Chapter Text
It is said that there are thousands of castles in Ireland; Lena always wanted to explore every single one of them. As a child, she had been fascinated with the brilliant structures. She thought they were magical. She imagined running down the halls of each one meeting queens and kings and her very own prince charming, though princesses also began sounding appealing somewhere along the way. Her mother had books about them. One of her favorite things was to sit by the fire on her mother's lap as she thumbed through the pictures telling intricate stories of each one. She would tell her about the cobblestone walls overlooking an ocean that stretches on forever. She would tell her about the dragons that protect them and the brave souls who tame them and Lena’s imagination would run wild in a way that only a child's can. Her mother would encourage her to dream big. She always told her she could change the world. You can do anything you set your mind to, my love. She would tell her. And Lena believed it. Though looking back over the past year of her life, this is probably not quite what her mother had in mind.
As she grew older, they became less magical. She still held an appreciation for them though. She admired how they withstood the elements. How everything around them could be wiped away, but they would still be there standing as strong as ever. Now she pictures herself in that same light. Even when the world crumbled and the walls began to quake, she held strong to herself. But the quakes began to shift her foundation. Her vision would blur, the walls would close in around her and she would struggle to hold on to something. To anything that would keep her rooted in place. She supposes her relation to them is why she finds herself in one now. After all, death is only what you believe it to be.
Time moves differently in the afterlife. She isn't sure if she has been here for days or years. She hasn’t slept the entire time. She doesn’t know if she needs to or not but she somehow doesn't feel all that tired. The blonde woman who accompanies her has long since grown tired of trying to solve the mystery of it all and has reserved herself to laying in the rafters above her. They don't speak. At least, not anymore. When they first arrived, they had plenty to say. Time may move differently, and she may not know if it has been days or years, but she knows that she watched the sun rise and set more than once while screaming until her throat was raw. Kara had responded in kind. She still holds a fury behind her blue eyes and Lena matches it tenfold. Their current predicament gives no inspiration for forgiveness. She holds no room in her soul for something as trivial as that. And she thinks that perhaps heaven isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
She isn’t surprised she is here with Kara. Not in the grand scheme of things. It makes sense to her given the path they had walked down. Her memories are foggy on how she got here and they only seems to be fading further as time passes on. No one else has spoken to them either. They have spent what seems like forever in a dining hall of sorts. At least she assumes that’s what it is. She drew the conclusion from the sheer size of the room. There is no table in the center though. There may have been once upon a time, but most of the furnishings of the room have been removed. It has a high ceiling, and giant windows, most of which are stained glass but a few are not. Paintings hang high on the walls. She hasn’t given much thought to what they are. Other that noticing their presence, she hasn’t cared to look at them. Antique furniture sits against the walls of the room, expansive rugs cover most of the cobblestone floors. They are a variety of colors but predominately red. It would be rather beautiful if she could bring herself to care.
They haven’t eaten either, which again does not seem bothersome. Though she presumes it probably does irritate Kara with her deep passion for food. It must be strange for someone who requires such a high calorie intake to suddenly not need anything at all. Lena thinks she deserves it.
She remembers a time when Kara was all she could think about. Not much has really changed on that front. But like the walls of her own castle, the thoughts began to crumble and shift. Her love has turned into a deep, festering hatred. She hates this woman and everything she stands for. She hates her laugh and the flecks of gold in her eyes when the sun hits them in just the right way. She hates the sound of her voice. She hates the way she begged for forgiveness and sobbed on her knees in front of her. She hates that she got up. Kara got up long ago. She didn’t expect her to grovel forever, no. But she didn’t expect her to turn into a twisted version of her former self either. Kara has always seem to mirror those around her. Perhaps that’s why. She took Lena’s hatred and made it her own. The light in her eyes went out. Her anger fueled her. Her walls crumbled too. Maybe that’s what landed them here together. Her family legacy would stick her with the one person she despises with all the fiber of her being in some godforsaken castle in the sky.
