Write (supercorptober fluff)
Great idea, walking into a Luthor’s office while solarflared, Kara thought.
It’s not like she could tell Snapper “no” to interviewing Lena Luthor - she was a rookie reporter, and she needed every article assignment she could get. Besides, walking into Lena’s office while solarflared was only risky if Lena both knew who she was and intended to harm her. After their first encounter… Kara just didn’t think either was likely.
But Rao, Kara was still kicking herself. After her last battle, Alex had told her to cool it with her powers to recharge. Now Kara was going to have to explain that she solarflared after a short flight across the city. Oh well, she thought, as she walked into Lena's office. “Well, I'm glad to see you decided to give reporting a shot,” Lena said, rising from her desk as the niceties were exchanged - Kara’s bus flub thankfully went unnoticed. “Although if you're here on the same day the president is in town to sign her Alien Amnesty Act, then…”
Kara grinned. “I must be here to ask the sister of Earth's most notorious alien-hater for her take on the president's executive order.”
“I want to show you something,” Lena said, barely containing her excitement as she tugged her desk drawer open, revealing a small device inside. “It's an alien detection device - it allows humans to find out who among them is not truly one of them.”
Kara’s jaw dropped as Lena removed the device from the drawer. “W-why?”
“It’s the best of both worlds,” Lena explained. “The aliens will get the amnesty they need, and people will be able to tell who they are when they need to.”
“Don’t… don’t you think this device will force aliens back into the very shadows the president is trying to shine a light on?” Kara said weakly.
Lena furrowed her brow. “If aliens want to be citizens, that's now their right. But… if humans want to know which of their fellow citizens aren't actually one of them, then that's their right too.”
Kara’s body was screaming run. Or fly. Not that she could, when she was solarflared. But this device set a panic through her veins - what were Lena’s intentions? “How does it work?” Kara asked weakly, as her mind frantically searched for an excuse to leave.
“A simple skin test,” Lena said, pressing her thumb to the sensor for a demonstration, watching the device flash green. “This device is going to make us a fortune. Unlike my brother, I'm going to do it for the good of the world.”
The good of the world, Kara thought, eyes falling on the device. She supposed that a woman steeped in a family of lies might rebel by seeking truth. Kara could see how one could think that simply revealing truth would be good for the world…
But this woman had no idea of the danger that the truth could put people in, if not carefully concealed. They simply didn’t exist in that kind of world.
Kara’s stomach dropped as Lena held out the device for her to try, a playful smirk on the CEO’s face as she encouraged the cub reporter to test the device herself. No heat vision, Kara thought, wishing she could simply fry a wire. It would definitely be too suspicious to leave now.
But the look on Lena’s face… Kara was certain that the CEO had no idea what was about to happen. She was misguided - and hopefully that’s all she was - but Kara clung to the fact that she didn’t seem to have a clue who Kara was. She was just a woman trying to take control of a narrative, desperate to turn away from her brother’s path.
And that gave Kara hope.
As Kara pressed her thumb down on the device, she prayed her instincts were right, that the woman wasn’t the monster everyone suspected her to be.
The device beeped, and Lena stared down, confused at the bright red that flashed in front of her. In that moment, her entire demeanor shifted, as she slowly - achingly, worriedly - looked back up at Kara.
Kara watched as the emotions flit across Lena’s face, a complicated array that passed in mere seconds as Lena realized what she had done. Kara could feel the pounding in her own heart - but there was no hiding the remorse on Lena’s face.
But Lena was clever, and Kara sensed what was happening as Lena’s eyes moved from Kara’s glasses to her ponytail, the CEO mouthing flew here on a bus silently. Discovering that Kara was alien was just a small step from knowing who Kara really was.
But hope continued to bloom in Kara’s chest, as she watched the concern in Lena’s gaze. Perhaps it was foolish to trust the Luthor so early, but Kara just sensed… she wasn’t sitting across from her nemesis. Perhaps they could rewrite the narrative.
“A super, at the mercy of a Luthor,” Kara said softly, rising from her seat, proud that her voice didn’t waiver. “I should be terrified.”
