Falsehood

Notes: Find me on Tumblr at spoopercorp and on AO3 as Local_Asshole.

"Darling," Lena chided playfully, strong arms wrapping around her waist.

Kara giggled and pressed their bodies together, smothering her face into the dark hair that was mussed from sleep. She brushed her fingers through the knots gently, untangling the silky locks. She inhaled and Lena leaned away to avoid the heat of the breath tickling the nape of her neck.

"Breakfast?" Kara asked.

Lena hummed nodding as she flipped the omelettes in the pan and sprinkled in some chopped greens.

"Oh! Kale!" Kara exclaimed, enthusiastically pulling the vegetable from the pile on the cutting board and popping it into her mouth, chewing excitedly, "So good!"

A moment of confusion flickered across Lena's expression, the fact that Kara just ate kale, and the fact that Kara had her arms tightly wound across Lena's stomach, and the fact that Kara gave a chaste kiss on her cheek like they were a-

"Mommy!"

Her train of thought came to a sudden halt at the little girl dashing towards them from her peripheral vision.

Her hair was a dirty blonde, not as dark as Lena's, but not as light as Kara's, her eyes a soft olive tone and her skin a fair shade.

Something in Lena clicked and suddenly she was greeting the child with familiarity, even though in the very depths of her mind she had not ever encountered the girl before.

"Lori!" she and Kara both called, wide grins plastered on their faces to match...

...their daughter's.

Lena's glance dipped to the floor at the passing recognition, another moment of befuddlement shadowing the clarity in her, but she shrugged off the cumbersome cloud with a shake of her head.

Kara crouched and laughed when the small girl tackled her, clinging onto her chest like a lifeline. She stood, adjusting Lori's position so she sat atop her broad shoulders.

Lena's gaze raked over the tensing biceps before connecting with Kara's, who winked teasingly and flexed her arms again to showcase her muscles.

Lena averted her eyes momentarily, a faint blush traveling up her neck and coloring her cheeks a lovely pink shade. Then she playfully slapped Kara's arm, "Stop showing off."

The woman pouted, rubbing the assaulted spot with mock hurt, "You didn't have a problem with it until now."

"Mommy!" Lori bounced, tugging Kara's shirt and giggling as she pointed at Lena, "Mom is red like your cape!"

Lena narrowed her eyes at her daughter, who glared back with just as much intensity, complemented with a familiar pout.

Kara chuckled, "I think she's channeling her inner CEO, maybe she should stop spending time with you at LuthorCorp."

L-Corp.

Lena paused at the thought that spontaneously appeared in her head.

"—unch with them?"

She focused on the voice, pulling her back from the blurry void of her mind.

"Pardon?"

Kara arched a brow, and folded her arms, "Did you forget we're having brunch with them again?"

"Who?"

"You really need to stop overworking yourself. With Lionel, Lillian, and Lex of course!"

Lena took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose at the names, a feeling of dread pulling at her gut when she heard them utter from the blonde's lips, "Sorry, I have a headache, I need a moment."

Kara's and Lori's eyes crinkled in concern.

"Do you need me to get you some ibuprofen?"

Lena waved off the inquiry, "No, no. I just...give me a second and then we can get ready to meet up with them."

Kara's expression eased slightly, "Okay, I'll call them and tell them we'll be downtown in about thirty minutes."

"Lena!"

Her ears perked up at her name, her attention departing from her wife and daughter to...

"Lex," she breathed, giving him a small smile.

"Why the long face?" he asked, chortling as he greeted Lori by ruffling a hand through her hair.

"Lena said she had a headache," Kara answered, "She might be overworking again."

"I wouldn't have handed my position to you if I knew you'd be so stressed," Lex teased.

"I think you had her inherit LuthorCorp 'cause you couldn't handle the stress, son."

"Dad!" Lex whined as Lionel joined the group, patting him on the back.

"Your father makes a good point, Lena's done an amazing job nurturing the family company," Lillian added with a joyful smile directed to her daughter, "She's changed the world, found a cure for cancer, created a transmatter portal, practically ended poverty with that invention, and that's only a few of her accomplishments. I'm proud of you."

