there aren't so many holes in your plan. Letting Kara say no to coffee? When a plan fails, you don't give up, you enact a new one. You have a lot to learn. And once we find the medallion, everything will make much more sense."

…

Lena and Kara headed back to Lena's room after leaving the dining hall. Lena was lying in her bed staring at the ceiling, and Kara was sitting in her desk chair flicking through her books as the two of them continued their conversation for a bit. Lena seemed to be significantly calmer than she had been earlier, and throughout all of it, Kara could feel her uncertainty eating at her. But after everything that was happening… Kara felt like she understood now what to do. She needed to let Lena confirm or deny it.

Looking up at Lena, Kara started hesitantly, "Hey there's something… well, Andrea mentioned something to me the other day, and I know this isn't really a great time to be talking about upsetting things but… I don't believe her story, and I want to hear what happened from you."

Lena gave her a sharp look, and for a moment Kara was worried she was only going to upset Lena even more, but then her friend's eyes relaxed and she nodded. "I had a feeling she might've tried to twist a story about me. What did she say?"

Kara quickly explained what Andrea had told her about their friendship and what had happened to lead to their falling out, and she watched as Lena's face turned into an expression of shock and then one of utter rage. Kara finished the story by adding that Andrea's reasoning as to why she ought to believe it was because it wasn't something someone would make up.

"She played you, Kara," Lena said, and Kara could've sworn there were flames in her eyes. Her voice low and angry as she continued, "She made it up. My mother was the one looking for the medallion. I can't believe she had the nerve to do that! We had a falling out because I overheard her talking to Gemma about it, that's why the two of them are friends now!"

"The two of them are friends now?" Kara said, her eyes widening as she felt a chill run down her spine. All this time, she'd been open to Andrea and thought they were friends. How did she not know that Andrea was friends with Gemma? "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I—" Lena froze. "I didn't want you to feel like one of the only people being nice to you was only doing it to be manipulative. And I didn't really think there was anything she could have on you, personally, so I figured it was harmless…"

"But you know that Gemma isn't harmless," Kara said slowly, and Lena felt the blood drain from her face as she watched Kara put two and two together, "and if you were friends with Andrea and had a falling out because she went behind your back, you know that she isn't harmless. So, the only reason I can understand as to why you wouldn't tell me is because you thought you had it under control, and that means—"

"Kara, I can explain—"

"Lena, you promised you wouldn't go digging into Gemma's past!" Kara said. "Do you know the kind of danger you might be putting yourself in for a problem that isn't even yours? Did you even think this through? I don't care what your last name is, you're getting yourself into things deeper than you understand! Some people have things that nobody can know, and—"

"You have things I don't know?" Lena asked, raising a sharp eyebrow. "What could I possibly not know, Kara? You've told me practically everything about you. And, look, I get having secrets, I don't expect to know everything about you, but come on—things nobody can know? It's not like you lied to me about who you are or what you've experienced. What could be so bad that if I stumbled across it on accident, you'd be ruined? What could I find that we couldn't work through together?"

Kara was silent.

"Kara," Lena said in a gentler voice. "You know that you can tell me anything, right?"

"No, Lena, that isn't what I meant," Kara said quietly, "you don't understand. I asked you not to do anything to help behind my back because I care about your safety, okay? That's all that matters. You shouldn't have lied about it."

"I know I shouldn't have lied," Lena said, "but I was doing it because I am safe, and fully capable myself. I'm not going to let you always be there for me while I just stand by and don't help at all. I found out who the Coopers butted heads with over Gemma's mother's death, though, and it could be a huge lead, Kara. We might be able to solve this if I can just figure out what she thinks it has to do with you. They think her mother was killed by a woman named Myza Nok-Ur."

"Lena," Kara said, understanding dawning on her as she slowly stood up and began to back toward the door. "You need to stop." She felt fear gripping her insides. Nok-Ur was clearly a Kryptonian name; it would only take Lena a bit of researching to figure out that Gemma's issue was with the people of Krypton. It made sense now to Kara. She had to tell Alex, but she also needed Lena to not put the pieces together, either.

