Chapter Text
“What’s the special occasion?” Supergirl asked as she walked through the floor of a half-destroyed office building where all the lights were cut out. “Should I have brought candles?”
“All business tonight I’m afraid,” the vigilante known as Tess Mercer replied, though Supergirl was still unsure where the voice was coming from. “But as soon as I find what I want, it’ll be all pleasure… for me at least.”
A shadow caught Supergirl’s attention on one corner, and she slowly moved towards it. Supergirl had never seen Mercer’s face, no one ever had since she always wore a mask or some other disguise, but her enticing voice she knew unequivocally from their many encounters, had even memorized.
“Do your parents know you’re here?” Supergirl teased, trying to get an idea of how old Mercer was. She knew very little about her. The vigilante’s name also happened to be an alias.
Mercer scoffed from somewhere. “Please, what am I, twelve? But since you’re asking, my family and I are on great terms. They’re proud of me in everything I do.”
“So they know about all this?”
“Well, not exactly. I work alone. And best to keep them out of it, don’t you think?”
“So who are you taking down this time?” Supergirl asked as she scanned some walls with her x-ray, coming up empty on Mercer’s location. The broken pipes, floors and malfunctioning techware all over the place made it difficult not only to zero in on Mercer but to concentrate on the point of origin of her voice.
“National City’s tech guru, proud owner of this now wrecked building, the one and only Morgan Edge, if you must know. That self-aggrandizing condescending prick. I always knew his fortune hadn’t come from his ‘hard work’,” Mercer spoke from somewhere on the floor, clearly satisfied at having found what she was looking for.
“Don’t you think it would be a little better to find whatever you’re looking for without hacking him, or destroying his building and stealing his private company information, as I presume you’re doing now?” Supergirl asked, moving closer to where she hoped Mercer was.
“I didn’t destroy the building,” Mercer defended, “that tiny alien invasion you stopped earlier today did me the favor. I was going to come in here later this week but things just aligned for me. You could say it was a sign.”
“Supergirl,” a voice in the hero’s ear rang. “Maybe you could speed this up,” her sister Alex remarked from the DEO headquarters.
“You’re too smart for this Mercer. You know there are better ways, ways that don’t involve doing anything illegal that might get you sent to prison,” she said as she opened a door to a disappointingly empty office.
“Legal methods aren’t always effective. I mean, isn’t that why you exist? To punch your way through? Isn’t that why you’re here in the first place?”
“I’m here because you might be stealing sensitive information about aliens. And I work for an government agency that cares about that,” Supergirl clarified as she looked behind a desk she suspected Mercer might be at. Except she wasn’t there.
“And what agency would that be?”
“That’s classified.”
Mercer scoffed. “Is Edge allowed to have this ‘sensitive information’ in the first place? He’s been experimenting on aliens for 5 years now,” she said, “did you know that Supergirl? It seems to me like I’m doing your job for you, or for that precious secret agency you work for.”
Supergirl pressed her lips together. She hadn’t known that. “You have a point, but still, these methods are dangerous Tess. I worry you’ll find yourself caught up in something too big one day, upset the wrong person and put yourself in harm’s way, worse than you already have multiple times before.”
“Aren’t you cute? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you might have a crush on me or something,” Mercer teased.
“Just concerned for you as I would be any citizen.” Supergirl pushed a door open down the hall, only to find an empty storage unit behind it.
“Tell me something, Supergirl,” Mercer spoke, “why a skirt?”
Supergirl frowned at the question, “what’s wrong with it?”
“Not that I mind it, but wouldn’t pants be better? More comfortable? For flying, fighting and what not?”
“Supergirl,” the voice in her ear rang again, a little more stern this time. “You’re stalling. Find her, and bring her back to the DEO. We need to know what she’s got from Edge’s files.”
“I’m on it,” Kara replied to her sister. “I see your point,” she returned to Mercer. “But not just anyone can make a superhero suit. And I don’t go about demanding more suits for the heck of it. I think I might be stuck with this one.”