She hadn't realized they were dead at first. She certainly doesn’t feel dead. If they are dead, she feels like someone should have at least bestowed upon her the ability to fly, which she had determined very quickly that she cannot do. Kara still can though, which is a relief. The further apart they are, the better. Especially considering they can’t leave this room. As if it isn’t bad enough to be stuck with her enemy, they have to be confined to one room. Lena had immediately stalked off to the nearest door upon her arrival as soon as she noticed she was not alone. But her hand passed right through the doorknob, and try as she might she could not grip it. That was the first hint that they were dead.
She had paced around the room in a panic for several minutes afterward, then ran to the nearest window because even jumping out of one seemed more appealing. But instead of oceans and dragons and miles of greenery, she only saw clouds. It had almost pulled a laugh out of her, the sheer irony of it. A Luthor actually went to heaven. And of course she couldn’t open the window either.
Her patience has long since worn thin. She wants answers. She wants out of this room. She is leaned on a wall by one of the windows with her arms crossed. A heavy sigh escaping her lips.
“What is the purpose of this?” She grumbles, pushing off the wall and rolling her neck back in frustration.
She commences pacing again, her right hand pinching the bridge of her nose as she tries to make sense of it all. There has to be more to the afterlife than being stuck in a room for all of eternity with the one person she cannot stand. There must be something she has to do. If there is one thing that Lena excels at it is solving puzzles. Her intellect and creative thinking have brought her far in life.
She notices a bookshelf in the far corner of the room, had she been paying more attention she certainly would have noticed long before now despite how well it is hidden. She rushes over with a newfound hope and her eyes scan the words on the spines of them all in record time, and right in the middle of the third shelf is a small white book, Introduction to Afterlife. She gleefully reaches for it with relief flooding her veins. It is short lived however. Her hand passes right through it. She fists her hands in her hair and lets out a scream.
“Why cant I touch anything?” The question is rhetorical, but it is answered all the same.
“Because you’re dead. I would think you would have picked up on that by now. You are supposed to be a genius.” Her voice floats down from the rafters. She speaks in a bored, reserved tone. She probably hasn’t bothered to move from her perch staring at the ceiling.
“We aren’t goddamn ghosts Kara. Angels should at least have the capability to pick up a fucking book.”
“Angels.” Kara scoffs, “As if there is any version of reality where someone would make you an angel.”
“Oh? And you’re better right? What do you propose we are then all mighty God?” Lena raises her eyebrow, looking in the blonde’s direction. Kara still hasn’t moved from her post so she can’t see her, but if she had to guess the blonde has her hands folded behind her head with her cape fanned out around her, one leg propped up. She always laid like that across her sofa - sans the red fabric at her back - then she would remember she had company and would move her other leg out of the way with an embarrassed smile to make room for Lena to join her. They would put on a movie and eventually Kara would shift around to lay her head in Lena's lap. Lena would run her hands through blonde locks and Kara would sigh in contentment before dozing off. The dark haired woman often wondered why Kara was always so exhausted. Now she has her answer. Fighting rogue aliens is bound to deplete some energy.
The snarky remark from above her snaps her out of her daydream. “Clearly they made a mistake with you. All Luthors certainly don’t go to heaven.”
Her response dies in her throat as she hears movement behind her. She whips her head around right as the door opens. He looks to be in his mid forties. There is a mop of curly brown hair atop his head, he is dressed in a crisp white suit and strides in with an air of elegance. This again is not what she expects. Where are the robes? The harp? Not even a halo.
“I see you ladies are getting along splendidly.” His voice carries a certain melody.
Kara chooses that moment to speed down from the rafters, landing with a thud on the floor a bit too close for Lena’s comfort. “Why are you doing this to us?”
“To save you.”
Lena looks at him wide eyed. “Save us? What are you saving us from exactly? We're dead.”
“Well, not quite.”
Kara steps into his personal space then, giving every bit the aura of a steaming hero. Lena walks up a step as well, putting the back of her hand on Kara's chest and giving her a shove backwards before she thinks much of it.
