Lillian Luthor appears in a room of mostly stone, along with both the other shadow woman and Talia Al-Ghul, having just come here straight from her prison cell. However, before Lillian can even take a moment to look around, she feels her stomach make a horrid sound. In response, Lillian bends over, and then proceeds to throw up, all her food from last night coming up.
"I told you.... the 'teleportation' experience is an.... uneasy one for those not experienced with it...." Talia says.
A few more Leviathan members begin to walk into the room, and one of them hands Talia a cloth, which she then hands to Lillian. Lillian takes the cloth and wipes around her mouth.
"I'd prefer if I could keep that form of travel to a minimum.... in the future...." Lillian eventually says.
Talia chuckles.
"That can certainly be arranged." Talia says, "It is not like we intend to use you to go on missions or anything. In fact, I think you will be perfectly suited to remain here for the foreseeable future."
Lillian now regains her posture, and begins to look around the room they are in. The room itself looks like some sort of cave, as the walls, floor, and ceiling are all made of stone. Then also, on some of the walls is some weird writing, which almost looks ancient, which Lillian doesn't recognise. However, Lillian then also notices some cables on the ground, which have neatly been positioned against the walls so people don't trip over them, along with some electric lights on the ceiling.
"And where is here.... exactly?" Lillian asks.
Talia chuckles again.
"All will be revealed in due time." Talia says, "For now, follow me."
Lillian begins to follow Talia Al-Ghul through the facility, with them going through more rooms with electrical and even modern equipment in. However, all of the rooms still look like caves, so from this Lillian thinks that they are either underground somewhere, in an adapted cave system, or they are in a cave system that has been built into a mountainside.
Eventually, after Lilliana and Talia go through multiple rooms, with Lillian noticing all sorts of different people who she assumes are Leviathan agents, the two arrive in a bigger room with a large metal round table in the middle. This particular room has many more people inside than all of the other rooms, because of that, Lillian presumes this is Leviathan's command centre, or at the very least, this bases command centre.
"Leviathan, I would like to introduce you to Lillian Luthor." Talia says, with all the other members of Leviathan looking on at her, "She has agreed to help us with our upcoming battle against Supergirl, and her daughter, Lena Luthor. She is to be treated accordingly."
"Yes, ma'am." All of the Leviathan agents say in unison.
The Leviathan agents speaking like this is a rather unnerving experiencing for Lillian.
"Excellent." Talia says, now growing a smile, "Let's move onto our next course of action."
A few Leviathan members now begin to circle the metal round table along with Talia, but not all of them. Lillian assumes that the agents surrounding the table must be some of the key players in Leviathan, or Talia's most trusted advisors or something.
"Our first task of business is dealing with Elizabeth Walsh." Talia says, "She has been left in the DEO for too long; she needs to be dealt with."
"I volunteer myself." One of the Leviathan agents says, who looks to be another shadow woman.
"No. My skills are of better use." A male member of Leviathan says.
"No. This is better left to our top assassins." A third member says.
"Enough!" Talia says.
All Leviathan agents fall silent at Talia saying that. The leader of Leviathan then turns to look at Lillian Luthor.
"What do you think?" Talia asks.
"Me?" Lillian asks, confused.
"Yes, you." Talia replies, "I am sure from your conversations with your daughter, she has told you some useful information about her mother being held in the DEO that we can use to our advantage."
"She has...." Lillian nods slowly, while a bunch of thoughts flood through her mind. Lillian knows now she has to play things carefully, because she doesn't want Leviathan to kill Lena's mom, but at the same time, she doesn't want to already reveal that she isn't truly with them, "But.... I don't think taking Elizabeth Walsh out is a good idea."
"Are you questioning our leader!" One of the male Leviathan agents says, in an angry voice, stepping closer to Lillian in a threatening manner.
"Reagus, enough!" Talia says, holding out her hand in a stopping fashion, "Let Lillian speak."
"Of course...." The male Leviathan member, who must be called Reagus, says.
All eyes then turn to look at Lillian, which is another unnerving experience for the Luthor matriarch.
