The one where Lena Luthor saved Christmas

Chapter 4

'Miss Luthor, it's Christmas eve, how did you get my number? No, don't answer that, I'm sure Lex has files on everyone close to the supers.' James sighed into the phone. It had been chaos. He was having a difficult time with Lucy, though they were keeping up appearances for his family's sake. There had been constant bickering, and then they'd all been glued to the screen, helpless to watch Kara getting pummelled, again.

'Actually, my assistant can do basic research on the internet, but glad to know you're still as desperate to mistrust me as always.' Lena retorted sarcastically. Apparently being affiliated to Kara wasn't going to get her any leeway here. Niceties could wait though, she was on a time limit and she'd done more than enough to try and win over the photographer over the past few months. It didn't help that the man had had an obvious interest in Kara. She didn't enjoy playing nice with the person who'd toyed with Kara's affections. He'd been granted privilege to parts of Kara's life that Lena could only hope to share one day, as unlikely as it was. Kara to the best of her knowledge was straight, irritatingly so, though at least she'd had the sense to turn down most of the men throwing themselves at her.

'Look, I'm sorry, that was out of line. I'm just having a hard time here and I can't imagine why the CEO of L Corp is contacting me.' James apologised, forcing Lena out of her internal monologue. Really, she had to focus if she was going to have any hope of saving the situation in such a short time period.

'It's a matter of international importance. Mr Olsen, I wouldn't inconvenience you unless it was an absolute emergency, I'm fully aware of your feelings regarding me. But this is bigger than both of us.' She responded seriously, every inch the professional.

'What are you after Luthor?' James said, cutting to the chase. Finally.

'Superman. I'd like to talk to Superman, urgently.' Lena said bluntly, anticipating a hostile response. She wasn't disappointed.

'Are you out of your mind Lena? Why would I do a thing like that? And what makes you think I can just get in contact with him like that?'

'Please, I may not have gotten anything from Lex's files, but I'm aware enough to know that you and he are close. It's not exactly a secret.' Lena scoffed. Really, James Olsen was most famous for photographing the super repeatedly, to the exclusion of almost everyone else. It was obvious the man held a special place in the hero's life.

'Why do you need Superman Lena?' James replied, acquiescing. It wasn't exactly the most difficult thing to deduce after all. Lena could have gotten the information just reading the gossip section of Catco.

'He may be the only one who can help. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I need him. Or at least, I need his fortress.' Not words Lena ever thought she'd utter in her lifetime. She was proud of her ability to be self sufficient, one of her life's goals was to help develop humanity to the point where the supers would no longer be needed for their vigilante, uncontrollable 'justice'. Not that she didn't think the pair had noble goals, but it was simply too much power for individuals to hold, especially without any measure of accountability for their choices.

'Why?' James asked, surprised. Of all the things he'd expected, access to the ice palace wasn't one of them.

'Olsen, there really isn't much time. Christmas eve is running out and by Christmas it'll be too late. Can you put me through to him or not? I'll explain to him, and if he doesn't want to do it, it's not as though I can compel him.' She responded, frustrated. She doubted James would pass her request on accurately and answering question after question was really just wasting her time. It was 6pm, Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus was dead.

'Fine, but I'll give him this number, you're not getting his.' James capitulated, accepting the urgency of the situation. He really hoped the Luthor had a plan.

'I expected as much. Pleasure as always Olsen.' Lena said, before disconnecting the call, without waiting for a response.

'Bye Lena.' He replied, but the CEO had already ended the call. He wondered what was going down, but he was preoccupied with his family, and watching out for Kara on the TV. No doubt he'd find out in due course, same time as everyone else. Things between a Luthor and a Super never went down quietly. He only hoped that Kara's faith in Lena was warranted.

'Alex, what do you mean there's a vigil?' Kara asked, tears welling up. It was one thing to beat up the figurehead of her favourite human holiday. It was quite another to watching crying children and parents huddled in the cold, candles in their hands, praying for Santa's wellbeing.

'Some kids saw, and honestly, I think it's the only way these parents know how to handle it. I mean, you killed Santa Kara, it's not like they can just brush that off. We may have carted him away, but we're a secret organisation, we can't release a public statement saying that Santa is fine and that Supergirl just melted him a little!' Alex said, putting her arm around the superhero. Kara had changed back into her streetwear, intending to go and interview members of the crowd for her actual job. She wasn't yet feeling ready though, she doubted she would feel any more composed hearing the reactions up close.

'What do I do Alex?' She asked, lost.

