Chapter Text
Prologue
The year was 2034 when the aliens arrived.
They appeared without warning, their massive, impenetrable gray space ships dominated the skyline above every major Earth city, including Metropolis, sending the media into a tailspin. The governments of the world argued back and forth on what to do, with some— the US— trying to fire on the ships, but nothing even breached the force fields that surrounded each ship, not even reaching the hulls made of an unearthly metal. The falling debris from the resulting explosions caused more damage to the humans and the surrounding structures than it did to the ships, so the attacks ceased, and thankfully the aliens didn’t retaliate.
The first contact came within hours of the ships’ arrivals. For days governments and organizations from around the world met to communicate with the aliens, but what the aliens wanted was kept closely under wraps. The talks lasted for two days, while the world waited and watched. Then, seventy-four hours after they arrived, news agencies around the globe simultaneously released an extremely scripted broadcast.
The aliens were from a planet called Krypton, but it had been abandoned after a biochemical weapon infected the atmosphere. The survivors lived on a smaller planet called Argo now. The Kryptonians were outwardly human in appearance, but with a slight difference. Beyond male and female, their planet had two biological roles— Alphas, the more dominant sex, and Omegas, the more submissive sex which carried their young; and alphas and omegas could be both male or female. However, now there were no omegas— all killed as a result of the weaponized virus that made their home planet uninhabitable. The remaining Alphas were long-lived, but their species was slowly dying off.
Scientists from all over the world came forward to assist the alien race. Some were even taken back to Argo, to continue studying there. For five years, Kryptonian and human scientists worked together to try to find a solution to their fertility problems, but even with the advanced science of the Kryptonians, their attempts to enable the alphas to carry offspring was in vain.
Five years after they arrived, the Kryptonian ships returned, and this time their demands had changed. They had been unsuccessful in impregnating their alphas, but they had succeeded in impregnating a human. Apparently one of the human female scientists had begun an affair with one of the Kryptonian alphas, and it had resulted in a viable pregnancy. Few other details were given, but the Kryptonians now saw a way to save their species— interbreeding with human females.
The impenetrable Kryptonian ships floated above every major city in the world yet again, and this time the weapons on their bows seemed even more apparent. Moreso, after years of interacting with the aliens, humans had learned that they had superhuman abilities— they couldn’t be harmed by gunfire or flame, they could run faster than a speeding bullet, their eyes shot rays of heat, and they could blow freezing blasts of air from their lungs.
Rumor was that they could even fly.
With their superhuman powers and advanced weaponry, the Kryptonians were not a race humanity was prepared to go to war against. And, government officials claimed, their demands were not all that preposterous after all— one million women, over a ten year time period. It wasn’t a drop in the bucket, according to scientists, not enough to affect the human species, but perhaps enough to save the Kryptonians.
The question then turned to how to select the women the aliens would take. There were a few volunteers from various parts of the world, but overall the prospect of going to an alien planet to be used as breeding chattel was not all that appealing. Each government set its own program to select women. In the end, even in the developed countries, it came down to money, some countries just tried to hide it more than others.
In the United States, women between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-eight were all required to submit genetic samples, undergo a psychological evaluation, and from the viable candidates a lottery system was put in place. Married women and those pursuing higher education were considered exempt from the lottery selection. This led to an increase in early marriages and women pursuing advanced degrees. If a woman was selected from the lottery, her family was financially compensated. Rumors spread about the system— that poor families were practically selling their daughters, and that rich families could pay off the system so that their daughters weren’t taken— but officials vehemently denied any such accusations.
Every year, on the anniversary of their arrival, the Kryptonians would return to collect the women who were chosen. The government and the media called it The Collection.
——
Lena Luthor was twelve years old when the Kryptonians arrived. The Luthors were in Metropolis, and she remembered staring up at the huge gray ships with a mixture of fear and wonderment. Lillian, her adoptive mother, had ushered her away from windows, cursing her childish curiosity, and they had huddled in the interior of the Luthor mansion for days.
