Lena has now left Alex alone in the medical bay, allowing the redhead to get some more rest after their talk. Right now, Lena is heading for Alura and Lillian, hoping that the two are finished with the yellow sun lamps, so they can get on with what they need to do now, drawing blood from all three of them. Once Lena makes it over to the room where the yellow sun lamps are, she is able to see that the yellow sun lamps are off, so the brunette CEO opens the door and heads inside the room. After Lena enters the room, she confirms to herself, once more, that all the sun lamps are off, and she sees that presently Lillian is just taking a closer look at Alura's hand, clearly to make sure that the kryptonian has healed properly from the exposure to the yellow sun lamps.
"Hello." Lena says, "Has everything gone alright in here?"
"Oh, hello, dear." Lillian says, as she looks up at Lena, clearly not realising she was in the room until the CEO spoke up, "Yes, I think everything is fine. I'm just giving Alura a once over right now, before we proceed with drawing some blood under red sun lamps. It seems that her wound on her hand has healed up completely."
"That's good." Lena nods, "How are you feeling, Alura?"
"I feel.... a lot better to be honest. I kind of feel like I'm buzzing with energy right now. In fact, I feel better now than I did before I even touched the harun-el." Alura says, with a smile.
"That's good." Lena nods, "You'll need to be a bit careful now, for the next few moments, and try and not get overwhelmed. Just like Kara and I, and Reign I guess, as well as Morgan and Alura, you have powers here on Earth, due to the yellow sun, and those yellow sun lamps would have boosted your powers. Usually this is fine when we use them on Kara. But the difference between you and Kara is Kara has had several years to learn how to control her powers, you haven't. Believe me, controlling these powers can be very difficult. I very much struggle with it myself. I remember the first time I got the ability to fly, I had to call Kara, as I literally started floating up in the air, towards the ceiling of my office. Kara then came and put me back down on the ground, and took a while to teach me how not to randomly fly. It was difficult, and it is still a bit difficult at times, and I really haven't even tried to test any other powers I might have. So, my point is, you are not used to these powers, so you might lose control if you're not careful, especially after being exposed to those yellow sun lamps."
"Okay." Alura nods, "Thank you for warning me, I will try and be very careful. But, may I ask, what powers exactly does my daughter have under this yellow sun? Kara did mention a few to me when she was talking about herself on Argo, but she probably didn't mention everything."
"Well, she can fly, has super strength, super speed, she's incredibly strong, her skin is impenetrable, she has x-ray vision, as well as laser vision, and she can blow with her breath to create freeze breath and freeze things. I don't believe I have missed anything." Lena says.
"Wow. That is truly fascinating." Alura says back, "My husband and I knew that Kara would gain some powers, under Earth's yellow sun, when we sent her here to Earth, but we had no idea just the extent of the powers she would gain."
"Yeah." Lena says, with a smile, "Well, maybe once all of this is over, you can talk with her about them. I'm sure she would be more than happy to share with you everything that she can do on Earth, and show them off to you."
"Yes, I'd like that." Alura says, with a nod of her head, "But let's focus on the task in hand right now, shall we? We can get to all that later."
"Yes." Lena nods, with her own smile, "Mother, have you finished looking Alura over now?"
"Yes. I believe so." Lillian replies, "I haven't found anything to suggest that Alura here is still carrying an injury or something, and therefore it would be dangerous to put her under a red sun lamp. Alura, are you sure you are okay?"
"Yes, I am sure, Lillian." Alura replies.
"Very well then." Lillian nods, "I will go and retrieve the syringes to draw the blood from the three of us. I think it might be best if you draw the blood from me first, as we don't know how weak the two of you might be after being exposed to the red sun lamps, or how long it will last. This way, if you remain weak, at least I can get on with testing the blood against the harun-el."
"Yes, okay. That sounds like a good idea." Lena says.
Lillian now leaves the room, leaving Lena and Alura alone.
"How is Alex doing?" Alura asks Lena, now that they are alone.
"She's...... doing about as well as can be expected, to be honest. She just told me that she blames herself for all of this happening. She kind of is in a bit of a hopeless space right now, thinking that we won't ever be able to get Sam back for her and everything, while also carrying guilt for all the people who were hurt or died in the attack on the DEO today." Lena explains, "I, of course, spent time building her up again, and telling her none of this is her fault, and trying to reassure her that we do have hope, that maybe this is something."