'Nothing you can do. Just hope and pray that this all blows over.' Alex replied, frustrated. Whoever had done this, they'd played right into their hands. Alex had initially suspected Lena, as was her default these days. But she'd quickly dismissed the thought. The youngest Luthor had obviously been trying to hide affection from Kara at dinner, her sister remaining oblivious. She doubted Lena would have accepted the invite if she'd been planning something, but especially doubted that she'd be willing to ruin her crush's favourite holiday, even if she wasn't aware she and Supergirl were the same person. Alex wondered how that revelation might go, before dismissing the thought. She didn't even want to think about the potential negative repercussions of Lena finding out she'd been duped. She especially didn't want to know if Kara returned the feelings, though she suspected that her sister might. She and Luthor were awfully close, and Kara didn't exactly have the regular hang-ups about things like sexuality or gender. The Kryptonians were more about mental compatibility than anything else, and this Luthor and Super? They had compatibility in spades.

'And if it doesn't?' Kara questioned, pulling Alex from her thoughts.

'Well, I'm sure if you dyed your hair and changed your outfit, we can come up with another persona? Or you can save mom the worry and retire from being the girl of steel?' Alex replied, only half-jokingly. She didn't really see a way out of this for her sister. Public perception wasn't an enemy you could shoot with a gun, however much Alex wanted to solve this for her.

'Not helpful Alex. I'm not just leaving.' Kara said, aghast. Supergirl, a mantle she'd taken on with youthful exuberance, had quickly become a core part of her identify and a reason for being. It helped her connect both with her Kryptonian identity she'd had to carefully hide, while at the same time, helped the losses she'd faced be mitigated by the good she was able to do.

'No, I know.' Alex sighed, drawing her sister into a hug.

'Miss Luthor, Jimmy told me you wanted a word with me, and to use the Fortress of Solitude?' He said by way of greeting. Whatever it is you need, I'm sorry, but I can't grant you access.'

Lena smiled despite herself. She did so love it when people acted efficiently in a crisis. 'It's for your cousin. Have you seen what's been happening? There are crowds in the street calling for her cape? Small children are throwing away their Supergirl toys!

'And how am I supposed to be able to help with that? It's not like I can just punch things to make it go away. It's what went wrong in the first place.' He questioned. In his day job he was a reporter, but Lena didn't know that, and he doubted a single publication in another city would do much to mitigate the tide of hatred flowing Kara's way. He hated feeling helpless, but he didn't see how there was anything he could do. He hoped Lena's idea was good, it must be to be desperate enough to get in contact with him personally.

'Have you ever wondered how Lex kept getting up and fighting back, despite your constantly trying to reveal his nefarious plots?' Lena asked.

'Yes, because he was a manipulative madman' Superman answered firmly.

'No, because having good PR is one of the core foundations of running a successful business. He knew exactly how things would look, how to make you look bad, how to save his image. I should have known the second that robot went down.' Lena stated. Really, Lex should have lost public faith long before his trial. It was only his influence with the media and image as a force for technological good which had managed to spare him judgement for so long.

'Robot? The media hasn't said anything about a robot.' Superman responded, confused.

'Come on wonderboy, it's obvious. Something strong enough not to take damage from Kara, but shuts down the second it takes some visible damage? Could only be mechanical. And I only know one company with the capacity to make something THAT advanced.' Lena explained, somewhat impatiently. She wished Kara was here. Despite her degree in literature, the other woman always seemed to grasp Lena's concepts quickly, and was grateful to have her to bounce ideas off. This man in front of her, while not unintelligent, was set in his ways, too unwilling to look beyond the box that often constrained human thinking.

'L Corp.' he answered, the answer more clear now, given the woman in front of him. He wondered if this was a confession of sorts, before dismissing the notion. Lena Luthor was anything except stupid, and turning herself in while nobody suspected her? Not exactly the smartest move.

'No, Luthor Corp.' Lena corrected. Sure, L Corp was their new brand (as she was constantly reminding everyone), but they didn't manufacture anything with these kind of destructive capabilities. Lena was all about regenerative medicine, clean energy and nanotechnology these days, and her company along with her. While she was certain she had discovered most of the corporation's assets, she wasn't naive enough to think she'd been able to locate everything. She wouldn't be surprised at all if Lex hadn't managed to salvage a few bases here and there.

'Lex is in prison.' Superman responded, surprised. He'd put him there himself, the diabolical genius couldn't have possibly escaped, could he?

'Lex could have orchestrated this from a cell. And what's better is, he didn't even need to harm Supergirl to kill her. Look at the news, look at social media. Her day is done, or will be if we don't fix this ASAP.' Lena responded, frustrated. If only super muscles came with super brains. The robot, once activated, would require no signal, just simple instructions. Stay visible, keep wearing her down but don't seriously harm her, stop when the Santa clothes are damaged enough. Simple stuff, but devastatingly effective, hugely impactful imagery for the average person. She almost admired the brilliance really, if the concept wasn't going to be so horrifying for Kara. She wondered if the reporter had come back yet. Oddly, she hadn't yet seen a headline from the other woman, bizarre given she'd headed out at the beginning of the crisis. She didn't really have time to dwell on it though. Too much to do.

'Okay Lena, what do you need me to do?' Supergirl sighed. Perhaps it was time to show the faith in the youngest Luthor that Kara always had. Perhaps things were really going to change between their families. He certainly hoped so.