“That’s unfortunate for you,” Mercer remarked. “I could make a better outfit, if only you’d put that little earpiece down and think for yourself,” she said provokingly.
Supergirl was about to reply when movement down a hall caught her attention. She followed the lead slowly, and decided to not give Mercer the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her. “You know, you and I don’t have to be on opposite sides all the time.”
“But then who would be my archenemy? I need one, for dramatic purposes,” Tess said with a smile Supergirl could hear on her voice.
“What if I had a proposal for you?”
“I’m intrigued. Does it involve less clothes than you’re wearing now?”
Supergirl chuckled. “If it did, it would go both ways.”
“Maybe a little game of strip poker,” Mercer proposed back.
“How about a show of good faith and you let me see your face?”
Mercer chuckled. “How about a show of good faith on your part and you take a piece of your suit off.”
“My suit is almost a one piece.”
“I know,” Mercer replied seductively.
Supergirl smirked and slowly approached a room where she was almost sure Mercer was in. She scanned it and found a person behind it. But she wanted to give Mercer a chance to surrender first. “How about you let me see your face, you give me those files you’ve stolen, and then we talk about my actual proposal?” - “I have her,” she spoke to her earpiece.
“Take her down,” the voice behind the earpiece replied.
“But you didn’t bring those candles,” Mercer teased, “so I think I’m going to swipe left on you tonight Supergirl, and you’ll just have to try your luck next time.”
Supergirl flew into the room quickly, surprising the woman. “Ouch,” she said, feigning being upset.
Mercer looked up startled from the computer she was at, then pulled a USB from it, and put it away in her pocket. As always, she was masked and Supergirl could only see her eyes. They were a stunning green.
“I’m sure your ego will heal,” Mercer said, her eyes looking left and right for an exit strategy.
“If you give me the USB and we can call it a night.”
Mercer shook her head. “If I give you this you’ll arrest me.” Her eyes caught something shining in a broken safe near her.
“Don’t,” Supergirl warned, just as Mercer dove for the safe and the weapon she’d seen in it.
Without thinking, Mercer aimed the weapon at Supergirl just as the hero flew in and closed the distance between them.
Mercer gasped as Supergirl stood just short of the irregularly shaped gun she held out. It was pressed against Supergirl’s gut, the only thing keeping distance between them.
“Why do we always find ourselves here?” Supergirl asked with a smirk.
“Because you’re arrogant enough to get in my way,” Mercer replied, pushing the weapon harder against Supergirl’s solid frame. She’d never seen a gun like this. She had no clue what it did, but she was betting it did something.
“It’s my job to stop you,” the hero said, not concerned in the slightest by the gun pressed against her gut.
“And you have a savior complex,” Mercer added as if the blonde hadn’t spoken.
“And you like danger,” Supergirl stated as she leaned her face closer to Mercer’s.
Mercer breathed heavily from the closeness. She eyed the hero’s broad shoulders, her arms, clearly muscular even through the outfit. Her hair was flawless as always, her skin too. Her blue eyes were no match for the ocean. “So what if I do?”
Okay, so Supergirl was a little hot. A lot hot. But the brunette had known this. And maybe she liked to flirt a little with the hero. It was perfectly harmless. The hero was no stranger to flirting back.
“It’s bad news,” Supergirl warned.
“I can handle myself. Besides, you’re telling me you don’t love the danger?” Mercer asked as she leaned even closer to Supergirl’s face. There were only a couple of inches between their faces now. Mercer’s eyes dipped down for a second. What would those rosy lips taste like?
Supergirl smirked. “The difference is I can’t be hurt.”
“Care to test that theory Supergirl?” Mercer said with an atrociously tantalizing voice.
Supergirl tilted her head to the side and raised a brow. Then, without another thought, Mercer pulled the trigger.
A beam of blue energy shot from the gun, sending Supergirl flying back.