Lionel had been one of the first to offer scientific aid to the Kryptonians. He wasn’t a scientist himself, but LuthorCorp had scientists from numerous fields working under its helm, from geologists to biochemists. He offered their aid at no cost, something his twenty-year-old son couldn’t fathom.
“Just imagine if it’s a LuthorCorp scientist who solves their problems, Lex,” Lionel exclaimed maniacally over dinner, his glass of scotch sloshing in his hand. “What would an advanced alien race be willing to share with the company who saved them? Better us than the government, that’s for damn sure.”
Lionel was dead by the time the Collection began— cirrhosis of the liver, not exactly a shocking cause of death. Lena was seventeen, and blissfully ignorant of any possibility she could be one of the women Collected. She was a Luthor after all. If the rumors around her boarding school were true, she could pay her way out of being Collected. So she didn’t worry.
Twenty-two year old Lena was a bit more realistic, particularly when she was summoned the day after her birthday to submit to the required genetic testing and psychological evaluation. Having her blood drawn didn’t really faze her, but then they led her to a separate room for the psychological evaluation, and a nurse approached her with a syringe filled with clear liquid.
“What’s that?” she demanded, even as her upper arm was cleaned with an alcohol wipe.
“Just a little something to make sure you’re truthful in your evaluation, Miss Luthor,” the nurse explained. “It makes you feel a bit out of sorts, but it burns out of your system in fifteen minutes or so.”
The liquid in the syringe burned as it spread through her arm, and she could almost feel it spreading through her entire body, a warm bubbly sensation. She felt light, colors looked brighter, and she clicked her tongue impatiently as she waited for the psychologist— a stiff-looking middle-aged man with dull brown eyes and a heavy brow.
She answered the questions as succinctly as possible.
“Full name?”
“Lena Kieran Luthor.”
“Age?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Are you currently in a romantic relationship?”
“Yes.”
“What is your partner’s name?”
“His name is Jack Spheer,” Lena said, and she realized that her words were slightly slurred.
“Have you ever had a romantic or sexual relationship with a woman?”
“No,” Lena replied, but her tongue suddenly felt thick in her mouth and a dull burning sensation began in her throat.
“Have you ever had any romantic or sexual attraction toward a woman?”
The denial was on the tip of her tongue, but the burning sensation roared to life before she could speak. Lena’s mind was flooded with memories of Veronica, the older girl who had teased her mercilessly for how her gaze lingered on her in the classroom, memories of Taylor, the first girl she had a crush on in middle school, who she was sure Lillian paid to transfer to another school, and memories of her best friend since they were sixteen, Andrea, and the feelings she had when they were curled up together on the sofa, watching The Titanic and quoting it line for line.
“Y—yes,” she stuttered, and the burning ceased.
She wasn’t sure what all of those questions meant, but that was the day she decided she would continue her education. She had gotten two bachelor’s degrees by twenty, her first master’s at twenty-one, and had started working on a small start-up with Jack. Three days after her visit to the Collection Bureau, she broke up with Jack and returned to college to pursue yet another master’s degree, making herself ineligible for the Collection. It was just three more years, and she could afford to stay in school for that long.
Then all hell broke loose.
Lex was arrested a year later, when she was twenty-three. The brother she once adored had engineered a chemical that could harm Kryptonians— he called it Kryptonite— and had bombed half-a-dozen Collection Bureaus with the stuff, killing all humans and Kryptonians who worked in them. The death total was over sixty, and the governments were furious, driven by fear of Kryptonian retribution. The trial was swift, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Lillian took over LuthorCorp, and Lena returned to her studies. But two years later, Lillian was arrested for embezzlement, and Lena had a choice to make.
She could give up her family’s company, continue her studies, and be exempt from the Collection.
Or she could leave her studies and take up the helm at LuthorCorp, and risk her number being drawn in the Collection.