"Our goals are aligned.... But..... our methods might differ slightly..... You just want to deal with Lena and Supergirl, as well as her friends.... But I want revenge.... Taking Lena's mom out now will not benefit my need for revenge. But... it may also not benefit you." Lillian says, while stilling thinking where she is going.
"How will it not benefit us?" Talia asks.
"If you kill Elizabeth Walsh, yes, Lena will be devastated, and likely a complete emotional wreck. However, eventually, she will press down those emotions, and it will turn to anger, and determination. That will make her incredibly dangerous." Lillian says.
"You sound like you admire her..." Talia says.
"I do." Lillian nods, "Only a fool doesn't admire their foes strengths. Lena's determination is one of them."
"Hmm.... okay.... then what exactly do you suggest we do with Elizabeth Walsh?" Talia asks.
"Leave her as she is." Lillian says, "As you haven't felt the need to take her out already, I imagine you don't feel very threatened by any information she could pass along to Lena and Supergirl. So, the best thing to do would be to leave her. Allow Lena to grow closer to her mother, and create a bond again. Then, when the moment is right, that is when you strike, just when Leviathan is preparing an attack. That way, Elizabeth Walsh's death will put Lena, and in turn Supergirl, off balance, and they will not be expecting a second strike so soon."
After Lillian finishes speaking Talia remains silent for a long while, with all the other Leviathan agents looking at her. Eventually, Talia starts to grow a big smile on her face.
"And that is exactly why you will be a perfect fit for Leviathan, Lillian." Talia says, with a big wicked smirk, "We will do it your way."
As soon as Talia says that, Lillian feels a wave of relief wash over her. That is one time that she has deceived Leviathan over with, now she knows it's on to the next one, she just has to continue to be careful, and try and find some way to undermine this organisation, preferable without being caught.
***********************
It has now been a week since Lillian went willingly with Leviathan in her plan to try and take them down from the inside by pretending to work with them. So far, Kara, Lena, Alex, Sam, J'onn and the rest of the DEO have come up with absolutely no new leads in regards to Leviathan. This has, of course, been worrying Lena particularly. Lena is just so very worried that something will happen to Lillian, or that her adopted mother has already been found out by Leviathan and is dead. Lena has simply been in a bit of a panic ever since she first read that note that Lillian left for her, a note that she has now read over 200 times, just hoping it would provide some sort of clue or something.
Currently it is late at night, and Lena is sitting in her office in her and Kara's penthouse, drinking some scotch, all while she continues to go over more research and information about Leviathan. Lena hopes that she will be able to find something that will lead them to Leviathan. Lena just wants them to be able to take some action on Leviathan as quickly as possible, as she hopes that that way it will put her mother at the smallest amount of risk, and she won't die, which is something Lena has been constantly worrying about.
"Lena...." Kara says, in a tired voice, as she steps into Lena's office in their home, dressed in her pyjamas.
"Hmm?" Lena replies, not even turning around to look at her fiancé.
Kara walks further into the office, and then places both her arms around Lena's shoulders, hugging her from the back.
"Are you coming to bed anytime soon?" Kara asks.
"Just give me 5 more minutes...." Lena says.
Kara breaks from the hug, which Lena didn't really respond to, and sighs.
"That's what you have been saying the last few nights, but then I wake up in the morning to find you here, asleep on your desk." Kara says.
"What do you want from me, Kara!" Lena snaps, turning around to look at the blonde, "My mother is currently living amongst Leviathan! People who if they find out what her true intentions are, will kill her!"
Kara physically shrinks at Lena's harsh tone, something that she is very much not used to. As soon as Lena sees this, her features soften, realising what she has just done.
"I.... I'm sorry...." Lena says.
"No... it's okay...." Kara replies, and then begins to walk out of the office, "I get it."
Kara then leaves the office, leaving Lena alone again, and now looking in the direction of the doorway which Kara just walked out of. Lena knows she just screwed up and has hurt Kara, and hates that she just did that.
"Shit." Lena says to herself.