Mercer stood, eyes wide open, across from the superhero, holding the weapon she’d just fired, stunned by its strength. She had certainly not expected that.
Supergirl was slammed against a wall, but landed on her knee and with a fist on the ground. She stood quickly and Mercer was relieved she hadn’t really hurt her.
“That had quite a kick. Edge’s work by the way. Did you know he was making these?” Mercer said as she dropped the gun and ran the opposite direction to escape from the blonde.
“Really? You have to run?” Supergirl asked, a little annoyed, but truthfully she was enjoying the banter and the chase. With Mercer she always did.
Unexpectedly, a spray of bullets rained down from the side windows indiscriminately. Supergirl instinctively launched forward to save Mercer, lifting her into the air and catching her in time to shield her from the attack.
Barely had Mercer’s feet lost ground from the quick swoop when Supergirl crashed down several meters ahead, releasing the brunette and sending her rolling about the floor like a rag doll, grunting her way through.
Mercer slowly picked herself up from the ground, a little light headed from the thrashing. “Nice landing,” she grumbled as she stood up straight, brushed the debris off her clothes and looked around.
Supergirl was laying on the floor at a distance, breathing with difficulty, practically choking on air.
Mercer dared step closer to the hero, only to find her veins glowing green. Her entire side was covered in bullets. But how could some bullets hurt the girl of steel? And why was she glowing green?
The superhero layed there, stretched out stiff and convulsing from the pain. She couldn’t utter a word and only groans escaped her mouth. Mercer barely caught a change in the hero’s expressions when she saw her, though she couldn’t decipher their cause.
“Kryp-tonite,” the hero stuttered.
“What?” Mercer asked, befuddled. Was that even a word that the hero had said?
“The b-bullets have kryp-tonite, it p-poisons me,” Supergirl struggled to say.
Oh. Mercer hadn’t known of anything that could hurt the superhero. But this really seemed to be hurting her, infecting her through the bloodstream.
Supergirl stared at her helplessly. Mercer stared blankly back at her for a few seconds. The scene was almost impossible to process. She’d never seen Supergirl this injured, this weak. Almost a god, yet here she was, on her death bed it seemed.
Mercer stepped closer and leaned down. This was her chance. The one every villain dreamed of. The brunette didn’t particularly like being labeled a villain but that was what the likes of Supergirl thought of her. She looked around. There was a broken shard of glass nearby. With it she could probably kill Supergirl.
She grabbed the glass and took a breath.
“Any last words?” she asked the hero. She’d never killed anyone before. But if she had the chance, she had to take it didn’t she?
“I…” the hero struggled, “know you c-can be g-good.”
Mercer pressed her lip. “Always a goddamn saint,” she said with disdain. She gripped the shard harder, willing her hand to act, but she couldn’t go through with it.
She dropped the shard. She sighed heavily and stood back up, took another look at the hero, and ran the other way.
Mercer quickly made her way to the emergency stairs.
Supergirl would be just fine wouldn’t she?
She always was, right?
Maybe just leaving her there would do the trick and kill her.
“Fuck’s sake!” she cursed out as her conscience brought her to a halt.
She made her way back to the hero. “I never want to hear about this, you hear me?” she told Supergirl as she dragged her away with all her strength from where another round of bullets was coming. She pulled her to a corner where both of them were protected by a series of fallen walls that had formed a fort-like structure.
She examined Supergirl’s injuries. Mercer could see over half a dozen bullets lodged in her body, all the way from her left calve to her upper body, and there were probably more. The brunette needed to remove the bullets but it was not like she had surgical tweezers or even regular ones on her to do that.
“I need to pull out the bullets, but I’m going to have to use my hands,” she said.
“D-do i-t,” Supergirl conceded.
Mercer tightened her jaw. Gosh, this was going to be very unpleasant. She licked her lips, let out a breath and began reaching for the first bullet.
Supergirl groaned in pain.
When the first one was out, Mercer confirmed that they had whatever the hell this kryptonite thing was. It looked like a green rock that the tip of the bullets were made of.