It was her pride that made her decision. She was a Luthor, and she wasn’t about to give up on the company that had been in her family for generations. She left MIT for Metropolis and went to work trying to pull the company out of the hole her brother and adoptive mother had dug. After all, it was the last year of the Collection, what were the chances of her number being drawn?
Chapter One
Lena stared at the spreadsheets and reports in front of her with knitted brows, as if the numbers would conform to her wishes the same way her employees and board members bowed to her withering glare. But numbers were numbers, money was money, and there was no changing what was on the screens and papers she was reading.
LuthorCorp was failing.
In the six months since she had taken over as CEO of LuthorCorp, Lena had spent countless sleepless nights trying to find a way to save her family’s company. Her brother had sunk billions of dollars into his research into Kryptonite, and the government had seized any results from that without any recompense. What money was left, Lillian had funneled into offshore accounts that even Lena couldn’t access now that her mother was in jail. Lena was left with few choices— she could try to hold on, make some desperate maneuvers, and there was a slim possibility that the company might not go under, or she could use the company’s last remaining resources to give her employees quality severance packages and sell any remaining real estate to pay out the shareholders.
And though she took pride in her family’s company, Lena was leaning toward the second option.
Her head was throbbing and for a moment her vision blurred. Lena bowed her head and rubbed her temples. The headaches had started about the same time Lex was arrested, and only grew worse with each passing day. She chalked it all up to stress and sleepless nights.
She was tired, so tired of fighting a battle she didn’t begin. Lex was supposed to be the CEO. She had always thought she would work in LuthorCorp’s research and development department, using her degrees in bioengineering and physics to create world-changing technologies. Instead she was using her business degree— the one she had only obtained at Lillian’s urging, oddly enough— and in a position she never wanted to hold.
“Miss Luthor?”
The voice over her intercom wasn’t particularly loud or harsh, but Lena cringed anyway as the sound pierced her ears. When she opened her eyes she blinked several times until the spots of light cleared from her vision.
“Yes, Jess?” she replied.
Nothing but static sounded over the intercom and before Lena could question it, the doors to her office burst open. Three men in black uniforms with yellow armbands and the letters USCB emblazoned across their chests stomped into the office, the sound of their heavy boots echoing against the stone floors.
USCB.
United States Collection Bureau.
Jess followed close behind her, but her approach to Lena was blocked by the burly arm of one of the Collection agents. “I’m sorry, Miss Luthor, they just—“
“Lena Kieran Luthor, under the authority of the United States Collection Bureau, I am here to escort you to the Metropolis North Collection Center for processing,” one of the agents said, his voice gentle in a way that contrasted with his militant appearance.
Lena’s brow crinkled, both in pain and confusion. “This isn’t normal protocol. The Collection isn’t scheduled to begin for another month. Do you have a writ of surrender?”
Lena knew the normal procedures for women chosen for the Collection well— she had seen two of her best friends taken in the past three years. A notification was delivered to them in person— an official writ of surrender. Once they were notified, they had until a certain date to report to a Collection Center for processing— final medical and psychological checks— before being surrendered to the Kryptonians. This gave the women some time to get their affairs in order before—
“You have been deemed a flight risk, Miss Luthor,” the agent replied. “With your assets, it was determined that there was a high chance that you would attempt to escape the Collection process once a writ of surrender was delivered.”
Well, they weren’t wrong about that, but these men didn’t need to know it.
“That’s absurd!” Lena exclaimed. “I am a law-abiding citizen. I believe in doing my civic duties. Besides, I am the head of a corporation with thousands of employees, I have affairs that need to be set in order, affairs that will affect the livelihoods of those thousands of employees. Give me a writ of surrender, allow me to get my affairs in order, and then I will surrender myself to the Collection Bureau when the time comes.”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that, Miss Luthor,” the man said. “Orders are orders. You can always press the matter when we arrive at the Collection Center, but we’re here to bring you in, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Lena swallowed hard. She knew the stories, knew that the Collection Centers were more inescapable than any maximum security prison. Once a woman was taken into a Center, the only way out was to board the Kryptonian ships. She glanced at Jess, who was still being blocked by one of the agents.