Lena flushed at the praise, and for some reason it felt unfamiliar—foreign—like those words should never have come out of that woman's mouth.

"Up!" Lori shouted, standing on the tips of her toes with her arms wide open, "Grandpa!"

"Oh no! I'm too old to carry you now, kiddo! You're so big now!" Lionel laughed at the girl's scowl, pinching her cheeks.

Lillian tugged her husband's arm towards the restaurant, "Come, let's eat," her focus diverted to her daughter, "Lena? Stop gawking, we're all hungry here."

Kara gripped her wife's hand and dragged her in, "Come on."

Lori followed with a tug to the sleeve of her trench coat, "Mom, let's go! I'm starving!"

Lena blinked dazedly, still momentarily fazed by the loving attention she received from her mother.

It made an out-of-place feeling of uneasiness pool within her chest.

"Uh, yeah, of course," she grinned at Lori and ignored her doubts, "Let's go, sweetheart."

"Oh, I'll join you guys in five or ten minutes," Kara added, scanning the area.

"Your ears picked something up?" Lex inquired with a chuckle, lifting Lori onto his shoulders, "You could be more subtle about x-raying the city you know."

"Come back in five minutes if you want dessert," Lillian chimed in, smirking, "Or else Lori gets extra."

"Go, Mommy! Get the bad guys!" the girl cheered, "Not too fast though, I want extra dessert."

Kara placed her hands on her hips and stared up at her daughter perched upon her brother-in-law's shoulders, "We'll see about that."

Lionel gave the blonde a wide grin, "Go get 'em, Supergirl," he winked, "Save the day."

Lillian laughed and shook her head, mumbling, "She's definitely not getting dessert..."

Lena watched in shock as Kara disappeared into the crowd of pedestrians, a second later a loud whistle and a bang followed suit as the sound barrier was broken, a streak of red and blue darting across her vision.

She could not shake the feeling that something was entirely wrong about what just happened.

The couple walked into their home, Lena and Lori hand-in-hand, Kara lagging behind with her arms crossed and a pout embittering her expression.

Lena patted Lori's shoulder, "Sweetheart, did you have fun with Lex and your grandparents?"

The girl nodded enthusiastically, "We went to the park with Uncle Clark, his parents, and Aunt Lois to have a picnic and play with Krypto! Did you have fun with your friends, Mom?" then she addressed Kara, "Mommy?"

"We both had a lot of fun," Lena smiled, "We played a game called billiards."

"The one with the big sticks and the balls with the numbers on them?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I was teamed up with Mommy, Winn, and J'onn. We were up against Alex, Maggie, James, and Mon-El."

"What about Grandma Alura and Auntie Astra?"

"They decided to spectate and spend time with Zor-El and Non," she hummed, "Jack decided to be scorekeeper."

"You guys lost, didn't you?" Lori giggled.

"Now, what makes you say that?" Lena asked.

"Winn is really bad at that game."

"So is Mon-El," she countered weakly.

"You're not denying it, so you did lose."

"Okay, smartie pants, get ready for bed. It's late."

Lori obeyed and grinned triumphantly, giving her mothers kisses on their cheeks before skipping away.

Lena noticed her wife still had a pout on her face and teased, "Still upset you didn't have dessert?" Maybe we can get some next time, we can call up Eliza and Jeremiah."

Kara grumbled, "No, I'm not upset. Hah! What makes you think I'm upset?"

"Gee, well, maybe it's 'cause of that frown, grumpy," Lena chuckled, tapping her nose then flicking between her brows, "Or that crinkle."

Kara jerked away and muttered, rubbing the traitorous spot rapidly, "Stupid crinkle..."

"It's okay, I can make you some dessert," Lena reassured, "How does ice cream and cookies sound?"

Before she could head to the kitchen, she was suddenly pressed up against the wall, thigh pressed between her legs.

"I know what I want for dessert," Kara breathed.

Lena shuddered at the heat that tickled the hollow of her throat, "Fuck, Lori is—"

She let out a small gasp at the rush of air and suddenly her back hit the cushions of their bed, a hand playing with the waistband of her pants.