"You are a good sister-in-law." Alura says, with a smile.
"Thank you." Lena says back, "But, I don't see it that way. Alex isn't my sister-in-law, she's just my sister. I will admit, when I first met Alex, things were a bit bumpy at first. Alex didn't really trust me, because of my brother, and what he had done. However, as time went on, and I continued to date Kara, and spend time with Kara, Alura and Alex too, we grew closer. So, when Kara and I got married, Alex was happy to tell me that we are just sisters, and I agree. I love Alex, just like a sister. She is the sibling I wish my brother was."
"I see...." Alura says, while growing a bit of a confused look on her face, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but you mentioned your brother a few times just then. I had no idea, until now, that you even had a sibling..... What.... what is the issue there?"
In this moment, Lena kind of freezes a little bit, because she realises that unless she brushes Alura off, or just comes up with a lie, she will have to tell Alura the full truth about what Lex has done to Kara, to Clark, and to everyone on this planet. The prospect of telling Alura all that very much freaks Lena out, because she has no idea how Alura will react to it. Lena doesn't know if Alura will be like Kara, not judging her for her brother's actions, or like a lot of the other people on Earth, who have always judged Lena, simply because she bares the same last name as her half-brother. So, right now, Lena is pretty terrified. Lena knows how important Alura is to Kara, so she obviously doesn't want to screw up her own relationship with Kara's birth mom. Ultimately though, Lena knows that brushing Alura off, or just coming up with some lie, will likely be much worse in the long run than simply just telling Alura the truth. So, after taking a deep breath, Lena decides she might as well tell Alura everything.
"Well, my brother, Lex, he's dead now. He died just over a year and a bit ago. But, he was a bad person." Lena says, beginning to explain things, "It wasn't always that way. So, I first met Lex when I was 4-years-old, after my birth mom died, or, at the time, until recently, I thought she died. After that, I was taken in by the Luthor family, which included Lex, Lillian and Lionel Luthor. Lionel was my birth father, he'd had an affair with my mother, but he had nothing to do with me until he heard the news that my mom had died. Anyway, like I said, I met Lex when I was 4, and at the time I thought he was a good brother. He was attentive to me, when both Lillian and Lionel were not, for their own reasons. It felt like I may have lost my mom, but I'd at least gained a brother. Of course, nothing could replace her, but it made the hurt less. However, as we grew older, Lex, he became a much more sinister person, and soon I realised that everything I had experienced with Lex growing up, had just been a manipulation on his part. Lex never cared for me, he only pretended to care so he could practice his manipulation on me from a young age, and then have mastered it by the time he reached adulthood. Anyway, after that, Lionel died, and Lex took over the family business, which at the time was called Luthor Corp. He became obsessed with creating technologies and enriching the family, which was mostly via the production of weapons. There was an article that named him as the 'man of tomorrow' for some of his futuristic inventions. That article really made Lex's ego grow massively. So, eventually, when this man who could fly faster than a speeding bullet, have bullets bounce off him, and save people with his strength and other abilities, began to appear in Metropolis, Lex didn't like that. I'm talking about Kal-El, of course. Then, when it was revealed that Kal was an alien, that drove Lex even more into ego driven madness. Lex became obsessed over Superman, and hated that now Superman was being seen as the 'man of tomorrow' not him. This led to Lex creating a vendetta against all aliens, believing that alien's existence on earth created a threat to humanity. From this, Lex gained the support of a few people, and it allowed him to start doing things, which basically led to him trying to kill Superman on multiple occasions. During these attempts to kill Superman, while Kal remained unharmed, other people did die, but Lex was able to get out of any responsibility from the attacks because he was good at covering his tracks, and had good lawyers. Eventually though, things came to ahead where Lex went on a reign of terror in an attempt to kill Superman, and killed many many people. I had to be the one to stop him. I wore a wire while Lex confessed everything to me, in his fit of madness, with him holding me hostage. The FBI came in to arrest him soon after. But, after that, things didn't stop there. Even in prison, Lex was able to continue to carry out his plans. This included him going after Kara, as well as Superman. I don't really want to get into things, but that did all come to ahead, and eventually Lex did die when his own plan to kill Kara backfired on him. Anyway, because I am known to be the sister of Lex, people have always judged me, and looked at me, thinking that I am just like him, that as we were raised in the same house, I must have the same morals as him. It doesn't matter that I helped stop him. People just think I did that to save myself. But..... that about sums things up."