“What the fuck do you mean ‘not quite?’ If we're dead, we're dead. There is no in between.” Lena says incredulously.
“Actually,” the angel snaps his fingers and a chair appears in the middle of the room. He takes a seat, crossing his legs and a book similar to the one she was trying to get off the shelf appears in his hands. Nirvana – A Spirit Guide. “There is.”
“Nirvana?” Kara comments, “Are we a rock band now?”
The man snaps the book shut causing both women to startle. “Nirvana.” He stands and begins circling around them like a shark would its prey, “A state of freedom from all suffering. A release from the effects of karma. The truest form of inner peace.”
Lena follows him with her eyes, desperately wishing he would just get to the point.
“You see, the two of you cause quite a bit of trouble. It starts small of course. You’ve already begun weaving the web of destruction. It’s how you’ve found yourselves here. But what begins with you two in a lover’s quarrel, ends with both of you blown to bits, along with half the world.”
“Wait, what?!” The blonde’s eyes bulge.
“Oh yes. You see, you don’t take very kindly to having Kryptonite canons aimed at you, Supergirl. Even less so when she fires them. And because it isn’t the first time she's used it on you, well.” He shrugs, “ You decide to stop her by any means necessary. Even if it means becoming just like those before you. Even if it means killing her.”
“I would never -"
“It isn’t your first option. It isn’t even your second. But when her project works and the two of you are the only ones left not under mind control and she won’t stop coming after you, you decide to end it.” He stops in front of Kara, shaking his head and biting his lip. “After all, she did try to kill you first and it ends up being the only justification you need.”
“Okay, that’s enough!” Kara looks as if she’s going to be sick and Lena isn’t feeling much better herself.
“Your super temper tantrum results in the loss of everyone and everything you love. And you,” He turns back to Lena, “are so much worse than your brother.”
He pauses a moment to let the severity sink in. Stepping out of their space, he takes a seat back in his chair and waits. And she can picture it. She knows it’s possible. She knows that she has gone so far into the dark that any attempt to turn back would be futile. But Kara? Even she has a hard time wrapping her mind around that. One look at the blonde tells her that she doesn't though. Kara seems rooted in place while she processes the information, her eyes glued to the floor in shame. Lena feels nauseous. She feels the walls closing in around her again and wishes more than anything that she could escape this place. She hasn’t had a panic attack since she was a teenager but she feels one coming on full force. She turns on her heel abruptly. She needs to get away, as far away as one can get in the same room as the person who causes her descent into madness. The person who becomes just another name on her list of assassins.
“You cant run from this Miss Luthor.” The man calls out as she gets halfway to the window, “This is going to happen whether you like it or not, unless you change it.”
Her eyes are welled with tears and she clenches her fists before turning around to look at him once more. “How? How can I possibly change this when I cant even look at her.” She thinks she sees Kara flinch out of the corner of her eye.
“This is why you’re here. The boss wasn’t too thrilled about his creation being destroyed and all, so he sent me to fix it. And the only way to do that was to remove the two of you from the equation until you’ve calmed down. Consider it,” he tilts his head up with his fist under his chin in thought, “A time out.” He finally says.
“So what are you going to do?” Kara raises her head to ask. “Just keep us here forever?”
“Of course not.” He checks his watch. “By my calculations, you’ve already been here for thirty four days. I’d say we’re safe to move onto phase two. You did last this long without trying to kill each other,” He pauses to consider his statement, “In a matter of speaking.”
“So what now?”
“Now,” He claps his hands together, his brown eyes shining bright with excitement, “We move on to the fun part.”
He snaps his fingers again and another sofa appears behind where Kara is standing. The blonde glances at it with mild shock, but sits down quietly. He looks at Lena expectantly. She huffs but trudges over carefully and sits down as far away as she can get. Her posture is stiff and she has an air about her that indicates she may take off full sprint at any moment, but the man seems content that this is all she is willing to give and continues.
“You two are the newest members of the guardian angel project.”
“The what now?” Lena snaps back.