"Well," Kara murmured into her ear, "I guess we better be quiet then."

"Do you want to scar Lori for life if she walks in on us?" Lena whispered harshly, choking out a grunt when a tongue left a wet trail over her collarbone, "Shit," she clawed down broad shoulders, bulky back muscles, and jerked her hips when the body pressed on top of her shuddered.

"Lena?"

The weight pressed on top of her hastily disappeared and a loud crash outside echoed. Lena rushed out of the room, eyes widening when she saw Supergirl attack Kara, flinging her across the living room. Her wife's back crumbled the plaster off upon contact.

"I..." Lena looked back and forth between the two identical women, one in khakis and a button-up, the other in the red and blue Supergirl suit.

"Lena!" the hero shouted, panic in her eyes, "You have to wake up! This isn't real!"

They all stumbled when the ground began to shake.

"Don't listen to her!" her wife screamed, "She's a clone! Stay back!"

"Mommy?"

"Honey!" Kara rushed in front of her daughter, looking at Lena, "You and Lori need to go, I can take care of the intruder!"

"I'm the real Kara!" Supergirl countered, darting her gaze for any form of proof. Then her eyes landed on the kitchen counter, "Lena! You know I hate kale! We went for lunch just last Saturday for kombucha at that new vegan place. Do you remember? I spit out the kale while I thought you weren't looking?"

There was another deep grumble, a powerful force shattering the glass windows.

"Lena!" Kara called out more forcefully, tugging Lori closer to her side, reaching a hand out, "Come here!"

Supergirl shook her head, "Don't listen to her! I know how tempting this is, Lena, I do! I was under the Black Mercy, I lost my parents, my planet, all over again!"

"What do you mean?" Kara argued, "Krypton is fine! We established trade with Earth! My family is alive! She's lying, Lena!"

They all clambered for support as the base of the house shook violently again.

"They're..." Supergirl was speechless, "Everyone's alive here?" she looked at her best friend, "Your perfect world has Krypton and my family?"

Lena glanced up, her green eyes somber, "Your happiness is important to me, it's a part of my ideal world."

Supergirl offered her hand, planting her feet on the ground firmly and hanging onto a counter for leverage, "Let's go back."

Lena hesitated momentarily, coaxed in by the soft voice, but paused when she glanced back at her wife and daughter.

"Mom! Don't leave!" Lori sobbed.

"She doesn't know you like I do!" Kara screamed, "You save National City and she leaves without a goodbye? You save the world from an invasion and she neglects to thank you again?"

Kara's expression hardened, her voice grew slightly warped as she spat a roar out, "How many times have you tried to kill yourself and she wasn't there for you? How many times have you poisoned yourself with alcohol 'cause she didn't trust you enough to tell you about her Supergirl escapades until months later? How many times have you questioned your self-worth and you had no shoulder to cry on 'cause she," Kara glared menacingly at Supergirl, "was the only friend you had? She will never understand you—never love you the way I do!"

Lena flinched at the hurtful words, a strangled sob clawing out of her throat.

"I know..." she murmured quietly, the chaos surrounding them swallowing up the whisper.

"I'm sorry, Darling... This is just a fantasy, a beautiful dream," Lena sniffed, shaking her head—she had duties, obligations, and responsibilities in reality—she could not stay, "Unfortunately this is temporary. I should've known this was too good to be true."

She turned to her savior, waiting for further instructions.

"I-I'm sorry, Lena," Supergirl apologized, "I'm not...I can't give you this life, I can't—"

"I know, Kara. I'd never ask this of you. You were never supposed to know," she murmured, masking her heartbreak with a small smile, "But it's okay. Let's just go."

The rejection was expected, but it still unleashed wave after wave of pain inside her, nonstop, the next exponentially more painful than the last.

She grasped Supergirl's hand and everything imploded, overwhelming her vision with bright white light.

Lena shot up with a gasp, jerking away violently when the Black Mercy slithered off of her torso and withered on the floor, dying with a whisper.

"—na."

She stared at it and swung her legs around so they dangled off of the bench, continuing to stare even with the DEO agents prodding her body and checking her vitals.

