Chapter Text
If she had to pick an animal to describe the dangerous, clever Luthor, Lena would choose a scorpion—solitary, sharp eyes fixed on every shift in the world around her. At the first hint of danger, the first flicker of betrayal, her stinger would already be buried in someone’s chest. Lilian had always told her to be sharp, to carry thorns; whether she used them was her choice. And now, it was time for the youngest Luthor to show her fangs.
Late night, early morning.
The penthouse was swallowed by darkness and silence, the master bedroom door left slightly ajar. Through the cool moonlight, the Frette sateen sheets on the king-size bed were knotted tight in one hand, fingers flexing, then loosening, then clenching again.
Ever since Lex died, Lena hadn’t slept well. She saw her brother’s body in a pool of blood, over and over—but that wasn’t what made her frown so deeply in her sleep.
“Kara Danvers is Supergirl.”
In her dream, Lex’s eyes were wide, his gaze cold and piercing, driving straight through Lena’s fragile defenses. He was dying, bleeding out, gasping in pain—and yet the corners of his mouth curled upward, almost smiling, as if he’d already won.
How stupid. How ironic.
Every memory of the last five years with Kara flashed through her mind in two seconds, sharp and bright, then shattered like the bullet that had torn through Lex’s chest. She knew then that it hadn’t just been the infamous Lex Luthor who’d died in that cabin. It had been the reporter Lena Luthor had loved, too.
Lena jolted awake from the nightmare. The frameless digital clock by her bed read 3:25. She’d only fallen asleep around two, restless and sleepless.
She sat up, a bead of cold sweat sliding down her sharp cheekbone, vanishing into her softly curled hair. Guided only by moonlight spilling through the floor-to-ceiling windows, she found her favorite bottle of scotch in the wine cabinet without fumbling. Once, she’d only allowed herself two fingers’ worth on truly good nights. Now, the amber liquid sloshed into the glass, and she didn’t care how much she poured. Two fingers? Four? Who cares
The burn seared her throat, and a violent, destructive hunger flooded her body. Every dormant cell in her blood woke, screaming. Her mind, tangled in the nightmare, snapped back into focus as she poured a second glass.
Lena stepped to the window and looked down at the city below. Starlight glinted off every corner of National City; a cool breeze carried the hush of night. The penthouse view was stunning. Kara had stood here so many times, saying she’d endure Snapper’s yelling twenty-four hours a day If she could wake up to a view like this every morning
It should have been happy. They should have been happy.
But when she closed her eyes, the glowing skyline twisted into the face of a bald man in a chair, eyes bulging, voice venomous.
“Kara Danvers is Supergirl.”
She opened her eyes slowly. Everything looked pale in the moonlight. Her usually bright, deep green eyes were hollow, empty.
Lena huffed a bitter, humorless laugh, lifting the glass and draining it in one go. She pressed her lips together, savoring the fire of alcohol in her veins. She crossed her arms, glass still in hand, tapping her index finger idly against the rim. One arched brow, the faint tilt of her mouth, betrayed the storm churning inside her.
“You underestimate me, Lex.”
The penthouse was silent, empty. Through the flawless glass, Lena’s gaze drifted farther, and the vacant green of her eyes sharpened, focus returning. Alcohol stoked the scattered pieces of her mind back to life.
“The great, promising Lex Luthor… In final moments, all you wanted was to deliver checkmate on me? How ironic.”
“You wanted to use me. My hate. My weakness. Turn me against the Super you hated so much. Is that really all you had?”
“I expected more creativity from you.”
Lena shook her head at the empty air, a faint flush high on her cheeks, a half-smile tugging at her lips. Then her eyes fell on the glass in her hand, and her pupils contracted. Her gaze turned sharp, cutting, dangerous.
It was the cheap IKEA glass Kara had left here, standing out like a sore thumb among her expensive dinnerware.Kara hadn’t cared, insisting it go in the most obvious spot, saying every time Lena drank, she’d see it and think of her.
“Stupid.”
The faint smile twisted into pure contempt. A sick, roiling sensation rose in her stomach, sharp and unyielding.
“Taylor Swift，you are right. ‘Cause all of my enemies started out friends, huh.”
Lena took two slow steps deeper into the living room, raising the glass again. Through its clear edge, she stared at the distorted, twisted image of Lex.
“You gambled your life on this. It would be a waste not to play your game.”
“Let’s see how far you can push me.”
“Brother.”
Her fingers relaxed. The glass slipped free, falling with gravity, and struck dead-center on the glass frame inside the trash can. The glass spiderwebbed, cracks splitting the photo down the middle.
In the picture, a dark-haired woman and a blonde were pressed close, happiness glowing bright on both their smiling faces.
Two weeks
“when I came to this city，I promised myself that I would never trust anyone again, and then I met you.You chipped away at my armor with your warmth and your earnestness. and you convinced me to trust in people and friendship again, and against my better judgment, I did. all the while telling you about my Achilles heel.. betrayal. I confided in you. that everyone in my past had betrayed me. About how much it hurt to have someone you love.lie to you and betray you.I spelled it out to you over and over again,essentially begging you not to violate my trust,begging you not to prove that, once again, I was a fool.You reassured me ad nauseam.that you would never lie to me,that you'd never hurt me.And all the while, there wasn't a single honest momet in our friendship”
“Lena… no, it’s not like that. Let me explain.”
Kara took a tentative step forward, her hands flailing uselessly in the air. She had never imagined Lena finding out the truth like this. She’d thought she’d fixed it, that it was over.
“Explain?” A bitter, hollow laugh slipped from the dark-haired woman’s lips.
“Do you have any idea what those first 24 hours did to me? I knew exactly why Lex did it. He wanted me consumed by hate, burned alive by anger. But what broke me most… is that I let him. I gave him the chance, and he literally did it.I will never let my enemies get close enough to betray me. They can’t touch my life. Only the people closest to you get the chance to hurt. Isn’t that right, Supergirl?”
The blonde in red and blue froze in place, tears stinging her eyes, stubbornly refusing to fall. She blinked hard, trying to steady herself—Until the CEO’s next words to pierce her chest like kryptonite bullets.
“Must have been so satisfying, wasn’t it? keeping a Luthor right under your thumb, watching her every move. Did you feel proud, looking down on me while I bared my stupid, fragile feelings to you? Like keeping a lab rat—watching, testing, toying with her until you’re ready to dispose of her. That’s why you lost it over the kryptonite. Because suddenly I could hurt you. Things weren’t going your way anymore. You couldn’t just crush me like an ant.”
“So tell me—how does it feel to get bitten back?”
The tears in Kara’s eyes finally spilled over. Having the person she loved twist her every intention into something cruel… the weight in her chest was heavier than the green poison spreading through her veins.
“Lena… no, it wasn’t like that. I would never do that. I swear it.”
“Too bad your oath means nothing to me.”
The dark-haired woman lifted her chin, let out a slow, heavy breath, and pressed the button on her portal watch. She turned toward the swirling purple vortex.
Kara watched her walk away, her lungs growing tighter, the world closing in until she could barely breathe.
“You want to know the worst part?”
Lena paused, glancing over her shoulder, staring into the blue eyes she’d once looked at with nothing but softness.
Kara’s voice cracked, broken and pleading.
“Please… don’t do this.”
“I did love you.”
In the next second, the portal swallowed the CEO whole. The tall, sharp figure vanished at the edge of the Fortress of Solitude—taking with it the last of Kara Zor-El’s hope.