She dug in for the rest, one by one, hearing Supergirl roar in pain as Mercer’s fingers wrestled with pulling them out.
It felt an eternity before she removed the last one. 13 bullets total. Mercer pushed them all away. All but one, which she discreetly put in her pocket. This kryptonite thing could come in handy if it was the one thing that could hurt the hero. She wasn’t a saint like the blonde after all.
Supergirl breathed out in relief but she remained still on the ground, healing.
At seeing her task done and the green in Supergirl’s veins slowly begin to fade, Mercer stood, hands bloody, and began to leave.
Unexpectedly, Supergirl gripped her from her ankle.
Mercer turned around and reactively pointed the bullet she’d just grabbed at the hero.
Supergirl barely blinked at the threat. “Thank you,” she whispered instead before letting the brunette go.
Mercer blinked back, stunned and unsure how to react. Then, her instincts of self-preservation kicked back in and she ran out, making her escape.
Supergirl didn’t come after her, and Mercer safely made it back to her penthouse. She walked past her doorman with a polite hello to avoid looking suspicious. Her bloody hands she hid in her pockets.
Once in her penthouse, she washed Supergirl’s blood off her hands (an idea that she couldn’t comprehend even as she saw it) and threw her clothes in the washer. She hadn’t given herself time to think until she made herself some tea and took a warm bath in her tub.
She hadn’t acted like herself today. For starters, killing a person was not her usual M.O. yet she had truly considered killing Supergirl. Second, why even help her? They had been at this cat and mouse game for years, with Supergirl always trying to put her behind bars for her vigilante activity. The only difference between them, as far as Tess saw it, was that Supergirl was sanctioned by the government and she wasn’t.
Either way, she owed the hero no favors. So what if Supergirl had saved her a few times from minor inconveniences or near death experiences? Supergirl had a god savior complex that had nothing to do with Tess. They were still archenemies as far as she was concerned.
Then, she nearly dropped her tea when a thought pierced her brain. Where in the hell was her mask? She hadn’t taken it off or thrown it in with her clothes in the washing machine. She quickly thought back to when she’d been around Supergirl.
It took her seconds to recall the exact moment she’d lost it, which was when the hero had saved her from the attack and sent her flying across the ground.
That meant that Supergirl had seen her, her real face. That was why the hero’s expression had changed when she’d seen her in that moment.
This was a catastrophe of the highest level. Supergirl would know her. Nearly anyone would. She wasn’t Tess Mercer. She was Lena Luthor, multimillionaire philanthropist and owner of one of the largest tech conglomerates in the world.
She might as well have put the cuffs on and sentenced herself to federal prison. For saving Supergirl, she’d just ruined her life.
“Fuck! ” Lena exclaimed as she dropped the teacup on the floor and it broke into pieces spilling what was left of the tea.
Lena stepped out of her bath and into a robe, and headed to her living room where she turned the television on to the news where live footage showed the hero flying away from a scene where God knows what had happened. Lena only wanted to know if Supergirl had lived. Why was she so relieved that the hero survived? This meant Lena’s demise. Now that the hero had seen her face, it was a matter of time before she came knocking at her door to arrest her.
She grabbed the bullet she’d stolen from the hero’s body and which she’d left on her kitchen counter. She decided it would make a stylish necklace and pretty effective Supergirl repellent. She’d wear it from here on out and ensure her safety. Unless of course, she got arrested.
She took a deep breath in and let it out. She’d find a way out of this. She had to. And then, all would return to normal. Every hero needed a villain after all. And Lena was sure that Supergirl would be her nemesis for as long as they lived.
Lena sipped her drink on her penthouse balcony two weeks after she’d saved Supergirl. Two weeks after Supergirl had seen her face.
She thought she’d be in prison by now, yet here she was, in the comfort of her own home.
