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lost-your-memory · 4 years

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Old friends, aliens and curiosities - Part III

Listen, I can’t stop thinking about this gifset made by @lonely-night in which H.G Wells (Warehouse 13) & Lena Luthor (CW Supergirl) are old friends and working together in the present to retrieve a curiosity (A ping, darling) meant to kill Lena.

So this is VERY AU-ish and with a crossover no one knew we needed but well, we do. Here’s the third part (it covers the fourth gif, I think) with a little help from Winn and Claudia. Also, I’m making the plot up as I go, sorry about any inconsistencies. Next up, Myka finally arrives to National City and meets the infamous Lena Luthor.

---

The voices rising behind the doors of her office pull Lena away from a very urgent email and she lets out a quiet curse, in Irish. She groans and reaches out for her interphone.

“It’s alright Jess, just let her in. She won’t take no for an answer anyway,” Lena sighs, already letting herself fall against the back of her chair.

Sure enough, Helena Wells enters her office, dramatically pushing the double door open before striding straight to Lena’s office.

“Hand it over.”

Lena arches a surprised brow.

“Good morning to you too, HG ... “ She retorts, irony dripping from her tone. “Now, what is it I’m supposed to hand over to you?”

Helena looks pissed, the frown above her eyes deep and permanent.

“The artefact, Lena. The one you designed yourself, apparently,” Helena replies, curtly.

“I did what now?” Lena gapes, taken aback.

Helena’s frown deepens, much to Lena’s amazement. She didn’t think it was possible.

“L-Corp is the company behind some kind of … alien detecting device, programmed to recognise any non-human DNA,” Helena states, slowly and cooly. “It’s what has been modified to kill you.”

Lena lets out a chuckle.

“That’s not possible.”

Helena’s frown disappear as she arches a brow of her own.

“It’s not,” Lena insists. “That device was created to help identify non-human, it’s harmless. You just put your thumb on a button and the microchip processes your DNA. It turns green if you’re human, red if you’re not.”

“It doesn’t sound like a weapon,” Helena nods but she still looks annoyed. “Could the microchip be reprogrammed into something else?”

Lena goes to reply but then pauses, looking thoughtful.

The chip was designed to host a tiny software the L-corp bioengineers programmed in association with a team of highly skilled developers but only to process DNA, to recognise markers and transmit the information as to whether or not it was human.

“I don’t think so, but I can’t be sure. I’ll have to ask around,” Lena retorts, slowly.

“Well, don’t ask the team that originally worked on it, maybe?”

“Why not?” Lena protests, not liking the insinuation.

Helena gives her a pointed look.

“Someone clearly managed to do something to the device to make it so it would kill, but not anyone. You specifically …” Helena explains, thinking out look. “Until we know more about how it happened, I’d say maybe we don’t pull any alarm … I know the level of skills you put in your products so, to be able to hijack it like that and make a weapon out of it ... the person behind the artefact must be some genius too. Like maybe … the ones you employs?”

Lena doesn’t reply but the thought doesn’t sit well with her. Helena keeps looking at her with suspicions in her eyes and it’s extremely annoying.

“Alright,” Lena sighs, unhappily. “I still need to be sure it can be reprogrammed so I’m going to call … a friend of mine. “

Surprise takes over the suspicion in Helena’s eyes, before it mutates into mischief.

“You have friends? Beside me, I mean?”

Lena rolls her eyes. She’s walked right into this one.

Still, Helena is nothing if not single-minded. She crosses her arms over her chest and then sighs “Just hand over the artefact, Lena.”

“How many times do I have to repeat myself?” Lena growls, pushing her chair back so she could stand up. “I don’t have the artefact.”

She walks around her desk and heads for her liquor cabinet.

She understands where her friend is coming from but she’s tired of being accused of things she didn’t do. In between the Super, the government, the DEO and the dead Luthor heirs piling up in National City cemetery, she’s been accused of pretty much every evil on the planet.

