The room fell dead silent. Lena could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she took another step towards her niece. She pressed her body against the girl's back, still gripping her shoulders securly. Though in that sudden moment she couldn't show it, her instantaneous responses surprised her. She had never been so protective of another person in her life. The woman's instinctive coldness kicked in as the dark figure slowly approached. She could show no fear and she needed to be prepared to do whatever was necessary to protect Ellie.

"I can assure you, Ms. Luthor, I am not here to harm you," the man claimed.

With a tilt of her head, Lena replied, "Considering my brother's priors, I find that hard to believe…"

He raised a brow and replied, "Believe what you like. I am only here to insure that Mr. Luthor's," his eyes migrated towards the young girl standing before him, "assets are well looked after." He grinned.

Lena clenched her jaw at his profound and unsubtle gesture. She wanted no more than to slap that disgusting grin off of his face. With a restrained breath, she bowed her head toward Ellie and said, "Sweetie, go sit at my desk while I take care of this."

The girl turned around looking up at her aunt with a concerned expression. She shook her head slightly so as to protest the woman's request. Lena threw a stern look in response. Ellie crossed her arms over her chest and, though she didn't want to, complied with her guardian's order. As she sat in the strangely tall and sleek black chair, the child anxiously watched the two adults step to the far end of the room.

"Stubborn little firecracker-" The man began to comment.

"Don't," Lena interrupted with a firm and frustrated voice. "Lex gave up every right to his assets the moment he decided that an innocent human life was just collateral damage in his obsessive battle against Superman."

The man raised his brow. "I see where she gets it from."

Lena defensively crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. "I don't care what my brother wants from us. It doesn't matter how many minions or henchmen he sends to National City. He is never going to lay a finger on that child."

He let her give her speech; he couldn't have stopped her anyway. Anyone who had worked for a Luthor knew that there was no point in trying to interrupt once they were fired up. For very logical people, they lost all sense reason when it came to their anger. The man dug into his pocket and silently pulled out a card. He held it up between two fingers. After a moment of silence, he replied, "Sooner or later, Ms. Luthor, you will have to care."

Though she was confused by the man's reply, Lena refused to falter. Her arms remained firm as she pridefully stared him down.

He had to admire her persistence. With another grin, he nodded his head and stepped passed her, making his way towards the desk. She briskly scurried after him but quickly stopped when she watched him set the card in front of Ellie. He turned back to Lena and noticed the rage fuming in the young woman's eyes.

"Get out," she demanded.

With a second nod, the man finally moment the door clicked shut, Ellie burst out of the desk chair and crashed into Lena's arms.

Lena rested her chin on top of the child's soft hair and held her tightly. "It's alright. He's not going to bother us again."

Ellie lifted her head and stared into her aunt's blue-green eyes. "Why didn't you let me stay with you? What if he came to hurt you?"

The woman chuckled softly, brushing a tiny stray hair behind the child's ear. "Because my job is to protect you."

Shaking her head, Ellie replied. "That's not very smart."

Lena's eyes widened from the girl's sudden bluntness. "Excuse me?" Most children would hug her, or say "thank you" or "I love you"... but not her kid.

The ten-year-old shrugged, her arms still secure around her aunt's waist. "Because we need to protect each other." She rested her head against Lena's shoulder once more. "Who would take care of me if you're gone…"

The older brunette shut her eyes tightly as she felt her niece's arms tighten around her. She had forgotten. For so many years, Lena had believed that because she had nothing to lose, she could risk putting herself out there. It made her the remarkable business woman she was because so few people could do the same. But now, there was so much she had to consider. She couldn't let her pride get in the way.

Lena brought her hand to the girl's head and kissed it gently. "I'm not going anywhere," she replied.

O-o-O-o-O

She had let Ellie pick what they were going to do for the rest of day. It was the only way she could think to get the girl's mind off of what had happened in the office. Lena followed her niece down the long strip mall corridor, her shoulders tense as she gazed around uncomfortably. Her heels clicked and echoed with every step as they passed by window after window of bargain clothing, video game, and shoe stores. She had to admit… it was different. The paparazzi would surely never think to find Luthors in such a common place.

Ellie took a hold of Lena's hand and pulled her along, her smile brighter than Lena had ever seen before. "Come on!" the girl beckoned, yanking the woman through the doors to one of the clothing stores. The girl led the older woman to the back of the small store, stopping when they reached the tall shelves of folded jeans in assorted colors.

"Okay…" Lena looked over to the child smiling widely at her. "What are we doing here? I just bought you a ton of new clothes a few weeks ago."

"I know," Ellie shrugged. "We're here for you."