Supergirl hadn’t turned her in. For some reason, for some ulterior motive. Lena was sure of it. And sooner or later Lena knew the hero would show up, wanting to cash in a favor. Supergirl wasn’t high and mighty, and Lena couldn’t wait to prove it. What other reason could there be for her still enjoying her peace and freedom? At least physically. Mentally she felt caged. Waiting around to see when the hero would show up or maybe the FBI bang her door down or crash into her lab and confiscate everything was making her lose what little sleep she got.
She had maybe drank a little too much tonight just thinking about it all. She thought it best to go back inside before she fell over her balcony, but she had barely stepped inside when she heard the sound of something landing on it.
Think of the devil and she shall appear. But Lena was wearing her new kryptonite necklace now (conspicuously under her shirt). Never left the house without it and had even taken up the habit of sleeping with it. It gave her a little comfort.
“I knew you’d find me sooner or later,” Lena said, taking another sip of her glass even though she’d had enough. Maybe she had a flair for the dramatic.
“That’s quite the view you have, Ms. Luthor,” Supergirl said.
Lena rolled her eyes. Ms. Luthor? She had to be joking. “For the price I pay, I would hope so,” she said, stepping back out and leaning on the ledge for balance. She was not sober enough for this tonight, damn it.
“Working late?”
“What makes you think that?”
“It’s nearly 11 p.m. and you’re still in your work suit,” Supergirl pointed out.
Ugh , right. But she was barefoot, for the record. “I always work late. I have a multimillion dollar company to run.” So no vigilante shit keeping you up tonight? Lena expected Supergirl to ask.
“I’m aware,” she said instead. “Forbes 30 under 30 two years ago, Forbes list of 100 most powerful women last year, owner of a Fortune 500 company, Met Gala invitee,” Supergirl began listing.
“You forgot one of Taylor Swift’s BFFs,” Lena added with a smirk. Gosh it was hot that Supergirl knew those things about her. And Lena couldn’t resist bragging a little.
“My mistake.”
“Plus I look damn good in a suit. That’s an accomplishment in and of its own,” she added.
“You do.”
Lena bit her lip. That charming asshole. There was a reason Lena only flirted with the hero when she was sober. In those cases she still had her wits about her. Now, she just had her sexual appetite. And Lena nearly dropped her cup of whiskey down the balcony just from wondering what Supergirl looked like beneath that suit.
“Woah,” Supergirl said just as she caught the glass in Lena’s hand, “careful there.” She’d zoomed a few steps into Lena’s space.
Okay, Lena wasn’t just not sober, she was a little tipsy. But definitely not drunk. And she knew that having Supergirl touch her with this much alcohol was a bad idea.
She backed up clumsily. The glass was released into Supergirl’s hand with the brunette barely noticing. “Always looking for any excuse to get near me,” Lena taunted.
Supergirl only smirked. “You should get some rest,” she said as she placed the glass on the floor and took a safe distance from Lena.
“Just so you can torture me for longer?” Lena spat out, pushing away from the ledge and closer to the hero this time around.
“I’m not trying to torture you.”
Lena nearly slipped again and the blonde rushed to her side, closer than before this time and just then, her necklace jumped out from under her collar and glowed green. Supergirl quickly stepped back.
“New piece of jewelry?” Supergirl asked warily, her eyes now attentive on the stone.
“Haven’t you heard? Green is the new black.”
“Where’d you get that Ms. Luthor?”
“Why does it matter? All you should care about is that now I have the means to hurt you, isn’t that right?”
“And why would that be something you want to do Ms. Luthor?”
“God, can we drop the act? I know why you’re here. I know you recognized me. Now, I have a long day tomorrow and I need to get to bed.” She had half a dozen things to do before that but Supergirl didn’t need to know. “So go ahead and tell me what you want.”
“Why would you assume I want something?”
“I can only assume that’s the reason you haven't turned me in. Why else?”
“Are you planning to continue your… extralegal activities?”
“Of course I am. I have no reason to stop. The government isn’t doing its damn job. Someone needs to take these assholes down.”
