Chapter Text
The Present
Mother.
Not a word Lena Luthor would ever recall with fondness, not for Lillian at least. She yearned for her birth mother constantly after her death but eventually moved past it...only to discover she has yet another mother, living and now sitting in front of her and Kara eagerly enjoying the pizza that was just delivered.
“God this is good, what is it called again? Pizzah?” Elizabeth chomped down on the crust of her third slice. A woman who had never had pizza, never known her daughter, never planned to get involved until Kara barreled into her sanctuary in Rapture.
“Pizza! It’s my favorite!” Kara said with delight as she finished her first pie. For someone who did not technically need the calories to survive, she sure could plow through her meals. With Elizabeth present, something in Kara changed slightly, she felt lighter, like the air was a little thinner, a little cooler, and the sun was a little brighter. The older woman tried so hard to take care of her during her time on the other side and Kara couldn’t help but appreciate it. To find out the woman was related to Lena only made it more clear in Kara’s mind that things would get better.
Lena was far more modest with her approach to her lunch, choosing to use cutlery that Kara endlessly teased her for. Some people just don’t like to get their hands dirty, was Lena’s response to Kara’s earlier quips. Now the three women settled into a silence filled with anticipation. So many questions to ask and so many answers to unravel, but for now, they enjoyed the last of their meal together.
“So…” Lena trailed off, “is it time for the big exposition dump?” Elizabeth nodded silently, looking toward Kara who cast her eyes down at the last piece of pizza.
Elizabeth inhaled a big breath of air before releasing it slowly, “So, what do you know about the multiverse?”
Somewhere else, some when else
This was her burden to bear, after giving up Lena decades ago, Elizabeth committed herself to saving as many little sisters as she could in as many universes as she could. Her home base was set up in Rapture 42, the one where everyone died of a neurotoxin released into the air before Fontaine could have his way. No crazies, no splicers, no plasmids, just dead and decaying bodies, everywhere. It took months of disgusting work but Elizabeth managed to clean up, restore power, and create a nearly functional alt-Rapture, a new home for the little sisters she would one day rescue, deprogram and rehome.
It had been going well for years, things getting hairy sometimes but overall with her power to create portals, Elizabeth made quick work of all of the rescue missions. It wasn’t until a man interrupted her sanctuary one day with a plan of his own did she no longer feel safe. He tried to woo Elizabeth, but she wasn’t swayed. He tried to woo the big sisters, but they weren’t convinced, then he went for the little sisters and Elizabeth was once again thrust into war.
Suddenly the playing field was even, Elizabeth wasn’t the only one who could create portals, wasn’t the only one who wanted to mess with the multiverse. Suddenly, Frank Fontaine was back, messing with technology that could only be powered by Elizabeth’s innate abilities, or the Lutece’s technology. Suddenly he stopped being Frank Fontaine and decided to go by a different name, with a different purpose; Lionel Luthor was his new name, and capitalism was his new game.
The Present
“Wait wait wait. My dad is a maniac universe hopper who wants to sell ADAM from across the multiverse to the highest bidder?” Lena shook her head, tiling it, trying to understand what Elizabeth was explaining to them. “And he’s alive!?” Lena threw her arms up in disbelief.
Elizabeth grimaced, “When I wouldn’t partner with him or give him any of my refractory little sisters he started a war. He’s hidden in a universe where he is heavily protected by Rapture's sentry bots and big daddy abominations. His wife Lillian brokers deals for him across the multiverse, she is a terrible, evil woman.”
Lena rolled her eyes at Elizabeth's last statement, “I could have told you that. But why now,” Lena pleaded for understanding, “Why are you revealing yourself to us now, why if you knew they were so terrible did you…” Lena couldn’t finish her question. Why did Elizabeth abandon her own flesh and blood to rescue strangers, why leave her with the Luthors and condemn her to this lonely life?
Elizabeth turned toward Kara who had been respectfully silent for the conversation, “I honestly didn’t know they had you, what you had gone through or who Lillian was until Kara barreled into Lillian and helped me sort out the final pieces of the puzzle…”
Another Time, Another Place
“Oof” Kara groaned as she tried to sort her whereabouts. The last thing she remembered was seeing the woman who looked like Lena before passing out. Kara looked around, she was on a twin bed with gaudy sheets, the room had no windows to the outside, pastel floral wallpaper, and a sort of eerie feel to it, like something sinister happened here. Kara tried to stand but found her strength had diminished.
The door opened to reveal a teenage girl, pale, lanky, dark brown hair, big eyes, wearing a style of clothing not commonly seen on Earth in the twenty first century. “Hi, Mama said you’d be up soon, she wanted you to eat this.” The girl handed Kara a decent portion of soup, it didn’t look half bad but Kara felt soup was a mortal sin, if it had that much liquid, it was for fish, not humanoid beings. Kara still said thanks and took the offering from the girl. “She said if you’re feeling better, to meet her at the Center Square Bistro, you’ll see it when you get out the apartments.” The girl nodded awkwardly at Kara and left the room, gently shutting the door.