"Where are you going?" Lena asked. "Kara, I know I overstepped but this could help you figure out how to deescalate Gemma."

"I need to talk to Alex," Kara said, "Lena, promise me you won't do it again. And in return, I promise we will talk about this, okay? But I need to talk to my sister."

"We're not done talking about this," Lena raised her voice slightly as Kara opened the door. "I won't look for anything else but I'm not just going to let this go!"

The door closed behind Kara and Lena let out a groan. Why did Andrea have to say anything to Kara in the first place? Now, Kara was pissed at her, and she was suspicious, which was never good for a Luthor. She itched to keep digging then, as she was almost certain thanks to Kara's reaction that Gemma did have some personal vendetta against Kara—Lena just didn't know what it was. It hurt her that Kara was hiding something from her, but once again, she thought to herself, what could be so bad that we couldn't work through it together?

Luckily, her phone vibrated with Lex's name flashing on the screen, preventing her curiosity from overtaking her desire to avoid breaking another promise she'd made to Kara. Picking up her phone, she answered it, hearing Lex's voice crackle to life on the other end.

"Are you okay, sis? Well, that's a silly question, of course you aren't okay. But, all things considered, how are you? Is your mental state sound?"

"I'm as fine as I can be, Lex," Lena said, sighing. "Why are you calling me? Why didn't you just come by to chat?"

"It's a bit of a story, which you would've heard if you hadn't stormed out." Lena was about to protest when Lex went on, "Don't get me wrong, I totally get why you left. I'm angry and upset too, and as usual, Lillian had to be cryptic and make a game out of telling us horrible news. Anyways, you know that alien vigilante character, Superman?"

"I've heard of him," Lena said slowly.

"Well, he's a Kryptonian," Lex went on, and Lena heard a shuffle on the other end as if he were adjusting the phone. "Apparently, he fights crime, stops bad guys, whatever, with these superpowers that he gets from the yellow sun. Lillian said father was on his radar recently; I guess he got tied in with a bad company, started working on a project that would've one way or another been pretty detrimental to some of the environment, not enough to be a problem for us but enough to be a problem in other parts of the world.

"The night of the fire, father was working on the project at the office—that's why he was there so late. All of the records, the information, the progress he'd made on blueprints for the device, were in the room with him. But here's the thing. It wasn't just any fire, right? There was an explosion. And these Kryptonians have heat vision."

"So… father's death…" Lena's eyes widened.

"It wasn't an accident," Lex confirmed. "That's why I didn't just stop by to talk to you. I'm at home. I'm going to help Lillian figure out how to avenge him, and then I'll be returning to school, but I thought you deserved to know the truth."

Just then, there was a knock at Lena's door. "I have to go, Lex, someone's here, but… I'm glad you told me." Her voice was steely. "I figured it was the doing of someone he had bad business with… but our father wasn't just some villain to be vanquished. I'll call you tomorrow, but please let me know if Lillian starts to do anything especially crazy."

"Of course. I'll talk to you later."

Hanging up, Lena made her way to the door. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw who was standing on the other side.

"Gemma?"

"Hello, Lena," Gemma said with a smirk, quickly moving behind the Luthor and pressing a piece of cloth against her nose and mouth. "We're just going to go for a bit of a walk…"

A/N It was requested and I am excited so here's chapter 8! Guys I cannot tell you how fun this is to write right now, the plot do be thickening!

I'm going to wait a bit as more people catch up to make any ultimate decisions on chapter timing, but in the meantime, I'm editing the next two chapters and will probably post one of them within the next few days!

Thank you to everyone who's been favoriting and following, and a huge thank you to my reviewers who have given me some really great suggestions and who have given me a ton of motivation! I appreciate your support so much :)

I hope you enjoy, hope u love a dramatic cliffhanger c:

hehe sorry folks

Until next time!

Nana