The hero sighed. “That wasn’t the answer I’d hoped for.”
“Let me guess, you wanted me to say that I’d had a change of heart, a growth of conscience and I’d decided to stop all my vigilante shit just so you wouldn’t have to turn me in?”
“I have to turn you in then.”
“Of course you do,” Lena scoffed.
“But I should have done that two weeks ago.”
“Why didn't you? Why not just end my misery?,” she said as she stepped closer to the hero. She wanted to invade her space, make the blonde uncomfortable. Supergirl took a step back, cautious about the necklace. “Am I the hit you can’t quit, Supergirl? Addicted to our little cat and mouse play?” Lena teased. Scratch her earlier thoughts about not having her wits. Alcohol made her even bolder apparently.
“What I do know is that I owe you a thank you for saving my life,” she said rather than answer Lena.
Always so damn evasive. Lena hated that. “You probably would have lived somehow. You’re too stubborn to die like that,” she said.
Supergirl chuckled. “Maybe someone would have saved me, but they didn’t. You did.”
“Is this your thank you? Leaving me wondering when I’d be arrested, or what you’d come collecting? I haven’t slept in days!” She wasn’t supposed to disclose that, damn it. Alcohol gave some things and took others, like her tendency to keep things that made her weak to her chest.
“That wasn’t my intention. And I’m not here to collect anything.”
“Then what?”
“I have a proposal.”
“That’s the second time you say that to me. So what are you waiting for? Get on one knee,” Lena joked. Or two, she wanted to say. What she wouldn’t give to have Supergirl kneeling before her in that little skirt.
“I have to turn you in. It’s my job. And two government agencies are after you right now. The FBI and the DEO.”
“What the hell is that?” Lena asked.
“The Department of Extranormal Operations. It’s the agency I work for. They deal with aliens of all kinds.”
“Aliens you imprison, Judas,” she accused.
“The law applies to humans and aliens alike. Some aliens can be even more dangerous than you imagine.”
“Like you?”
Supergirl ignored the snarky comment. “But that’s not all the DEO does. It helps protect law abiding aliens too.”
“Thanks for the trivia. That aside, what’s the damn proposal?“ Lena said impatiently.
“That you cut a deal with the government.”
“What’s the difference between them arresting me and me doing the same thing under pressure?”
“I haven’t told them who you are. And I won’t yet. I’ll help you negotiate. Find some way to keep you in charge of your company and your name clean. Something discreet. No one outside you and the agencies would ever know about it.”
Lena thought about it. “Is that even possible?”
“It might be. I’m hoping you have enough information to share that they’ll be inclined to agree.”
“So you’re not even sure?“
“It’s that or I leave you to your own devices, or theirs.”
“Or you could just not turn me in,” you self-righteous asshole , Lena wanted to add.
“Ms. Luthor, you’ve broken the law. Several times. You’re a wanted felon and a flight risk.”
“No, Tess Mercer is.”
“We could at least try. We’d start with pretending you’re Mercer. And once everyone has agreed to the terms, which will include freedom from prosecution, and freedom of movement now that I think of it, then we’ll tell them your real name.”
“We?” Lena said with a raised brow.
“Well, you’ll need someone to negotiate on your behalf.”
Lena had an endless amount of lawyers she could propose this second. Any number she could call even at this hour and they’d pick up. They’d get her free from a murder charge. But something about Supergirl negotiating for her made her feel high and mighty.
“There’s only one problem you see,” Lena said. “This is all bullshit, isn’t it?”
Supergirl frowned. “What do you mean?”
“No government is ever going to agree to my terms. Or any terms. No matter what I give them, they’ll send me to prison. And I’ll lose my company, I’ll lose my work, I’ll lose everything. This whole negotiation thing is a fantasy,” she said as she frowned in worry and pressed her lips together.
“I think it can work.”
“Why even bother helping me?” Lena asked.
“Well, even if I don’t agree with the way you’re going about things, I have to admit your methods have been more effective than the government’s. And…”
“Go on,” Lena pressed.