“Bit early for a drink, don’t you think?” Helena muses from behind her and Lena just flips her before pouring herself an unhealthy amount of Scotch.

She brings her glass back to her office and then reaches out for her phone. She searches for a specific name in her contacts and then dials.

“Hello Winn,” Lena greets warmly as soon as Winn picks up. “I need an engineering favor, could you drop by L-Corp at your earliest convenience?”

She smiles when Winn replies he’ll be there in twenty. He doesn’t sound too surprised, just excited at the prospect of working with her again.

“Who’s Winn?” Helena asks when Lena hangs up.

“A friend,” Lena replies with a smug smile. “Yes, I do have friends beside you. Winn used to work at CatCo but nowadays, he’s ...“

Lena pauses and wonders if Helena is aware of everything that’s been going on in National City lately.

“Ever heard of the DEO?” Lena asks, knowing full well she could get in trouble for even mentioning the name of the organisation.

“Yes,” Helena shrugs.

Lena smiles because of course Helena knows about the DEO. After all, they’ve both worked for the Warehouse, another extra normal government organisation doesn’t seem like a big deal. Not even one that works and deals with alien.

“Well, he’s one of their tech guy,” Lena explains with a wave of her hand. “He’s extremely smart, far more than they give him credits for. I’ve always wanted to poach him for L-Corp but he’s loyal to a fault, he’s going to stick with Supergirl until the end.”

“Supergirl, uh,” Helena muses, sounding a big distracted.

“She’s everywhere,” Lena nods before sipping at her Scotch.

“I’m going to call Claudia,” Helena states, seemingly out of the blue.

“Erm, sure?” Lena blinks, looking a bit thrown off.

“When your friend arrives, I mean. They’ll have a look at the chip and nerd around together, we’ll get our answers,” Helena explains and Lena watches as she pulls what looks like a ---

“Helena Wells, is that an iPhone?” Lena gasps, mockery lining her tone.

“Shut up,” Helena groans as she calls her friend.

---

Half an hour later, Winn is bent over the coffee table and Claudia’s face is occupying the entirety of Lena’s huge TV.

They’re talking too fast, exchanging orders, ideas and suggestions while using a vocabulary that even Lena sometimes doesn’t get. Pieces of the device are scattered all across the table and Winn sometimes moves the tablet so that Claudia could see better.

“I need access to the software, can you plug me in?” Claudia asks, her slightly disembodied voice echoing through the office.

“Sure, one second,” Winn replies, pulling out a laptop from his back and setting it up on a corner of the table. He’s fast and sure and Lena watches, a little mesmerised, as he plugs everything together.

“All good, let me know if it works?” Winn asks but Claudia is already squealing in delight as she enters the software.

“Oh whoa, this is … top notch code,” Claudia breathes, sounding very admirative.

“Why thank you,” Lena laughs, amused. “Now, the important question is … can it be hijacked and turned into a weapon?”

“Easy tiger, let me work my magic first” Claudia mutters, hands flying over her keyboard so fast it crackled across the office. “So, while I am at it, did you two bang, in the 17th or 18th century? I can never remember which one …”

Lena swears under her breath as Winn lets out a strangled gasp. His eyes become so wide they look about to bulge out of their orbits.

“Whaaaaaat?”

“Whoops, sorry I thought you knew!” Claudia winces, her face slightly distorted by the format of the TV. “Sorry!”

“You’re … from the past?” Winn asks, looking at Lena as if she suddenly had three heads.

“Aren’t we all?” Helena laughs next to Lena, looking utterly amused by the situation.

“No I mean … you … 18th century?” Winn squeaks, clearly struggling to stay conscious.

“Breathe, Winn. Breathe,” Lena sighs, motioning for her friend to follow her lead. She inspires and then exhales and watches as he does the same. “Yes, I … was around in the 19th century.”