A book appears in each of their hands, same white cover, same gold lettering. Honestly do they know how to do anything else around here? Guardian Angel Guide to Redemption. The titles need work also.
The two women flip briefly through the pages. It is a rulebook. The do’s and don’ts of angel hood. It is fairly standard as far as rulebooks go, at least in Lena’s opinion. She had a more complex regimen for simply getting through a meal in the Luthor household.
“So what are we supposed to do exactly?” Kara asks, still inspecting the pages, still with a slight shake in her voice.
“Its very simple. You two will be sent back to earth together. At the start of each mission you will be given the name of a particular person that is headed down the same dark path the two of you were on. You are to find them and stop them. You will appear the same to each other so as not to confuse you, but you will appear differently to others as you are too easy to recognize with your own faces. Your ability to interact with objects will be restored, so long as you continue to play nice. If you succeed in your mission, you will have been redeemed and you will be allowed to return to your normal lives.”
“And if not?” Lena challenges.
“Well if not, you certainly wont be staying here.” The implication is clear.
A thought seems to strike Kara suddenly, “Where are our bodies?”
“The DEO. You’re in the med bay and you,” he looks at Lena biting back a chuckle, “you are simply there for containment purposes. Agent Danvers didn’t want you too far out of her sight after you tried to kill her sister.”
He goes on to explain the course of events that led them here. While Lena tried to launch myriad, Kara was outside trying to reason with her. Bits and pieces start to come back to Lena. She started to disable the kryptonite canon, but instead changed course at the last moment and fired. When she did, Alex retaliated immediately and struck the hideout. J'onn was already on his way and caught Kara as she began free falling, and went back in for Lena before the place came down completely. Alex thought death too easy a punishment.
“Wait this doesn’t make any sense.” Lena shakes her head, “You said that Kara got away and she – “ There is a chalky feeling in her mouth. A dryness in her throat, her tongue feels like it's made of lead and God she can’t even say it.
“In the original timeline, yes. You did fire, but she had gotten away beforehand and managed to talk Alex down before the mind control set in. But as I said, you two needed a time out.”
“So you tried to kill us?!” Lena shouts.
“No. I merely sped along the process of the course you were already on without killing either of you.” He says it as if it were a better option.
Kara has the gall to look relieved at this. The tension drops from her shoulders because of course she can justify it in her brain as it doesn’t count if it hasn’t happened. And of course Lena is doomed to be the villain in either series of events.
“So what. We're just laying comatose in the DEO until we complete this crash course of apprenticeship and then we go back to hating each other. What makes you think I can work with her after -” Kara throws the book down instead of finishing that thought.
“Minor details in the grand scheme of things, Miss Danvers.” The angel replies. “And the idea of it is that when this is over, you wont hate each other.”
Lena outright laughs. Kara glares at her, and the angel gives a mischievous smile as if he knows something they don’t.
“Best get to work you two.” He stands then, looking between them. “I'll give you some time to review the rules and send you down in the morning.” The angel moves to leave but Lena stops him.
“Please tell me there are at least other people here. You said this was a program.”
“Indeed it is. However they are not here. This is a place your mind created. Also, we don’t want the others nearby if either of you fall into old…habits.”
Lena groans, but something about the statement nags her. “A place my mind created?”
“Yes. Those who are brought here are placed somewhere that feels like home. Helps with the adjustment.” He looks around the room taking it all in seemingly for the first time.
“So why are we both here? Clearly this isn’t something that feels like home to her. Why not Krypton?” Lena asks in what she hopes is a neutral tone.
The angel only gives another knowing smile. “I’m sure that you will figure it out. You always were very bright, Miss Luthor.” He walks out of the room then, disappearing into thin air as soon as he reaches the hallway.
He leaves the door open.
Lena wastes no time in grabbing her copy of the book and following behind him, not sparing Kara a glance. There is a winding staircase to her right. She decides to go left for now. May as well explore if she is going to be stuck here. She finds herself in a study. Stone beams stand in the middle of the room, a chandelier hangs high above her head, the sofas are velvet to her touch. It is everything she imagined as a child. She runs her hand along the mantle and loses herself in thought.