Lena then gets up from her chair in her office, and makes her way out of the room, heading towards her and Kara's bedroom. As Lena walks in the bedroom's direction, she stops by Alura's room, and then pokes her head inside, checking on her daughter, seeing that she is fast asleep. Once Lena confirms this, she moves to continue to walk through the penthouse, eventually entering her and Kara's bedroom.
Once Lena enters the bedroom, she sees that Kara is laying on her side, with her back to her, under the covers of their bed. Lena can already tell from Kara's demeanour that she is a bit upset with the fact that she snapped at her.
"I'm sorry..." Lena says.
Kara doesn't respond.
Lena then proceeds to climb on the bed and move over to Kara, and soon places a loving kiss on one of Kara's cheeks, while also stroking one of her arms.
"I'm so sorry, Kara." Lena says, "I didn't mean to snap at you like that..... That's not the type of person I am usually, you know that.... I just.... I'm so stressed with Lillian being with Leviathan..... it scares me, Kara."
Kara, once more, remains silent for a few moments, but she then turns over to look at her girlfriend.
"I know you're scared, Lee." Kara says, now with a look of sympathy on her face, "But.... I'm worried about you too.... If you continue to stress yourself out like this.... and push yourself..... things are not going to end well...... I get that you must be extremely worried, and it might seem unfair that you have just started to develop a good relationship with Lillian, and now she is gone again, but you still have a family, and we need you. You can't continue to work all these late nights and everything. So many people are looking and searching for Leviathan, you don't just have to act like it's all on your shoulders."
After Kara says that, Lena remains silent for a few moments, not saying a single word, or moving her facial features in a way that gives Kara a tell as to what her fiancé is speaking.
"I know...." Lena eventually says, "It's just...... it feels unfair.... Lillian just started acting sort of like the mom I have wanted her to be..... but now she goes off and does this.... putting herself at risk... and she says that she is doing it all for me? That.... that makes me feel awful..... If anything happens to her.... a part of me will just think that maybe it would have been for the best if Lillian didn't change....."
"Oh.... Lena..." Kara says, in a sympathetic voice, and then takes her fiancé in for a hug.
Lena hugs Kara back, and rest her head on the blonde's chest, enjoying her fiancé comforting her, allowing most of her worries to simply melt away for now.
"I know this must be incredibly difficult for you.... and seem so unfair.... but you can't think in terms of IF something happens to Lillian. You can't let yourself go down that path of thought, as it will never lead anywhere good." Kara says.
"But what IF something does happen to her.... How.... do I deal with that?" Lena asks.
Kara sighs.
"We deal with it together, as a family." Kara replies, "But you need to remember, Lillian may be doing this for you, but she is a grown woman capable of making her own decisions. She chose to do this, and I'm pretty sure if she has changed as much as she claims, then she wouldn't want you thinking this way."
Once more, after Kara finishes speaking, Lena remains silent for a few moments, letting the blonde's words sink in. This time, however, Kara decides not to just let Lena settle in her thoughts, and think on what she has just said.
"Plus..... if you think about it..... if Lillian wasn't working for Leviathan.... then there is the distinct possibility that they may have just tried to kill her in her prison cell anyway..... to tie up a loose end....." Kara says.
"Kara, that isn't helping!" Lena groans.
"Sorry. I'm just trying to make you see that this way might just be the best for us, for you, and for Lillian." Kara says.
Lena scoffs at Kara saying that.
"Do you seriously trust her, after everything she has done?" Lena asks, now looking up into Kara's eyes.
"I trust that.... she wants to be a better mother to you..... and is willing to go to great lengths to achieve that..... I can say many negative things about Lillian Luthor, but I can't say that she isn't willing to go to extremes for her children. It just so happens that those extremes have mostly lined up with Lex, until recently." Kara says.
Lena now is the one that sighs.
"I guess you're right." Lena says, after a few moments silence.
"I usually am." Kara says, now growing a slight smirk.
Lena scoffs.
"That's my line." Lena replies.
Kara chuckles.
"Not tonight it isn't." Kara says back, still smirking.
Lena rolls her eyes up at Kara, before finally taking her in for a loving kiss, which Kara responds to in kind.