“19th! I was way off,” Claudia laughs but when all eyes turn to glare at the tablet, she shrugs and focuses on her work.

“It’s … complicated. I got bronzed for centuries but at some point, the system malfunctioned and I was suddenly free, but in the 21th century” Lena explains, eyes traveling back between Winn and her decanter.

“How did you … managed to have such an extensive and lively background then?” Winn asks, frowning. He looks pale but his eyes are shining with wonder. “I mean, you’re supposed to be the daughter of Lionel Luthor, infamous sister of Lex Luthor … Not to mention your mother, who was a piece of work … No offense.”

“None taken,” Lena lets out a dry chuckle. “I made a deal with Lionel Luthor. I handed over a big part of the fortune I had amassed while being in the bronze and he created some really plausible story for my existence.”

Helena arches an impressive brow but Winn shakes his head.

“No one ever dug deeper? I mean, you do look extremely good for someone who’s over two centuries old but come on, no one ever asked why you never aged?”

“You never did,” Lena counters with a smirk. “You’re the DEO most talented IT guy and yet, when you checked my background, everything was legit, everything added up. So why would anyone else bother?”

“That’s …” Winn pauses and then relents “... accurate.”

“Sorry to interrupt this lovely story, although you still didn’t reply to my earlier question,” Claudia chimes in, looking very amused. Lena only rolls her eyes but Helena chuckles affectionately. “Anyway, I found something.”

Lena, Helena and Winn focus back on the TV, on which Claudia is now sharing her own screen. Lines of code are scrolling down until she highlights something.

“See this?” Claudia asks, moving her cursor above a few lines that seems innocuous enough. “It’s like a backdoor to the code, something that allows access to anyone who knows where to look. I don’t know exactly how it works, it seems to be really specific but it’s the answer you wanted. It is possible to access the software on the microchip and from there, anyone who knows how it works can reprogram it. To turn it into a weapon tho, it would require some really specific engineering skills …”

Winn steps forward and the way he looks at the code makes Lena think he’s seen it before. He’s frowning and searching for something.

“You know who’s behind it, don’t you?”

Winn startles and fidgets with his hands, looking slightly uneasy. Behind him, the lines of code disappear as Claudia’s face returns to the screen.

“Winn?” Lena insists, taking a step toward her friend. “What is it?”

Winn looks torn and Lena figures it’s because he is loyal to Supergirl first. It stings, but she doesn’t waver and she takes another step. She’s barely taller than him, with her heels, but she still towers above him.

“It’s …. I’ve seen this code before, but I didn’t think …” Winn starts to ramble, nervously looking around. “It’s … the same code that was used by Lord technology, I found something similar in the drones he’s sent to … spy on … Supergirl, years ago.”

Lena frowns.

“Maxwell Lord? Didn’t he left years ago after Myriad?”

“So we thought, but he’s nowhere to be found …” Winn replies, his voice rising a little from how nervous he was.

“Maxwell Lord was a very public figure and I heard rumours about him still mooning over Cat Grant, his disappearance is a little strange don’t you think? Did someone investigate this?” Lena pushes, knowing that at least Alex Danvers must have asked about the former tech CEO.

“Alex tried but then with everything that occurred …”

“Right,” Lena sighs.

Cadmus took over pretty fast after Myriad and then, it had been one shit storm after another, until Helena Wells all but barged into her office a few months ago. No time to dwell on the absents.

“Do you still need my help or can I return to my chess game with Myka?” Claudia suddenly asks, startling everyone in the room.

“Myka’s back?” Helena muses, sounding both surprised and slightly dejected.

“Yeah, since yesterday,” Claudia answers. “Pete’s still in Chicago though. According to Steve, it’s not exactly going well.”

“Of course it’s not,” Helena scoffs and to Lena, the underlying jealousy is deafening. It’s well hidden behind disdain but Lena has been around Helena enough to recognise the signs. “You could join us, if you��d like? I have a feeling this is going to require some kind of intervention, soon enough … Your help, along with Myka’s, would be greatly appreciated.”

