Lillian Luthor

Astra had known what was going on. She was there when Lilian got the summoning letter from Lex, and she didn’t want her to go. But she went anyway. She’d spent the whole time worrying about what would happen while Lillian was gone. When heard her come in, she was there before Lillian could even finish her sentence. “I’m here.” She says softly. 

“That’s understandable.” She leaned back in her seat, trying to loosen up now that she knew why Lillian was here. She wasn’t so bad, not like how she imagined the Luthors to be (and how the news outlets portrayed certain members). “I’d like to get to know you…if that’s at all possible. All of you. Perhaps we could grab lunch sometime?” She rushed through the proposal, looking away. “I work most days, but I’m sure we could figure something out.”

@pulitzerpanther | touch starved starters - accepting 

Lillian pauses, and in the brief silence, she can hear the small bubbles popping in the water. Cat is heavy and warm against her front, and she feels more relaxed than she has in a while in the hot, fragrant water. She nods, dropping a kiss to Cat’s shoulder as she continues to drag the foamy cloth along Cat’s back to wash her. ‘Of course. I’m nearly done, but the bath’s still hot’. 

@pulitzerpanther | touch starved sentences - accepting

Lillian blinks, and her arms tighten instinctively around the much smaller woman. She knows that Cat hugs Carter all the time, because she’s a good mother, but... but maybe she’s talking about being hugged. She swallows tightly, and she trails a hand up Cat’s back to cradle the back of her head. She closes her eyes, her body relaxing as she lets herself curl down over Cat, and she murmurs, ‘I... I can relate’. 

She can’t remember the last time someone hugged her. Lex was never one for hugs, and Lionel didn’t hug. He just crushed her to his chest until she found it difficult to breathe. 

Lena didn’t even protest when her mom took away her alcohol; it wasn’t as if it had helped anyways. She stared blankly ahead and flinched a little when her mom touched her, expecting the worst. Lena knew now what her father had been like and, for some stupid, stupid reason, she almost expected her mother to hit her. Or jerk her face sharply. Or laugh at her. 

But her mother’s touch was soft and kind and Lena–had no idea how to react to it. It almost would’ve been easier if her mother hurt her. Lena deserved it for being so fucking dumb. 

Lena fell into her mother’s embrace and wondered, distantly, if this was the first time her mother had ever held her. She didn’t think so. And, had Lena not been so used to Kara’s affection by now, she would’ve panicked. As it was, she carefully lifted her hand and carefully, carefully clung to her mother’s shirt as she might anchor her to reality. 

“Why would she lie to me?” she asked numbly. 

Lillian tightened her grip on Lena, stroking her fingers carefully through her hair. ‘Maybe she was afraid’, she murmured, ‘afraid that... that she’d lose you’. She sighed heavily. She’d known who Supergirl really was since Myriad, but it hadn’t been her secret to tell. ‘She knows how you feel about... about people lying, Lena’. 

She hesitated. She wanted to make this better. She had no idea how to make this better, but she wanted to. Lena was her daughter, and she knew how much she cared about Kara. How important her friendship was to her. 

          The world was never simple. It was never just black or white, but shades of indistinguishable grey. It felt so impossible to believe that, once upon a time, Clark had been friends with Lex Luthor —— the man who had, days ago, tried his hardest to kill her, manipulated so many people just to try and tear her down… the man who did not want to be saved, rather he did not want to be saved by her. An alien. A kryptonian. A thing he despised, not a person but a pest that needed to be eradicated.

But then, there was Lena; she was nothing like Lex; she was kind, and good, a heart undeserving of the judgement that came with her last name. They stood on shaky ground, but the important thing was that now Lena knew the truth.

Lillian was an unknown factor, a piece of the grey. Kara knew what mothers could be like, and the most she wanted was for Lillian to know all of her truths, no lies, before judging her from recent events. Her expression softened, ever so slightly. “I didn’t mean to scare you… I’m sorry…”

She lifted her hands, as if to portray that she had no intention of harm, or anything of that nature. “I came because I wanted to tell you that I’m truly sorry about Lex… I tried to save him. I just — I didn’t want you to think that I just let him fall, that I deliberately dropped him.” She wanted the warning if Lillian was going to come after her. “I… understand, if you hate me, for his death, for exposing everything he was doing, but I wanted you to at least have the truth, to hear it from me.”

‘It’s... it’s alright’, Lillian murmured, rubbing at her chest before dropping her hand with a heavy sigh, ‘you just startled me’. She stared at Kara for a moment, unsure why she was there and wondering if she should be worried, but whatever unease sparked was too overwhelmed by how utterly exhausted she was. 

She stood there, staring blankly as Kara’s words hung in the silence between them, and she wondered absently if her confusion showed on her face. ‘You’re... apologising to me?’ It was certainly there in her voice, and she blinked rapidly, momentarily overwhelmed by it. 

No one had ever apologised to her for the things she’d been through. Lionel hadn’t, and Clark hadn’t spoken to her after his confrontation with Lex. She could hardly blame him, but it had hurt all the same. Hurt, because she’d loved that boy, and she’d lost him too. 

And now she’d lost her son.

It’s at the tip of Eliza’s tongue to tell Lillian that Supergirl was not her daughter. But that would be futile; if Lillian truly worked for Cadmus — and Eliza had reason to believe that she did — it’d only keep the woman in Eliza’s house longer than necessary.

“What about it?” She asked sharply instead.

She stops. Lena isn’t alright. She can’t be alright. Not after what’s happened. Lillian swallows, and moves to sit on the couch, not too close, aware that Lena might not want it, and says, ‘I heard about what happened’. 

             “ Trying to — ” Nia muttered without tearing her eyes away from the wound — too concentrated on it to scold her or sneer . Not until SHE KNEW that the fisa was no longer in peril . Azplana was silent for the longest time , taking the time to make sure she could remove it in one quick motion without causing more injury . “ You’re NOT a warrior ! You — ” A low growl slipped free , shaking her head before steadying her hand and —-             The remnants of the arrow was pushed right through ; hitting the cold stone with a light clatter . THERE … Nia stepped away just for a few moments , retrieving some dressing and a wet cloth to remove as much of the blood as she could before bandaging it . “ It’s going to SCAR . ” Nia murmured , finally allowing herself to glance back to Lillian .

Lillian cried out, her head falling back against the tree behind her, her eyes screwing shut as her feet scuff against the forest floor. She shuddered, and took a shaky breath, swearing under her breath as she exhaled it. She resisted the urge to clutch at her wound, allowing Nia to tend to it, staring at the trees above and trying not to think about what the burning, sharp pain reminded her of.