“Jess, I’m engaging Protocol X,” she said, her calm voice belying her true intentions.
The words had barely left her mouth when an electric hum filled the room and pale blue sheen obscured Lena’s vision of the opposite side of the office— a forcefield falling into place. One of the agents quickly drew his gun and fired— non-lethal tranquilizer darts, Lena knew— but the darts disintegrated when they hit the forcefield. Lena hurried across the room to the wall and pressed her palm against what looked like a small mirror, but was actually a scanner that not only read her handprint but also took DNA from her skin cells. An invisible panel opened in the wall and she slid inside, locking the mechanism behind her.
The escape hatch had been designed by Lex to elude authorities, but they had captured him when he was away from the office. Lena had never imagined she would use it, but in this moment she was very grateful that she knew the protocol.
She took a small elevator down to the ground floor where a room full of disguises— still mostly for men— was waiting. Lena didn’t have time to do much. She tucked her long hair up into a cap and pulled a dirty blonde wig onto her head, changed from her business suit into one of the plain gray scrub uniforms worn by researchers in the biomedical department, and slid a pair of dark-rimmed glasses on her face. She grabbed a coat with pockets full of emergency cash, and headed out the escape route into the lobby.
She could see more Collection agents in the lobby, and two were stationed at each door. They were all alert, inspecting everyone that walked by, but clearly trying not to raise an alarm. Lena fell in step behind a small group of researchers emerging from the regular elevators and kept her head turned slightly away from the agents as she passed, not low enough to stir suspicion, but obstructing her features enough to avoid detection. She followed them through the glass doors and a block down the street from the LuthorCorp office, only then allowing herself to breathe a small sigh of relief.
This wasn’t how she wanted it to go. She had arrangements in place— her own untraceable bank accounts, fake IDs and passports— but all of this was her last resort. Lena was certain that if she could just get to her lawyers, they could get her out of this. If the Collection Bureau wasn’t following protocol, there had to be something unscrupulous going on. If she could just find evidence, she’d have this whole thing—
“You shouldn’t have run.”
The low voice interrupted Lena’s thoughts with a start. She had been so lost in her thoughts, distracted by her still-pounding head, focused only on putting distance between herself and the USCB agents, that she didn’t notice the woman who had fallen into step beside her, though she wasn’t sure how.
The woman was tall and broad-shouldered beneath the thick wool coat she wore. She was beautiful with her blonde curls, tied back in a high ponytail, gleaming in the evening light, and her blue eyes sparkling brightly behind dark-rimmed glasses. She was stunning, really, almost inhuman.
Oh.
“You’re Kryptonian,” Lena said, her voice low. She didn’t stop walking; instead her eyes darted about, looking for any escape route, though the rapid eye movements made small spheres of light appear in her vision.
The woman leveled her with a studious gaze. “They told me you were a genius, but I didn’t think you were that perceptive.”
“Why are you here?” Lena demanded. “This isn’t… This isn’t how things are supposed to go.”
“I’m here because you’re you,” the Kryptonian said. “And because I want you. And on my planet, an alpha takes what they want.”
Lena saw her chance and took it. She darted into traffic, narrowly avoiding a yellow taxi that skidded to a stop inches from her and blared its horn at her. The sound made her ears ring, but she didn’t stop. A black SUV swerved to miss her, just barely, and clipped the side of a red sedan, metal scraping against metal. A crunching sound alerted Lena to a bumper-to-bumper collision, but she didn’t look back to see what had happened. By some miracle she made it to the opposite side of the street unscathed, though the pounding in her head was almost unbearable. Her vision blurred, her ears rang, and her stomach churned in response to the pain. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision, as she hurried along the sidewalk, only to bump into what felt like a steel pylon wearing a wool coat.
“I’m sorry, I— oh,” Lena gasped, looking up into brilliant blue eyes as she strong arms wrapped around her swaying form. “Please, I don’t… I can pay you, whatever you want, just please don’t… Oh god.”