Kara walked out of the room and wandered aimlessly around her new surroundings. She was completely encased by walls, hideously decorated, no windows in sight, no sunlight, no way back to her universe. After a lackadaisical approach toward the Center Square Bistro, Kara found herself at the door of the establishment, although she was more curious about exploring her new surroundings, they seemed eerie and spectacular all at once.
“God it took you forever Supergirl. Get this vile woman to untie me so I can rot in prison, it would be better than being here.” Kara’s eyes widened as she entered the Bistro and saw none other than Lillian Luthor herself tied up to a chair in the middle of the room. There were no patrons, this was not a show, something was seriously off about this place.
Kara looked around but saw no one else, yet. “Lillian, what happened, how did we get here? I entered that portal in your cell and wound up here somehow.” Kara asked as though Lillian would freely offer up that information. The Luthor scoffed and rolled her eyes in response. It was worth a try. Kara putzed around the room, fiddling with various objects as she waited for this ‘mama’ person to show up. Maybe the more evil woman had kidnapped the nice looking woman who saved her, how was Kara to help with her powers dwindling without sunlight. So many thoughts raced through Kara’s mind.
“Oh good you’re finally awake!” A chipper voice appeared behind Kara. Kara spun around only to find not an evil, vile woman, but the woman she saw just before she passed out.
The Present
Lena laughed hard, “You had my mother tied up like some gangster movie? Oh what I wouldn’t give to see that.” Jess had come in to clean up the remains of their lunch, Kara had polished off two more pizzas while she recounted the rest of her time in Rapture.
“Lillian spilled the beans very quickly, she probably assumed I’d never get back home,” Kara started, “there’s a lot of shady shit happening that we have barely even begun to scratch the surface of, me being a host for a kinky slug is barely the tip of the iceberg.”
Elizabeth blinked rapidly at Kara, trying to comprehend the use of English. She squinted toward Lena, then back at Kara, “Beans? Slug? Iceberg?” Lena and Kara looked at each other for a moment before Lena sighed and began to explain their backstory...
Later, Kara’s Apartment
Elizabeth waltzed around the space taking in every picture, book, knickknack, and other object. Their world was so, so different despite the similarities. She had spent far too long under the waves on her self-imposed mission, she forgot that there was a whole world topside, one worth living for.
Lena sat at Kara’s table with a tea, watching her real mother discover new details about their world. She couldn’t help but feel a little longing, wishing the older woman would stay, but she knew she couldn’t, there was so much more at play here than even Lena could currently comprehend. Kara had decided they needed a change of venue and by that she meant she wanted the ice cream in her freezer. Now at the table with Lena, Kara dug into the tub of ice cream with a fork like a maniac.
Lena rolled her eyes, “Kara would you kindly use a spoon to eat your ice cream like a civilized human being.” She didn’t mean for the command to slip out, but out it was and Kara grunted before walking over to the kitchen to get a spoon.
“It’s solid food, I could use a fork!” Kara rebutted as she dug into the ice cream with a spoon now. She huffed and puffed but wasn’t really angry, not with ice cream in her system. Lena’s heartbeat picked up when Kara glared at her, but Kara couldn’t tell why, in response Kara held out her hand for Lena, palm up on the table, to which Lena instinctively placed her hand palm down on top of, yet the act only made Lena’s heart race faster. Kara made a mental note to experiment more with this later.
Elizabeth had been silently watching the exchange, they had explained the slug to her but to see it in action was something different. Unfortunately for the women, Elizabeth did have information about the Lutece siblings, and it wasn’t good. “They exist outside of time and space as we know it. They’ll only come to those who need them, and only when they want them. Bizarre creatures they are, once human, now unstuck from time itself…” Elizabeth trailed off as she explained her encounters with the siblings.
It was time for Elizabeth to go back to her world, they had already discussed this. With Lillian still in her care she could not abandon her post for too long. She had told the girls what information she could about ADAM, the slug, the twins, and Lionel, but none of it was immediately useful to Kara’s Schnott Situation. Elizabeth stood to hug the pair goodbye and as she gave her daughter, her real daughter, her first goodbye hug, she whispered something Kara didn’t catch in the moment, and slipped a small device into Lena’s pocket.
Kara went to give Elizabeth a hug goodbye but before she could complete the task her eyes widened and she super sped away into the bathroom, leaving mother and daughter to hear her hurling up ADAM. “Don’t let anyone steal that junk Lena, it could topple universes. If Lionel comes here, call Songbird.” Elizabeth gravely warned and patted the device she put in Lena’s pocket before opening a tear and departing.
Moments later Kara stumbled back into her living room only to find Elizabeth gone and Lena teary eyed. “Aw did I miss her, this slug really sucks.” She went to comfort Lena, sitting on the couch next to her, “I know we just got thrust into a really weird, convoluted side story but can we maybe just...watch a movie tonight?” Kara asked gently as she put her arm over Lena and brought her closer. Lena silently nodded her head.