"—ena."

She blinked tiredly, the exhaustion finally catching up to her body and seeping all the strength left in her muscles to her bones.

"Lena!"

Her head snapped up, away from the parasite, eyes connecting with a pair of blue ones wrinkled in concern.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked, inching closer to her friend. She placed her hand atop hers and rubbed it gently, soothingly.

Lena flinched and pulled away, gaze dipping to the floor at Kara's hurt reaction. Her vision traveled back to the emptiness that once held the dead Black Mercy on its polished tiles, now retrieved and discarded by the agents.

It was a haunting sight, the Luthor's eyes sunken in, her cheeks gaunt with how much time she was under the parasite's influence, with how much life it sucked out of her body. She must have been starving and thirsty, the weariness sluggishly catching up to her. She looked weak, her sigh small and shaky to complement the trembling of her body in the aftermath of the trauma.

"Miss Luthor," a doctor cleared her throat, "I recommend you stay for observation, we—"

"No."

Everyone in the room did a double-take.

"I'm going home," Lena croaked hoarsely, leaving no room for argument. There were no tears and her face was expressionless, but the dark circles under her eyes communicated sheer defeat.

"I'll take you," Kara offered.

"No," Lena rejected hastily, "I'll call my driver."

"Oh." The voice sounded sad, disappointed.

She slid off the bench, swaying when her feet hit the ground, the blonde heroine allowing her to lean against her shoulders.

"I'll help you outside," came the next offer, more hopeful that it would be accepted.

Lena recoiled, "No. I can handle myself."

Kara's lips parted, slightly agape at the second rejection, "I..." she whispered brokenly, taking several reluctant steps back to give her friend space, "Okay..."

Lena glanced at J'onn and nodded tersely, "Thank you."

The Martian returned the gesture, something akin to pity shining in the depths of his aged eyes as Lena left the room in a hurry.

"Did you see what happened?" Alex inquired, folding her arms next to her boss.

"I didn't see everything, just a flash, but I felt what happened. It was hard not to," he grunted, voice gruff.

"Well?" Alex asked, "Care to elaborate?"

J'onn sighed, glancing over to Kara's forlorn expression, "It's not my place to say. I wasn't supposed be in her mind, I didn't want to, but the range of her emotions were so erratic they pulled me in no matter how hard I tried to fight it."

He was psychic, and with that came the simultaneous gift and curse of empathy.

J'onn experienced unrequited love in his many hundred years of living, and he never thought he would encounter someone with more pain than his own regarding that, especially that of someone who had only lived around two or three decades compared to his many centuries.

J'onn was wrong. Lena's pain was shut in, coupled with other issues she had to sweep under the rug that exponentially made it more painful. The bottled emotions were finally leaking, and he could not imagine what it would feel like if it finally shattered open.

"Everyone, get back to work," J'onn ordered, then he turned to Alex, still reeling from the emotions forced upon him, "I...need a moment. I'll be back."

The woman gave him a strange look as he left—fled, "Um, okay. Kara? What happened?"

Her little sister's shoulders slumped, a somber expression coloring her features, tears finally dripping from the corners of her eyes.

Lena did not go home.

She never had any intention to isolate herself in her secluded penthouse, and decided to go to L-Corp and resume work right away.

Not that it was surprising. She would much rather be alone in her office knowing she was surrounded by her workers and knowing that Jess was just outside being an exemplary secretary as usual. Even though she was a more vulnerable target in the heart of National City, the remote location in the forested outskirts where her luxurious abode sat comfortably was, in all honesty, uncomfortable.

Lena did not want to be alone, she did not trust herself to be, especially with what happened.

And now all her paperwork was done and it was not even eleven yet—she needed the distraction of productivity.

"You can go home, Jess."

Her secretary's brows arched in surprise, "Are you sure, Miss Luthor? You just returned after your..." she hesitated, "...'temporary leave of absence' according to the media. I'm worried about your safety—"

"I'll be fine," Lena cut in, a small smile gracing her lips, "You can finish planning upcoming events for me this month and you can be on your way."

Jess acquiesced, sensing the tone, how it was a demand rather than a grant of permission or a request, "Have a good night, Miss Luthor."