Her vision spun, blurring the woman in front of her until it was like there were two blondes in her mind’s eye. She shut her eyes tight, willing the world to right itself, for her to wake up and this all be a dream. Instead her legs collapsed beneath her, leaving strong arms the only thing holding her up.
“I’ve got you, Lena,” the Kryptonian said softly. “I’ve got you, i zhao.”
Lena lost consciousness to the soft murmurings of Kryptonese in her ear.
——
Lena awoke slowly, memories swirling through her head as consciousness returned. For a brief moment, she let herself hope that it might’ve all been a dream, and then she opened her eyes and reality flooded her senses.
She was in what appeared to be a generic bedroom suite. The room was large enough to hold a large bed, a simple desk, and a dresser. There was an open door that led to what looked like a bathroom, and two closed doors that led to who knows what. It looked something like a nice, modern hotel room, except there were no windows and the walls were made out of metal.
I’m on a space ship.
Lena was just processing that bit of information when she realized something else— she was completely naked beneath the sheets. All sorts of horrifying possibilities flashed through her mind as she sat up in bed, holding the satiny-soft sheets to her chest and taking stock of her body. She wasn’t sore anywhere— in fact, physically she felt better than she had in months— so perhaps rape wasn’t a concern. Yet. She needed to find clothes and a weapon. She might not be able to overpower a Kryptonian, but no way in hell was she going down without a fight.
Suddenly one of the closed doors slid open with a hiss. Lena tightened her grip on the sheet, as if it would somehow shield her, but what came through the door was not what she expected. Instead of a Kryptonian, or even a human, a robot floated through the doorway. It was humanoid in shape, though it had no legs, with mechanical arms and wide head with what appeared to be a glowing gold energy core where a face would be.
“Can I be of any assistance, Miss Luthor?” the robot asked with a mechanical voice.
Lena’s eyes widened at the sound. “What… What are you?”
“I am Kelex, a Kryptonian service robot,” the robot replied.
“Where am I?” Lena asked.
“You are on a Kryptonian interstellar freight ship,” the robot told her. “You are in the private quarters of Lady Kara of the House of El.”
“Right,” Lena breathed, looking around once again. She assumed that was the name of the blonde Kryptonian she remembered from Earth. “Um… Where is she? Lady Kara?”
“Lady Kara is attending to duties on the ship’s flight deck,” Kelex replied. “I was instructed to watch over you and provide any assistance should you awaken. Would you like to bathe?”
“I— What?” Lena stammered, confused by the sudden change of subject.
“Would you like to bathe? You have been unconscious for thirty-eight hours and nineteen minutes. In my experience, humans find it refreshing to tend to their personal hygiene after that length of time. While you bathe I can find clothes for you, if you would like,” Kelex volunteered.
“That… That would be great,” Lena agreed. At least she could get clothes before she had to deal with the aliens.
“This way, Miss Luthor,” Kelex said, gesturing to the open door.
Lena looked down at herself, uncertain about her nakedness, but then resolved that this was an alien so modesty was probably moot. She followed it into the other room, which was a sleek but small bathroom. A transparent glass-like panel separated the shower from the rest of the room. There was a large spray head but no visible controls.
“Calibrate water pressure and temperature to human comfort,” Kelex said before Lena could ask. Water immediately began flowing from the shower head. “Cleanser for your hair and body can be found stored below the shower head. I will now go to retrieve a towel and clothes for you to use afterward, if that is all, Miss Luthor.”
“Yes, that’s all,” Lena replied. “Erm… Thank you, Kelex.”
“You are welcome, Miss Luthor,” the robot replied, and Lena actually thought the mechanical voice sounded pleased with her gratitude.
Lena stepped into the spray, letting the warm water wash away the feeling of grunge off her skin. She checked her body over as she washed, but found no signs of injury. In a small alcove beneath the shower head she found full bottles of her usual shampoo and conditioner. Lena refused to dwell on how the Kryptonians knew her favorite brands and scents. She also found a bottle with Kryptonian symbols on the side, which she assumed to be body wash, but the honey-like substance inside didn’t lather as she spread it across the skin, rather it tingled slightly, like mint toothpaste, but once washed away her skin felt smooth and fresh.