After Lena finishes speaking, there is a few moments silence, with Alura clearly taking everything she has just heard in. During this silence, Lena can literally feel her nerves skyrocketing. Lena honestly has no idea what Alura's response might be, and that scares her to death.
"I'm sorry that you had such an awful brother like that, Lena." Alura eventually says.
Lena's eyes now widen, surprised that that is Alura's response.
"That..... that's all you have to say?" Lena asks, "You..... you are not going to judge me because Lex is my brother."
"No. Of course not." Alura says, growing a small smile on her face, "Anyone who would judge you that way is a complete and utter fool. I can already see the type of person that you are, Lena. You are not like your brother. You are a good person. You would have to be, because I don't believe my daughter would love someone as much as she loves you, if you were not a good person. But beyond that, I can see, from your actions, and how you talk about things, and the guilt you carry, even when you shouldn't, that you are a good person, Lena. So, of course I'm not judging you for your brother."
"Thank you." Lena says, with a wave of relief washing over her.
"Come here." Alura says, and opens her arms slightly, signalling that she wishes to hug Lena.
Lena does hesitate for a few moments, but soon moves closer to Alura, allowing Kara's birth mom to take her in for a hug.
"You are a good person, Lena. And I hope that as my time here on Earth continues, I can get to know you much better. As, just like you mentioned with Alex, as far as I'm concerned, you are my daughter to, not simply my daughter-in-law." Alura says.
Lena doesn't respond to this, honestly having no words to say in response to Alura saying something like that. But, Lena can see where Kara has got certain attitude traits from. Soon, Lena and Alura part from their hug, both with smiles on their faces, with Lillian walking into the room a few moments later, with three blood collection kits.
"Did I miss something?" Lillian asks, noticing the looks on Lena and Alura's face.
"Nothing at all." Alura replies, "Lena and I were just getting to know each other better."
"I see...." Lillian hums, "Anyway, I have got the blood collection kits. Shall we begin?"
"Yes. I think we've had enough delays. Kara is still fighting Reign, right now. I don't want us to forget that. We are still on a clock." Lena says.
"Very well." Lillian nods, "Do you want to draw some of my blood first, Lena?"
"Sure." Lena says.
Lillian now takes a seat in one of the chairs in the room, with Lena jumping into action. Lena now places a band around the top of Lillian's arm, and tells Lillian to clench first fist, giving her a good look at a nice vein to draw some blood from. Once Lena has the spot she is going to draw the blood from, she wipes it down with a sterilising wipe, before picking up the blood drawer, and inserting it into Lillian's vein. Lena now tells Lillian to unclench her fist while removing the band from the top of Lillian's arm, and begins to draw the blood. Lillian, for her part, looks directly at the blood being drawn from her body, not being uneasy about the sight of it at all, like many many people are. Soon enough, after about 10 seconds, Lena finishes drawing Lillian's blood, with the vial being full up. So, Lena removes the needle from Lillian's arm and quickly places a swab on the injection site, telling Lillian to hold it in place. Lena then places the full blood vial into a tray, making sure to mark it with an Li, using a marker, before she gathers some medical tape, and places it on top of the swab Lillian is holding to her arm.
"There we go all done." Lena says.
"You were good at that." Lillian comments, "How many times have you done that before?"
"Not many, to be honest. Only about 5 or 6." Lena says.
"Very good then." Lillian says.
"Yeah.... okay...." Lena says, a bit awkwardly, still not used to receiving compliments from Lillian, "How are you feeling? Okay to draw blood from Alura and I?"
"Yes. I feel fine." Lillian says, as she stands to her feet.
"Very well." Lena says, "Do you want to turn the red sun lamps on, and start to draw our blood?"
"Yes." Lillian says, "Take a seat next to Alura, and I'll turn the red sun lamps on."
"Okay." Lena says, and does as Lillian says, taking a seat next to Kara's birth mom.
Soon enough the lights in the room turn red, and instantly both Lena and Alura can feel a difference. It's rather strange, and hard to exactly explain the difference.
Now that the red sun lamps are on, Lillian begins to draw blood from both Lena and Alura, doing the exact same process that Lena did, marking Lena's vial of blood with a Le, and Alura's with a simple A. After about 4 minutes, Lillian finishes drawing all the blood, and is able to turn the red sun lamps off. Instantly as they are turned off, Lena and Alura feel a lot different once more.