The brunette pursed her lips for a moment. "I have plenty of clothes."

"You don't wear pants."

Lena's eyes widened with denial. "Yes, I do."

"Sweatpants and leggings as pajamas don't count." The child replied in a particularly sassy tone as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Ellie," Lena persisted, "I wear pants."

"Your one pair of fancy work pants doesn't count either," she argued.

"I have more than one," Lena continued to argue. They are just both black and the same exact style, she thought to herself. But if the child was anything like she was… she wasn't going to be leaving this store until she bought a damn pair of pants.

Ellie gestured towards the wall, then looked back at her aunt. "Pick something."

Lena huffed and rolled her eyes before finally agreeing to browse the shelves. She started to reach for a pair of black jeans.

"Different color," the bossy ten-year-old commented. She shrugged the moment Lena shot a glare at her. "You always wear black."

Shaking her head, Lena crossed her arms and replied, "Why don't you pick for me then?"

Ellie's smile widened, as if she had been hinting and waiting for Lena to say that. She scurried over to the right side of the wall, got up on the tips of her toes and pulled out a pair that Lena guessed she had probably been eyeing the entire time.

The girl turned back to her aunt holding a pair of light olive-green jeans. Lena stared with some hesitance in her eyes. "Just try them," Ellie insisted. "It's not going to kill you."

Lena took the pants and held them against her waist. The style was nice, thinned down her leg and would hug her ankles. She nodded to the child and began to look around for the dressing rooms.

"Wait!" Ellie exclaimed as she began to run down another row of clothes. Lena jumped suddenly and tried to keep up with the overly excited girl. "You need a shirt!"

Lena sighed as the child began to rummage through a rack of themed t-shirts and tank tops. This was going to be a very new experience for her, but she couldn't deny seeing the pure excitement in those hazel-green eyes.

O-o-O-o-O

As time went on, the young executive found herself growing somewhat more comfortable in the outfit. Ellie had managed to convince Lena to wear the new clothes right out of the store. The girl had picked out two shirts for her aunt to try on, the first being a white Princess Leia t-shirt with black trim along the collar and sleeves. It read I don't need rescuing with a image of the iconic princess. Lena couldn't doubt that it was a great shirt, and admired her niece's taste in female role models. The second was a plain white AC/DC tank top that hung loosely over her torso. She admitted it was incredibly comfortable compared to her usual form fit dresses.

Neither could pick the best one once Ellie decided to add a denim jacket to the whole ensemble. Eventually Lena just agreed to get both, but then Ellie had to go pick a second pair of jeans, this time a red pair in the same style. She decided to wear the Leia shirt with the green pants and the jacket, saving the second set of clothes for another time.

"Chicken nuggets, french fries, and a chocolate shake," Ellie stated, looking up at the food stall menu. Lena took a bit longer to decide, though she eventually just got the same thing the ten-year-old had picked. It wasn't like she had any experience with this kind of… food. It seemed best to just follow the example of her "expert guide".

They sat down in the middle of the food court only after Lena compulsively wiped down the table and chairs. It made Ellie chuckle viewing her aunt in such a different atmosphere.

Lena glared at the girl with a stern eye as she sat across from her. Suddenly she watched the child take off the cover to her shake, lick the straw clean and set it down on the food tray. Her brows furrowed as she watched Ellie take a french fry and dunk it into the thick dessert drink.

After popping the fry into her mouth, Ellie looked over at her aunt's curious expression. Without a word she took another, dunked it, and held it out for the woman to take. Lena, though she was very hesitant, figured that she had already been willing to do so much she normally wouldn't. Why not this too? She very elegantly took a bite of the salty-sweet treat. She found herself surprised at the delightful taste and nodded.

"Oh," Lena said, "have to wash my hands." She began to stand up and look around for the restrooms. "You're okay by yourself just for second?"

Ellie nodded, her mouth full of chicken. As she watched her aunt turn and walk away, the girl glanced around the food court. People sat and ate, talked, some looked at their phones. A few very young children played on the little mechanical rides over by the entrance.

When Lena returned, she suggested that Ellie wash her hands as well. Though she was reluctant, she did so. She had already eaten half of her food, so she didn't entirely see the point. But it wasn't worth the arguing.

Before she could even make it to the restrooms; however, she noticed something she didn't see before when she had been looking around. It was a community piano painted in bright rainbow stripes. People's name were written and carved into the sides and it looked as though it may have been climbed on a few times too.

With no one else there, the child felt the urge to move closer. She stroked the top of the monstrous thing all the way down to the sides until her fingers met the keys. She gently pressed down on one, listening to the smooth echoing hum.

