Chapter Text
Hell. Damnation. Eternity. Heaven. Sinners. God. A chorus of “amen’s” and grunts of approval from the crowd of worshippers interrupted Lena’s thoughts. She hated being here, hated the high held standards of being a pastor’s perfect little daughter. It had been that way since she was 8. She didn’t want to come back after graduating from college so early, but she had no choice. She was nineteen, with two doctorates degrees and one masters, she was a genius and proud of it too.
But even with that, Lex was running Luthorcorp which left her to come back home and help Lillian run her doctor’s office. In addition to that, Lionel had been adding pressure on her to settle down and finally marry Jack. They had been together for three years, but Lena had never felt for him more than a friend, which was odd to her. She couldn’t even really remember why she said yes to being his girlfriend in the first place, perhaps it was just to appease her parents, or maybe it was the pressures of being perfect in her parents’ eyes. Lena scoffed internally and sighed, looking up at her father as he recited some Bible verse; she really should start paying attention, no doubt it will come up during dinner tonight. It’s not that church bothered her, really, there was only one topic that made her insides cave in; homosexuality. She had no idea why it bothered her so much, only that it did. She constantly wondered why it was such a major concern to the church; what did it matter if he or she loved him or her? Lena shot a forced smile towards Jack as he grinned to her. His hand slipped in hers and she cringed internally at the physical contact; even after all this time with Jack, she still had never been used to such physical contact. They hadn’t even had sex, much to her satisfaction. Her family was not the kind of family that was loving, especially when it came to physical gestures. Not that it bothered her much, or so she thought. Lena berated herself, she was lucky that such a wealthy and prosperous family even adopted her. Her mother had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, not that she wanted to find out anyways.
She stood up as the rest of the crowd began singing their church hymns; she mouthed the words silently, sighing internally and quite frankly, bored out of her mind. As the last bit of the hymn finished, a final prayer was said and then mass was over. With their hands intertwined, Jack led her outside where they waited for Lillian and Lionel. Gratitude was administered to Lionel for his words from various people. Lena scoffed softly. She was a Luthor, she knew when someone was being genuine and when someone was trying to “charm his/her way into heaven” as Lionel had said. “— and Lena would be happy to introduce the new family to the town and our church,” Lionel stated. Lena’s attention snapped back to the conversation at hand. “They aren’t just any family, they’re the Danvers family. Eliza Danvers is known very well for her knowledge in the field of alien biology while Jeremiah is a doctor. I think I will talk Jeremiah into coming and working with me. What do you think of that?” Lillian said with an amused smirk. Lionel and Lillian turned their attention towards Lena. “I think it’s an excellent idea mother. I’m sure Jeremiah would be honored. Father, I would be more than happy to introduce the Danvers family to our humble abode,” Lena flashed her award winning smile towards them. “I knew I could count on you,” Lionel prided, clasping his hand on her shoulder.
“I’m sure you can convince them to come have dinner with us tomorrow night, right darling?” Lionel raised an eyebrow towards Lillian. “Of course, we are Luthors after all.” Lena plastered a fake smile on her face while releasing her hand from Jack’s. “I’m going to go change,” Lena said as Jack shot her a confused look. She really didn’t like Jack. She just couldn’t understand why. Well, she could actually. He was an ass to her when they were alone or with his friends. Speaking of friends, Mike Matthews was heading towards them. Jack couldn’t afford to look a fool, despite the fact that Lena was clearly smarter than him. She know better than to ever allow his misogynistic personality to shine. She did an internal eye roll as Mike Matthews made his way into the conversation. She really despised him; he was an arrogant, privileged, frat boy that had no respect for women, or for anyone for that matter. “Well, if it isn’t the best looking couple in church, besides me or the Luthors of course,” Mike winked as he spoke.
“Mike, you flatter us,” Jack responded as he wrapped an arm around Lena’s waist. She damned herself for not having the chance to run away. “Well, I am quite the lady’s man,” he responded , wriggling his eyes. Lena rolled her eyes and tensed slightly, hoping Jack didn’t notice. Jack squeezed Lena gently, expecting some sort of dialogue from her. Lena forced a smile and nodded towards Mike. “Thank you,” she said quickly and slightly coldly. Before anyone else could say anything, Lionel flashed a grin. “Well, it seems though Lena won’t have to do any talking at all,” he whispered as the Danvers family made their way up to them. “Lillian Luthor,” Lillian greeted while she extended her hand to them. “Jeremiah, my wife Eliza, and our children Alex and Kara Danvers,” Jeremiah introduced all of them. Lena smiled and made eye contact with all of them, resting her eyes on Kara. Kara stared into the depths of her soul and grinned back at her. Lena blushed slightly and turned her head to look away. “A pleasure to formally meet you,” Lionel said as he shook Jeremiah’s hand. “We were hoping to have you for dinner so that we can get to know each other before tomorrow’s mass.” “We really appreciate the offer, however, we aren't steady church goers,” Eliza said briskly. Jeremiah shot her a look and all of the sudden, tension could be felt.
“Ah, well, dinner is still on the table should you choose so,” Lionel said. Lillian’s eyes narrowed as she glared silently towards the Danvers. “Thank you,” Jeremiah said, before departing along with his family. “What kind of family moves to a city that is extremely religious?” Jack asked. Lena shot him a look. “A damned family,” Lillian seethed. “Now, now, I think the Danvers will come to realize just how important church is,” Lionel stated. “Without the guidance of God, we would be at the hands of Superman, but Lex is taking care of that problem.” Lena felt her heartbeat increase, she had nothing personal against the Supers; it also bothered her that her family was hell bent on the destruction of Superman. Nothing good could come from tonight’s dinner, not if the Luthors had anything to do with it.