"Thank you for talking with me, and making me feel better, even though I was an ass to you earlier." Lena says, once the kiss ends.
"You're welcome." Kara replies, "And thank you for listening, and coming in here to talk with me, rather than just sitting at your desk, going over all that information, and drinking more scotch."
Lena huffs.
"You make me sounds like a workaholic drunkard." Lena says.
"Well...." Kara says, with a smirk.
"Take it back!" Lena says, playfully.
Kara chuckles.
"Fine. Fine. I take it back." Kara replies, with a big smile.
"Good." Lena smiles back.
Kara and Lena then look into one another's eyes for a few moments, taking in the moment.
"I love you." Lena says.
"I love you more." Kara replies.
Lena chuckles.
"I'm not playing this game where next I say 'that's not possible', and then you disagree, and we keep on from there." Lena says.
"Yeah, because you'd lose." Kara replies.
Lena chuckles again.
"Let's just go to sleep." Lena says.
"Okay. I imagine it's going to be a lot more comfortable sleeping here with me tonight, rather than falling asleep on your desk." Kara says.
Lena chuckles once more.
"Yes, it certainly is." Lena says, as she snuggles further into Kara.
Kara wraps her arm around Lena, and then uses her free arm to turn off their bedroom lights.
"Goodnight, darling." Lena says.
"Goodnight, Lee." Kara replies.
Kara and Lena then fall asleep, happily snuggled together.
**********************
It has now just been over a week since Lillian first arrived at the Leviathan headquarters, or the place she still assumes is their headquarters. So far, Lillian really hasn't been able to get much useful information out of anyone, as the very obviously don't trust her entirely. Lillian has received a lot of cold shoulders, and some glares, but no one has been outright mean or rude to her, although that might be partly because of Talia's orders. However, even though the other members of Leviathan haven't revealed much to her, there has been a few things that she has been able to gleam, not only about Leviathan, but about where they might be. Lillian is now pretty sure that the base they are located in is very much in the side of a mountain, and isn't in the middle of nowhere. This is simply because of how Lillian has noticed some Leviathan members without shadow powers have easily come and gone, with some of them bringing back recognisable food brands without being gone more than a day or so. This means that the base can't be located in the Himalayas or something, as making trips like that would virtually be impossible. Then Lillian also knows that they are not deep underground because at one point she came across a device which showed they were above sea level, before it was quickly moved away from her. So, from that, Lillian realised they could not be in a cave.
One of the other things that Lillian has been able to figure out is that Leviathan as an origination works in a very specific way, and its leadership isn't entirely singular in nature. This means that while it is clear that Talia Al-Ghul is the leader of Leviathan, she doesn't control what everyone does. There seems to be various different factions of Leviathan, likely broken up into the regions they operate in, and Talia very rarely gets involved, nor do any people that work below Talia. It just looks like that Leviathan's goals are to sink their claws into places of power and influence, to be used when necessary, and Talia will only get involved when there is something specific she wants them to achieve. But then when Talia does get involved, everyone listens to her, with no arguments or questions.
Presently, Lillian is walking through the Leviathan headquarters, simply looking at everything, and trying to take it all in to store any useful information in the back of her mind. So far, Leviathan haven't actually got her to do anything, so her days have just been extremely boring, waking up, washing, eating breakfast, looking around the Leviathan base, having lunch, looking around the Leviathan base again, and then having dinner and going to sleep. Needless to say, it is all very mundane. However, Lillian thinks that it is just some sort of test from Talia to just see what she does, and it's not like she is actually living in a real cave. The base the headquarters are located in is extremely well furbished, with Lillian having her own bedroom and bathroom that might put many 5-star hotels to shame.
"Lillian...." Talia says, walking up to Lillian as the Luthor Matriarch strolls through the base.
"Talia." Lillian nods.
"How have you been settling in?" Talia asks.
Lillian turns and looks at Talia.
"Is this some sort of game?" Lillian asks, "I'm sure you know a lot about me, and have had people closely monitoring me. So, I can assume you already know I'm pretty bored, being made to do absolutely nothing."