Ellie had always begged her mother to learn an instrument. It didn't matter what, she just loved music and wanted to learn. But, as most things went, her mother couldn't afford to pay for music lessons let alone any type of instrument. The girl settled for sitting in the car listening to the classical station. Her mother would let Ellie sit there after she shut the engine off to listen for as long as the radio would stay on before automatically shutting off. The girl would close her eyes and hum the measures, tapping her foot to the down beats.

She touched a few more keys. Though she had never formally learned, she seemed to hear the notes and understand how the piano played them. Suddenly she was sitting there as if in a trance, listening to the sound every single key made as she ran her fingers from left to right. Ellie closed her eyes and tried to remember and hear the melody in her head. Her fingers found the first few notes. When she missed, she would try once more. Soon, the song flowed from her brain to her fingers, like some strange sort of magic. The feeling was mesmerizing, as if her mind and body had become one, though there was more to it than that. She continued to play.

After a couple of minutes, Lena began to nervously look around for her niece. Quickly, she placed the food back in their paper bags, grabbed the two drinks and began to wander towards the restrooms.

She stopped when her eyes finally locked onto those familiar brown curls and the blue and green striped sweater she had recently bought. The sound of Pachelbell's Cannon in D played in the air. It wasn't until she began to approach Ellie that she fully noticed what the child was doing. The bright colors of the oversized instrument had thrown her off. Again she stopped. Her head tilted to the left as she watched the little girl's fingers glide gracefully along the keys as if it had been something she'd practiced for years. She couldn't help but smile as she listened to the beautiful and perfectly rendered melody.

As Ellie brought the song to a smooth finish, Lena stepped around the piano. The child glanced up with a slight apprehensive look. She couldn't read her aunt's expression entirely, so she prepared herself for a lecture about wandering off. However, the words that came out of Lena's mouth were entirely different.

"I didn't know you could play."

The girl's muscles relaxed as she looked down at the keys. "Me neither." She shrugged.

Lena shook her head and chuckled as she sat down beside Ellie. "There is no doubt that you are a Luthor." She started to fiddle with some of the piano keys.

"Do you play?"

The young woman raised a brow and grinned at her niece. "I did once," she replied. "When I was growing up, being a Luthor meant understanding every aspect of elegance, art, and intelligence." She began to play a slow and simple version of Mozart's Turkish March with her right hand. "I took lessons in piano, ballet, violin; I learned Mandarin; and of course etiquette lessons."

Ellie cringed, "That sounds awful."

"They were," Lena laughed. "As I got older though, I eventually stopped. They were never things I was passionate about."

"Like your inventions and stuff?"

"Even before those… I just fell in love with the science of it all. Biochemistry, chemical-engineering…"

"It's your thing," the girl replied.

"Exactly." Lena smiled at her.

Ellie listened carefully as her aunt continued play a much slower version of the song she had heard before. She placed her left hand over a key and tested it. Another… then another… until she met the same measure.

Again, Lena smiled watching the girl so naturally play along. It seemed as though they didn't have to look very hard to find her thing.

O-o-O-o-O

Three Weeks Later

Lena struggled to unlock the door while trying to keep a hand over her niece's eyes and not bump into the girl's overfilled backpack. She leaned forward, pushing the door open, accidentally slamming it against the wall. "Oh crap," she mumbled, trying not to knock Ellie to the ground.

"Can I look yet?" The girl impatiently asked.

"No," Lena replied, kicking the door shut. She led the girl over to the other end of the living room, where her home office was once all set up. With a wide grin on her lips, the young woman couldn't hold her excitement any longer. "Okay," she said, pulling her hand away from the child's eyes. "Open."

Suddenly, a gasp escaped from Ellie's mouth. Jaw agape and eyes wider than ever, the ten-year-old slowly walked over to the new baby grand piano nestled in the living room corner. She caressed her right hand over the sleek black cover. Her fingers moved over the grooves of the elegantly carved music stand. "It looks like one of my mom's drawings."

Lena stepped forward. "That because it is," she replied. The child's eyes lit up as she looked at her aunt. "I had the stand crafted after one of her flower drawings in your room. The lilacs, I think."

Ellie nodded, "That's one of my favorites." She couldn't stop moving her hand along the relief. "Is this really mine?"

Lena nodded and smiled.

With another deep breath, the girl instantly crashed into the older woman's arms. "I can't believe you did all of this for me." She felt Lena brush her fingers through her hair and kiss the top of her head. "I love you so much. Thank you," she spoke softly into the woman's jacket collar.

Lena let out a tearful sigh, "I love you too, sweetie."