Lena’s eyes darted between Kara’s, but Kara gave a small smile that she hoped conveyed I believe in you, before turning and making her way out the door. Snapper would have to get his interview another day.
Lena stood silently at her desk for a moment, staring after the reporter in confusion and awe, before a small smile crossed her own lips. Lena reached down to her phone, tapping at a couple buttons. Had Kara had her superhearing intact, perhaps she would’ve smiled at Lena’s words.
“Jess, put me through to R&D. I need to cancel a product.”
Honestly, I couldn't stop thinking about this. The more I thought about it, the more I wished Kara had done this in the show.
Continuation:
An Analysis of Risks
Lena settled into the chair at her desk and turned the alien detection device over in her hands. Guilt simmered in her, but also an unfamiliar sense of connection and desire. Kara Danvers had taken a big risk by placing her thumb on this detector, likely knowing full well what it would reveal.
Yet, despite the enormity of that risk, she'd looked at Lena with hope in her eyes. A hope that carried with it the smallest of smiles, a mere twist of her lips. Perhaps Kara could have left the interaction at only the detector's results, but she'd gone a step further. Taken a larger risk by using the word super.
Lena knew about risks intimately. Most of her life was embroiled in risks. Such as when she testified against her brother, taken control of her adopted family's company. Even coming here to National City held its share of risks. She wouldn't have gotten where she was today if she was in any way risk averse.
For in a way, Lex's crimes haunted Lena. It influenced the renaming of the company to L-corp and her decision to divorce herself from her adopted family. How could she do good if all people saw was the evil her family had done?
Lena desperately wanted to change that narrative.
Lena sighed. She definitely had been naive in thinking that an alien detection device would build a world of trust and honesty. Instead, this device and her smug confidence had outed someone against their will. Someone who had every right to be angry, but had instead taken it with grace and poise.
If Kara was willing to trust her enough to reveal her true identity, then Lena needed to honor that trust in turn.
Lena turned the device over and pulled a screwdriver from her desk drawer. She carefully undid the back, laid it aside, and pulled free the electronic components that did the analysis of the skin sample. It had a limited memory, but even that could still hold data that could put Kara at risk. This was not a risk that she could allow, not if she sought to honor Kara's trust.
She laid the databoard on her desk and smashed it with the butt of her screwdriver. Now no one would know she had accidentally exposed Kara's identity.
Next, she opened her computer and looked up Kara Danvers' work address. She pondered how best to approach this. Perhaps flowers with chocolates -- who doesn't love chocolates? -- could perhaps relay the message that Lena was interested in the hope Kara had offered.
But also relay how Lena was interested in much more than that.
For Lena could not deny the flush of attraction she'd felt when Kara said, "A super at the mercy of a Luthor? I should be terrified." That smile she'd given after had melted Lena, leaving her with a desperate need to see that again.
This plan would meet both her needs. A way to show her appreciation for Kara's trust in her and a way to perhaps start a friendship. Whether that grew into something more?
That was a risk Lena was willing to take.
=
Kara walked through the glass doors toward her desk at Catco. Several people whispered in a clump around it obscuring it from view. That was odd.
"Looks like you have an admirer," James smirked. He leaned against a desk near hers.
Kara frowned. "What?"
The crowd parted for her, and Kara came to a stop, baffled. Her desk was covered with flowers of all colors, and in the center of that nest was a large box of chocolates.
Who would have sent this?
Kara picked up the chocolates and saw a card under it. She tucked the chocolates under her arm and opened the card.
I am sorry for pressuring you to out yourself. In honor of the trust you have put in me, I have cancelled that product line and destroyed the device that held the sample of your skin. Rest assured I will keep your secret. I only ask in return that you visit me again. Perhaps as a friend? - LL
Kara smiled. She knew then that she'd made the right choice.
=
Not sure if I did it justice, but I thought it'd be cute. And I'm sure Lena would do what she could to honor the trust Kara gave her. Plus, sending her flowers and chocolates sounds adorable and very Lena. Anyway, let me know if you liked.
Ohh my heart!!! This is a wonderful continuation!! I loved Lena's perspective here. the softness. the attention to detail with the device. the flowers.
I loved this so much, thank you for making my day 💗💗
