Next of Kin - SuperCorp

Next of Kin Chapter 31 -Semantics

Lena sat in her wheelchair, typing, searching through the NCPD database. Last night's discussion with her mother had left her mind racing, and she was upset that she had so little stamina at this point. Normally, she could work long into the night, maybe until dawn, fueled by excitement, need, and caffeine. At this time, it was a struggle to stay up after sunset, and Kalia was like a goddamn warden. The more energy she spent arguing with the woman about medication doses and Lillian the less she had actually to try and figure out Lillian's scheme.

Though she hated to do it, she'd pulled Jess into this to help. She trusted her assistant like few others in her life, but that left L-Corp undermanned again. The rules were strict, no more than four hours a day on this project. However, Lena knew that Jess would translate that into eight hours a day which is why Lena hadn't said eight hours a day. Though well paid, Jess was still underpaid for all that she did. Lena was starting to feel like money wasn't the answer. Maybe she needed to get a kidney donor lined up just in case. They also did partial liver donations. How was the cloning research coming along to grow people new organs? Right, after this latest disaster was averted, move Jess to the top of the trials just in case.

As she flipped from case file to case file, nothing stood out. She was missing something, but she didn't know what. Lena's mind went back to the previous evening when they'd all discussed her mother and her mother's motivations, how they'd rally against her.

As if like clockwork, that damn pager had gone off, and Kara had pulled it from her purse, staring at it with alarm. Though they had a plan, the blonde had licked her lips and stared with panic.

"It's Lillian. What do I do?"

"Ignore it," Alex replied. "She can go to hell."

"She likely will, but you can't ignore it, Kara. We need more information. You need to respond. You need to respond in private," Lena urged.

She'd watched Kara nod and head toward the door, convinced by Lena's words over Kara's sisters. It took all of Lena's 'Luthor Training' to not let even the tiniest bit of satisfaction show at that. She and the older Danvers sister were trying to get on now. It wouldn't do well to unsettle that no matter Lena's personal feelings. Matters with Alexandra Danvers weren't personal. They were a negotiation. Kara, Kara was personal.

"You're listening to her on this?" Alex's voice was sharp like her eyes.

"She's a Luthor," Kara just shrugged and smiled as she answered as if that explained everything but in the best way. Somehow Kara made being a Luthor the best thing possible...only Kara.

"What the hell!? I get bitched at every time I say that. Why can she say it?" The ire rolled off Alex unhidden.

Unsurprisingly, at least to Lena, it was the little detective who spoke up and said, "Because you say it negatively. Kara's using it as a compliment, right Luthor?"

Again, Lena found herself having to suppress a smile. She could agree with this woman, see where this might lead, without pushing the wedge between her and Kara's sister further into place. "Correct, Detective." She wondered, however briefly, why she'd twice now been reminded she was a Luthor and not felt like either time it was being used as a weapon? She locked away that information for examination at a later time.

As Kara left the room, Lena pushed her chair over to her side table. She had to maneuver around the detective's wheelchair, but it was a simple enough task. She was getting better at moving around in this thing. It could have been a lifetime of need for her as it was for so many, and she was feeling grateful that it wouldn't be. Pulling open the drawer, her hand hovered briefly over her phone as she made note to increase the research into certain medical products for L-Corp and do some research to see where she should be making a generous personal donation for people who weren't as lucky as she was. As she grabbed her phone, dialing and making the connection, she had to work to keep her face neutral. She and Alexandra Danvers would have a long path to travel to reach neutrality.