Lena bites the inside of her cheeks to stop the laughter that threatens to burst out.

She’s never seen Helena try so hard to catch someone’s attention, it’s a little embarrassing. Even Winn looks a bit uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to the other and fidgeting with his hands.

“Oh, uh …” Claudia stammers. “Listen, I’ll ask Myka. I’ll text you the answer. Gotta go, bye!”

Before anyone could answer, the video link goes off and the news immediately resumes back on Lena’s TV. It shows Supergirl saving a bus full of young children and Lena instantly reaches for the remote to turn the screen off.

“Well, that answers it,” Lena muses to no one in particular.

She finally caves and goes to her decanter, offering Scotch to both Winn and Helena. They both accept and after a minute, they all sit around the couch with a glass in hand.

“Winn, will you investigate the mysterious disappearance of Maxwell Lord? I don’t think it’s him but still …” Lena says, seemingly lost in her drink. “I still don’t know what I could have done to make an enemy of him but then again, it’s not a surprise.”

“So popular,” Helena sasses from her side of the couch, in between two sips.

“I’ll get on it right away,” Winn retorts, finishing his drink and standing up. “I gotta go, duty calls but I’ll keep you posted. If your friend Claudia comes around, will you let me know? I’d love to pick her brain about a software I’ve been working on …”

“With pleasure,” Helena nods, offering a tight smile to Winn. He nods and then waves at Lena before exiting the office.

“Who’s Myka?” Lena asks as soon as the door closes behind her friend. She keeps her eyes on Helena and doesn’t miss the sparkle that shines in the inventor’s eyes

“She’s … an agent, she works for the Warehouse with Claudia,” Helena says over the rim of her glass.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Lena rolls her eyes. “I meant, who is she to you? Don’t try to deny it, I’ve seen that look in your eyes before.”

For a moment there, Lena thinks Helena is seriously about to ask what look but then the inventor shakes her head and sighs, looking melancholic.

“She’s … fascinating,” Helena admits, her voice lowering as she gets all dreamy. Lena barely resists the urge to pull up her phone to snap a picture. “She’s smart in ways I can’t quite comprehend, her mind is quick and remarkable and she’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Her heart … She tries to protect it, behind walls made of protocols, laws and orders but it’s pure and generous, giving.”

Lena can only stare, taken aback by the raw affection in her friend’s tone.

The only person she’s ever heard Helena talk about in that way, all soft and loving, was her daughter Christina.

“I’ve hurt her, multiple times,” Helena confesses and her voice breaks ever so slightly. “I’ve almost killed her once and then … I kept running away. She’s chased after me for a long time but I was blinded by … grief, despair, anger. I didn’t realise how … dear she was to me, not soon enough anyway.”

The words are like an echo of her own feelings and Lena’s heart aches for her friend. She knows the feeling well. She had National City’s most beloved hero chasing after her for month, trusting her, believing in her and constantly supporting her, no matter what. She’d slowly started to believe it, that’s the worst part. That until it all crumbled under the poisonous revelation her fake-brother offered her before she pressed the trigger.

Lena leans forward and places a comforting hand over Helena’s thigh.

“Believe me, I understand. More than I could ever tell …” Lena whispers, thinking back on a pair of bright blue eyes filled with hope and loyalty that told volume of faith and trust. Those are eyes she can never trust again.

“Supergirl?” Helena inquires, looking at Lena with understanding shining in her brown irises.

“Yeah,” Lena nods, removing her hand from her friend’s lap. “I still don’t want to talk about it though.”

“Fine by me,” Helena simply replies.

They finish their drinks in companionable silence.

#Bering & Wells #Meets Lena Luthor #AU-ish unexpected crossover #Warehouse 13 Supergirl crossover #HG Wells #I have no idea what I'm doing don't yell at me #I'm making everything up as I go

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