After Lillian finishes speaking, Talia looks at the Luthor matriarch for a few moments, before finally growing a smirk on her face.
"Fair enough." Talia says, "Now, come with me."
Lillian then proceeds to follow Talia through the Leviathan headquarters, going down several corridors and hallways. The layout of the base is extremely confusing, and even though Lillian has been staying here for over a week now, she still doubts she has even seen half of it.
Eventually, Lillian and Talia arrive in a room which looks to be an extremely well, and highly equipped, lab. Lillian can't even begin to imagine how Leviathan was able to install everything in the room in secret in this cave, although she thinks that having Leviathan agents who can teleport probably helps.
"As I assume you can tell..... this is one of our labs...." Talia explains, as the two walk into the room.
"Hmmm.... You have more than one?" Lillian asks.
Talia chuckles.
"We have other bases, with similar facilities." Talia replies.
Lillian nods her head, accepting that she isn't going to get more out of Talia right now, and doesn't want to press too far and make herself seem suspicious.
"So, why have you brought me in here?" Lillian asks, as she continues to look around, and inspect all the lab equipment.
"Well, it is from our understanding that much like your son and daughter, you too have an incredible scientific mind." Talia says.
"Hmmm.... you could say that." Lillian replies.
"We thought that you might be able to put it to good use now, working for us. It will at least give you something to do." Talia says.
Lillian now turns and looks at Talia.
"You want me to work in this lab for you?" Lillian asks, "I thought that you would already have people for that, and that my skills and knowledge would be better used elsewhere."
Talia nods her head.
"We do have other talented individuals, but the reason I want you working in this lab, is because I have something specific in mind for you." Talia explains.
"And what is that exactly?" Lillian asks.
"Well..... it is from our understanding that you helped your son, Lex, in creating an alternated version of red kryptonite that you had James Olsen use on Supergirl." Talia says.
"You seem to know a lot." Lillian comments.
"We have people everywhere, even within your own group, the people who were working for you." Talia explains.
Lillian huffs.
"Well, you are correct. I did help Lex with that." Lillian replies.
"And would you be able to do it again? Without your son's help?" Talia asks.
Lillian turns and looks at Talia in the eyes for a few moments.
"I would... with the right resources." Lillian eventually replies, with a nod of her head, "But.... I don't see what the point of it would be...... I have already used that on Supergirl, and I would fully expect that Lena would very quickly realise if the same substance was used on Supergirl again."
"You can just say Kara, we already know her name." Talia says.
"Yes... Kara..." Lillian replies, "But my point still stands."
"Yes. And that is why we do not wish to use the substance on Supergirl." Talia explains.
Lillian grows a look of confusion on her face, before her eyes then widen.
"You mean.... you want to use it on her daughter?" Lillian asks, being extremely disgusted by the very thought of it, even though she is not fond of aliens.
"No. That is not it either." Talia replies.
Lillian feels relieved upon hearing Talia say that, and once she realises that, Lillian gets an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. Lillian has just realised that she actually cares for Alura Luthor-Danvers, even though she is a half-alien. Lillian actually wants to protect the child; she is Lena's daughter after all. Therefore, this makes Lillian feel some internal conflict building up inside her.
"Then what would it be for?" Lillian asks.
"Kryptonite might be a weakness for Kryptonians, but some of our scientists believe that it could be used for other purposes.... To.... enhance some of our agents...." Talia says, "Specifically, if red kryptonite were to be adapted once more."
"Hmmm...." Lillian hums, now realising that what Leviathan wants to do could pose quite a risk on everyone, Lena included.
"So.... can you do it?" Talia asks again.
"I can." Lillian nods, "But I will need to provide someone with a list of resources I'll need to do it, and it will take some time."
"That is acceptable." Talia nods, "Our current scientists have already been working on this... but with.... lacklustre results."
Lillian nods her head, and now thinks that she has got to find a way to somehow sabotage Leviathan achieving these goals with Kryptonite, while also hopefully keeping herself alive in the process. Needless to say, things just got a bit more precious for Lillian.
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