Once she was finished washing herself, Kelex returned with a towel and turned off the water. It also instructed her on how to rinse her mouth with a liquid that would clean her teeth and mouth in lieu of brushing her teeth. The towel not only dried her skin, but with a gentle rub through it wicked most of the moisture from her hair, leaving it in soft waves around her shoulders. Spread out on the bed she found simple underwear, a pair of jeans, and an unearthly soft cream-colored sweater. The clothes all fit perfectly, even the bra and panties, and Lena didn’t want to think about why that might be.
“Miss Luthor,” Kelex said, its mechanical voice pulling Lena from her thoughts. “If you are finished dressing, Lady Kara has finished her duties and is waiting in the next room. She has brought a meal to share with you.”
Lena swallowed hard. She glanced around the room, looking for anything that she might use as a weapon, but her perfunctory search came up empty. She steeled herself, smoothing down the front of the sweater, and followed Kelex toward the closed door which slid open at her approach.
The next room was also simple and as generic as the bedroom. One wall curved slightly, and a large sofa that also curved fit into that space. Across from that was a round meal table surrounded by four chairs. And seated in one of the chairs was a familiar Kryptonian.
Her hair was still as brilliant gold as Lena remembered, but instead of being swept back, it now fell in loose curls that framed her face. Instead of human clothes, the Kryptonian wore a tight-fitting navy bodysuit with red and gold trim, with an S-shaped sigil sewn over her left shoulder. The glasses she had worn were also missing, and Lena found piercing blue eyes eyeing her warily, as one might watch an animal that could bolt or bite at any moment.
“Hello, Lena,” she said, her voice soft. “How are you feeling?”
“I— What?” Lena stuttered. She wasn’t sure what she expected from the Kryptonian, but it wasn’t soft concern.
“Are you feeling well? Physically?” the blonde asked, and her brow crinkled as she looked Lena up and down.
“Yes, I suppose, I—“ Lena swallowed hard and straightened her back, assuming the authoritative stance she wore in the boardroom, or when facing her unscrupulous family members. “I demand to be released and returned to Earth at once. Legal protocol was not followed in the process of my Collection. I need to contact my lawyers at Shapert and Grant, they will negotiate my release.”
The Kryptonian’s face fell. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. While you are correct that your Collection was not standard protocol, it was done with the authorization of the United States Collection Bureau and the Secretary of the Collection, making it perfectly legal. Also, it is illegal for any human who has undergone Kryptonian genetic modification to return to Earth.”
Lena’s eyes widened in shock. “Genetic modification? What have you done to me?”
“Females who are gathered during the Collection must undergo genetic modification in order to reproduce with their chosen Kryptonian mates,” she explained. “It’s a completely harmless procedure, it simply changes your reproductive cycle—“
“I don’t care if you think it’s harmless!” Lena exclaimed. “You’ve taken me from my planet and performed irreversible medical procedures without my consent! How dare you! Who are you to—“
“My name is Kara of the House of El,” the woman interjected, as if that would help.
Lena stepped forward, fury overpowering her common sense, and dug her finger angrily into the Kryptonian’s chest. “And who are you, Kara of the House of El, that you have the right to make decisions like that for me?”
Kara stood up straighter at that, grabbing Lena firmly but gently by the wrist. Lena tried to jerk her hand back, but her hold just tightened, reminding Lena that the Kryptonian was controlling strength that could easily crush the bones of her wrist in her grasp. A shiver of fear raced down her spine as she looked up at sapphire eyes.
“I am Lady Kara of the Royal House of El, daughter of Zor El and Alura Ze, granddaughter of the late King Seyg El, cousin to the current King Kal El,” Kara said, her voice fierce and proud. “And I am to be your mate.”