"How are you both feeling?" Lillian asks, "Do you need me to blast you both with some yellow sun rays or something?"
"Hmmm..... I feel a tad weak, but that's just compared to how I usually feel as a kryptonian, which is still stronger than how I felt as a human. So, I think I'm fine. Don't want to overdo it with the yellow sun lamps, and have my powers go out of control." Lena says.
"Okay." Lillian nods, "Alura, are you alright?"
"Yes. I think I'm fine." Alura says, "I kind of feel as Lena described."
"Okay then. If you are both okay, I should start with these blood test right away." Lillian says.
"Okay." Lena nods, "I'll come join you, in the other lab, to help, in a few seconds, along with Alura."
"Okay." Lillian nods.
Lillian now leaves the room, with Lena and Alura remaining behind in the room for a few more minutes, just trying to recover. Lena, for her part, is mostly doing this, because she doesn't know how steady on her feet she will be right away. Eventually though, as the couple of minutes turn into about 5 minutes, Lena is starting to feel a lot better, like she will easily be able to walk again, and not have to worry about falling over or something.
"Okay. Shall we go join Lillian in the lab now? Do you feel okay to walk?" Lena soon says to Alura.
"Yes. Let's go." Alura replies, with a smile.
Lena and Alura now both stand up, and make their way back over to the lab. As they walk towards the lab, Lena makes sure to stay near Alura, not wanting Kara's mom to lose balance and fall over. Soon enough though, they enter the lab itself, and they see Lillian is still in the middle of running the tests.
"How's it going?" Lena asks.
"This is all..... fascinating." Lillian replies, not even turning to look back at Lena.
"What is?" Lena asks.
"Come have a look." Lillian says.
Lena now walks over to Lillian's side, and she sees that Lillian has now created three tiles of blood, which can be examined under a microscope.
"What is this? I thought we were going to look at how the harun-el structure changes when exposed to each of the different bloods." Lena says.
"Yes, we were, but as I did that with Alura's blood first, I noticed a distinct change in how her blood cells looked under a microscope, so I thought that warranted further inspection. We can go back to looking at how the harun-el might structurally change from being exposed to each blood later." Lillian says.
"Okay." Lena says, "So, what have you discovered?"
"Well, you can have a look." Lillian says.
Lillian now places the first slide under the microscope, and Lena leans her head forward, to take a closer look at the slide, through the microscope.
"As you can see this all looks very normal. No real change." Lillian says.
"Yes. This looks like standard blood, as far as I can tell." Lena replies.
"That is because it is." Lillian says, "This is my blood, and being exposed to the harun-el has made no noticeable change to it at all."
"Okay...." Lena says, unsure where this is going.
"Now, take a look at Alura's blood." Lillian says, and slides the second slide of blood under the microscope for Lena to look at.
Lena now looks at Alura's blood, and right away she can tell that this looks very different from how kryptonian blood should looks.
"Wow." Lena says, "That..... looks like all the cells in the blood are damaged."
"Yes." Lillian says, "This is actually the second slide I did. The second time I actually exposed the blood to the harun-el while I was monitoring it under the microscope, and as I looked at the blood in real time, I was able to see that from immediate exposure, the blood got damaged, and actually looked worse than this, but once the harun-el was removed, while some of the damage remained, the blood also recovered to a certain noticeable extent."
"Okay..... That is.... that actually makes sense, I guess, given what we know about how Alura being exposed to the harun-el has affected her." Lena comments.
"Yes." Lillian nods, "But that's not the most fascinating discovery I have found. Have a look at your blood under the microscope."
"My blood?" Lena asks, "Surely it must be the same as.... oh."
Right now, as Lena looks at her blood slide, through the microscope, she sees that her blood doesn't look like Alura's at all. Well, that's actually not entirely true. Specifically, only half of Lena's blood looks like Alura's, with the other half looking completely human, and undamaged, just like Lillians. Then, on top of it, the two types of blood are not even mixed, they have both separated themselves out, with the human blood on the right side of the slide, and the kryptonian blood on the left side.
"Okay..... this...... this is something we can work with." Lena soon says, now growing a lot more hope that maybe they really can save Sam.
***********************
If you would like to see some of my other content, check out these links: https://linktr.ee/Rstories