Broken Hearts

Like Mother Like Daughter

There's a deep sore in her head, but she lifts it without wincing. She will not show weakness. Not ever again.

Lena's hands are tied to the back of a horribly uncomfortable chair that makes her back ache. Again, she shows no sign of pain. She sees nothing but a light that burns through the fabric of the bag that is tied over her head.

She already has a plan, but she needs to see her full surroundings to make sure it will work first. There's a shift of movement. She can almost feel the ground underneath her bend slightly and she already had seen this coming.

The bag over her head is jerked off, making her hair a frizzy mess. She doesn't even flinch at the bright bulb that threatens to overwhelm her. She doesn't even blink.

Her eyes are focused, glued, to the abyss beyond her.

"Oh, dear Lena." A scraping voice surrounds her. A shudder rolls through her body, but she quickly hides it and resents no sign of emotion. Well, maybe one emotion.

"I am so sorry to do this to you, but you know the Luthor family. Everyone can just be so unpredictable. Especially you, my daughter."

Her voice is a ringing in Lena's ears, her voice is like nails clawing at her, wrapping itself around her neck, strangling her. Her voice is like rising water, suffocating her. It sends a chill down her spine and her hairs stand on end. It maked her skin crawl with millions of little mites. She shows none of it.

"Oh, I see." She can even feel her smile. "You are angry. You loathe me and everyone around you. You think I'm the enemy. Of course that's fine, you are entitled to your own opinion, but it will change. Over time you will discover what you are really capable of."

There's a long silence.

"But that won't happen now, so I must ask, what brought you here after so long?"

Lena's mouth is dry and her lips seem to be stuck together. Her throat feels as if it's scraped from all skin. She swallows thickly, and speaks. 

"I came here because I have never really put much thought into you. After that night, I refused to think about you because I knew if I would, I would become you. And then not only would I let the only person who genuinely cared about me down, I would let you win. And that, I refuse to let happen. But then a friend of mine reached out to me. I finally had figured you out and I hate what I see." Her voice grew lower and lower, her fists clenching from behind her back and words coming from gritted teeth. 

"You have stooped much lower than I have ever expected out of you." She says finally, finishing it off.

A menacing cackle fills the room. Her crazy laugh, although it may just be a chuckle, it sounds like the laugh of a truly psychotic person. To Lena, of course. 

"So, that's it? You came all of this way to give me a speech?" She stifled one more giggle and then continued, "Now, what really brought you here?"

"You know exactly what brought me here." Lena spats, her tone has returned to the usual plain and empty tone that has held for a very long time. 

"And that is?" Lillian continues to taunt her own daughter, all while wearing a despicable grin. 

"I know she is still alive. And I know you have her."

"Oh, and let me guess, if your crazy accusations were true, would you want to see her?" Lillian asks, curiosity tickling her tongue. 

Lena puts on an act. She twists and her lips and rips herself away from any connection to human feelings. She lets the coldness take over her body like water and sets her face straight. Her body hollows, not an unfamiliar feeling to her, and makes it feel as if all she is inside is bones and emptiness. Darkness. And if you look close enough, you swear you'll see her eyes grow a few shades darker than before. 

"Yes."

A half an hour before, at Alex and Maggie's complex, Alex had just finished the same story she had told Lena. But this time she adds a little less details and manages to hold in the tears. She sighs aloud and rubs the ball of her palm over her face. Maggie rubs her shoulder, staying quiet for a little while. But soon the silence becomes too much to bear. "I'm so sorry,  but why didn't you tell me before? I could have helped you!" Maggie whimpers.

"Let's just not get onto that topic right now, okay?" Alex mumbles, and it's clear that she is so tired. Her shoulders are slumped, her eyes have dark shadows, and her cheeks almost seem to sink in. "Now, will you take me to Lena's or not?" She asks, letting her irritation show.

Maggie sucks in a deep breath. "No."

"What?" She lashes. "Why? I just told you all of that and you won't even help me? What the hell, Maggie?" 

"I'm sorry, but once you find out that your sister is dead, it will be like losing her all over again and I don't want you to go through that!" Maggie shouts, her guard suddenly up like it never was before around Alex.

"But this time is different. This time I know she is alive! And you know what would be worse than losing her again? Standing by while I could be saving her from God knows what!" Tears fall, making their way down her cheeks. 

"But she's not alive! They have her body in a coffin! Do you understand that? We were there when they put it in the ground, Alex!" 

The couple falls silent. Maggie had just pushed it too far. Alex stares forward, her eyes blurry with watery tears.

Maggie realizes her mistake.

"Two years ago, when Kara died, you were a disaster." She says, in a whisper, her anger now melting away into guilt.

"You locked yourself in Kara's apartment, didn't leave for weeks. And I spent days sitting outside the door, just waiting and waiting for you to come out. Even behind that door, I could still hear you crying,"

Her voice cracks, and she chokes on a sob.

"...for hours." She finishes, and her head falls into her palms.

"And I don't know what I would do if I ever saw you like that again." She admitted, finally looking up to see the love of her life.

Alex can feel Maggie's eyes on her, like a crawl on her skin and her cheeks grow hot, but she stares forward. She feels empty. Cold. Hollow. She feels nothing.

"And I don't know what I would do if I found out she was alive and I never even bothered to help."

With that, her chilling voice still lingering in Maggie's head, Alex leaves.

Maggie doesn't stop her.