"You as well."

The double-doors shut with a heavy click, and Lena finally released her businesswoman persona and slumped into her chair with a burdensome sigh, flicking her glass cup of water with her fingers, reveling in the resounding clink it made. Her attention diverted, almost embarrassingly so, towards her alcohol cabinet once her mind even breached the vague thought of a certain blue-eyed, blonde woman with glasses and nightly crusading cape.

Her resistance was broken and she sauntered over to the cabinet, swinging it open and retrieving a bottle of bourbon, opening it and chugging a gulp of its contents. The uncultured sight was so shocking that anyone who witnessed probably would have had to look twice to see the normally proper Luthor so unkempt.

Lena sank back into her chair, setting the alcohol down her desk with a thump, the force sloshing the liquid out of the opening and spilling it on her stacks of papers.

She snatched them away and huffed in frustration, setting the files aside to a dryer section of her desk before continuing her toxic indulgence.

"Lena!"

She jolted awake, immediately groaning at the pounding headache that pulsed in her skull. She blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes to the bright light that shined through her windows.

She was still in her office, sitting in her desk, she concluded that she must have fallen asleep during her unhealthy coping mechanism.

Lena winced at her secretary's alarmed expression, matching the abject horror on Kara's face at the scene of smashed glass and bottles, shards strewn across the table and floor due to Lena's fury. She did not even remember what happened.

Her heart raced, she must have looked absolutely awful, and she silently wished that her friend had seen her in the midst of her alcohol binge rather than the aftermath of it. Lena felt humiliated and pathetic; she obscured her face with her hand and dark curtain of tangled hair, covering her smudged lipstick and mascara that ran down her cheeks due to her crying. Her eyes felt irritated and puffy and probably were quite red, she could only imagine the pitiful sight.

At least her nose was no longer stuffy.

"Jess, please escort Miss Danvers out of the building," she ordered, calming the tremors in her voice.

Kara frowned, crestfallen, "Lena..."

The protest was weak.

"I'm so sorry for what happened, I shouldn't have invaded your privacy like—"

A dark look flashed across Lena's jaded green eyes, face slightly souring at the topic, her lips puckered almost as if she could taste the bitterness of the situation.

Jess alternated her nervous glances back and forth between the two women, feeling as if she was intruding on a private matter, but she found herself unable to move, the awkwardness tethering her to the floor.

"Please. Leave," Lena repeated, swiveling her chair around, away from the two women almost scrutinizing her unprofessional appearance.

There was a series of footsteps, one heavier than the other pair, and before the door closed, Lena cleared her throat.

"Jess. Stay."

She turned back around, her secretary pulling her foot back into the room before shutting entrance.

"Yes, Miss Luthor?" she asked, tentative and careful. The fact that her tone tiptoed around Lena's current fragility sort of irked her.

"Revoke Miss Danvers' access to my office unless I give explicit permission or she has an appointment made."

Kara probably could hear at her distance with her super hearing, and given the circumstances she was likely eavesdropping. Lena took a moment to feel remorse before solidifying her resolve.

"Oh," Jess sounded surprised, "A-Are you sure?"

She was uneasy, and she knew the extent of their friendship, how her boss seemed lighter since Kara came into the picture.

Lena raised a brow."

"R-Right away, Miss Luthor," Jess nodded stiffly.

Lena grimaced, burying her face into her hands when her headache came back with a nauseating vengeance.

She rushed into the nearest bathroom stall and vomited into the toilet bowl, her stomach emptying its contents from yesterday, which was exactly three small cups of water, a kale salad, and a ridiculous amount of liquor.

Hangovers were a bitch.

"Miss Luthor?"

"Jess," she rasped, hearing her secretary's echo from the end of the bathroom, "Can you get me some ibupro—"

Lena was interrupted when she heard some pills rattle in a container.

Always one step ahead.

"I'm setting it on the counter, Miss Luthor. Along with a glass of water," Jess gave her a knowing and expectant look, "I'll be outside if you need anything else."

"Thank you. You're a lifesaver."

Notes: Constructive criticism appreciated.