It was never her intention to kill Kara. Or maybe it was. She isn’t quite sure of anything anymore. She is used to being hurt. But the woman she loved cutting her so deeply was too much to bear. Kara had always given her strength when she felt weak. Now, she just feels lost. Kara was her light in the dark. She was drawn to her. She felt safe. It was something she hadn’t felt since she was four. But clearly she had never been safe with her, not if what he's saying is true. Not if she could turn on her that easily. Her head is still spinning from that.
The man said that she imagined this place because it felt like home. If she closes her eyes she can almost feel her mother's presence, hear her laugh. But that part of her is gone. Buried deep beneath the rubble and try as she may she cannot dig it out. Kara’s betrayal brought out all the worst sides of her. Suddenly she is the monster in the mirror. She is everything she swore she would never be. She allowed the hurt to build and fester, the knife in her back to slip further into her skin, plunging so deep that it pierced what was left of her heart. She broke into a million tiny pieces and sewed herself back up. But the stitches strained against her skin with every move she made. So she would sew again, leaving out the kindness in her heart, the trust in her soul until all that was left was flesh and bone and an empty spot in her chest. She descended into her destiny. She died and came back a true Luthor. Lillian would be proud. Her mother would be ashamed.
She feels the blonde behind her before she hears her, standing in the doorway with the steel back in her eyes now that he has given her an out, at least in her own mind. But hating each other is something they have in common. A building block. She still can't fathom how she is going to work with the woman who destroyed her, with the woman who tries to kill her. She will hold tightly to that knowledge, if only to alleviate her own guilt at becoming a monster.
“Are we going to go over this or are you just going to hide out in here?” The familiar bite is back in her tone also.
Lena scoffs. “I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of reading an instruction book all on your own, Supergirl.”
“I don’t want to do this anymore than you, you know.”
“Good. At least we agree on something,” Lena turns to face her then, “ We can finish this nonsense and go back to our normal lives. As long as we don’t try to kill each other we should have to worry about a repeat.”
“Oh no. Nope. You don’t get to do that.” Kara purses her lips and shakes her head. “You do not get to throw what I supposedly do in self defense and defense of my planet in my face.”
“Didn't take you long to get back on your self-righteous kick did it?” Lena chuckles, “So it doesn't count if I go after you first? Is that it? Or it doesn’t count if he stops you before you can?”
Kara falters. She opens her mouth and closes it, frowns and starts again. “It doesn’t count if I’m saving countless lives, including my own from the sinister plan of a sociopath!” She stutters over it, trying to keep her bearings and even Lena knows she doesn’t believe it.
Lena laughs a deep hearty laugh, it bubbles up from the base of her throat and vibrates her body. “A sociopath? Really? That's your defense? Tell me Kara, is that really the only way a super powered alien could stop me?” She takes three steps forward so that she is mere millimeters from the blonde, “You know you had other options. You know you could have locked me up and thrown away the key, but you didn't. And you know why that is?” She leans further still and whispers in her ear, “You’re just as twisted as me.”
She hears the breath catch in Kara’s throat. With a satisfied smirk playing on her lips she pulls back. She crosses the room with a sway in her hips and an air of indifference, plopping herself on the sofa and picking up the book that she had discarded on the end table. “You can see yourself out.” She hears retreating footsteps behind her.
Satisfied with rattling the girl of steel she opens the worn book.
Chapter One – Introduction
Failure to comply with the following guidelines will result in breach of contract. Contract breaches are irredeemable and will result in termination of angel duties thus preventing return to previous life. Your continuation of assignment is your acknowledgement and agreement of these rules.
“Well that’s lovely.” Lena mumbles. “One misstep equals eternity in hell. Not much different that childhood.”
1) Make no attempt to contact anyone you associated with in a previous life.
“Easy enough.”
2) If provided a partner, protect them at all costs. Death in human form is irreversible
Lena would have preferred the dragon.