“And I think you’re brilliant, as Tess Mercer and as yourself. And even if I don’t like every piece of technology Luthor Corp makes-”
“Such as?” Lena jumped in, ready to defend her work.
“Your alien detection devices.”
“Those are among our best sellers,” Lena stated.
“I’m aware. My point is, I think the world would be better off with you out of prison, doing some good, rather than in prison where you won’t be able to do much.”
Lena considered her words. “I’m flattered, I suppose. But you only think this will work because you’re hopeful and frankly naive. I’ve been stabbed in the back too many times to trust in that. Such is the life of a Luthor. So I know better.”
“I’m not naive,” Supergirl contested, but Lena wasn’t interested in what she had to say any more.
She didn’t want to believe in the fantasy and have the rug ripped from under her.
“All of this because I saved you. I had been so careful until then. One fuck up and now my entire life is at risk,” Lena lamented. “And now you have all the leverage and I have nothing! If the FBI or this DEO don’t like what I have to offer they’ll just ask you to bring me in and they’ll send me to prison. I won’t even really know that you’re negotiating on my behalf. You’ve made me helpless. Do you have any idea what that feels like… Super girl?” Lena asked as she stepped towards her, breathing the last words in the hero’s face, her necklace lighting up as it. Without heels, Supergirl towered over her.
“Consider the deal,” Supergirl said firmly, as if unfazed by the words. Flairs of green were barely starting to appear on her face.
It only annoyed Lena that she didn’t bother answering her question.
Supergirl began floating upwards, ready to fly off.
“Maybe…” Lena caught her attention before she left, “maybe if I had something to ensure you wouldn’t stab me in the back I’d be more comfortable with considering this.” She used her hand to cover the kryptonite necklace and render it useless.
The hero turned to her mid air, arms crossed but noting her good faith gesture. “I’m listening.”
“Something to make sure you’re motivated to do your best to help me get the best possible deal while also keeping my identity safe.”
“Such as?”
“Your real name,” Lena proposed. This was a long shot, the longest, and she knew it.
Supergirl scoffed and pressed her lips. “I don’t think so,” she said, about to take off.
“Of course you wouldn’t even consider it. You want me to risk everything and trust you when I don’t even have much of a choice, and you won't even do me the kindness of giving me any assurance,” Lena stated angrily.
“My real name is not just any kind of assurance. And I haven’t turned you in so far, isn’t that proof of trust?” Supergirl asked, floating down closer to Lena.
“Hardly. You need to give me something real, something meaningful. And this is it.”
“Mutual trust.”
“More like mutually assured destruction. I find that more comfortable,” Lena said as she looked up at her.
Supergirl breathed in and out slowly. Her jaw was tense and so was her posture. She assessed the situation.
She looked into Lena’s eyes and as hard as the brunette tried to look stoic, her body gave her away. Her heart was racing as she silently prayed, for the first time in maybe ever, that the hero would help her. Her stare was nowhere near as menacing as she managed in her boardrooms. The truth was, Lena was vulnerable, powerless as she’d said, and she was terrified that her life would go up in flames if the hero didn’t help her.
“Kara,” Supergirl breathed out.
Lena blinked at the sound. For a second, she didn’t even process the word. She swallowed in shock.
“Kara Danvers,” Supergirl said.
“Kara Danvers,” Lena repeated. “And what do you do Kara Danvers? Other than wear this really tight suit and an impractical skirt?” she dared to ask.
“I’m a reporter.”
“Hmm,” Lena replied as she thought about the response. “Haven’t found a way to make the pen mightier than the… cape?”
“Working on it,” Supergirl replied.
Lena stepped back a little, feeling overwhelmed by this power that she now possessed. Knowing Supergirl’s real name was the last thing she’d ever expected to know. She’d surprised herself when she’d asked for it. She’d expected to be turned down. And now… she had Earth’s mightiest hero’s secret identity.
“Now we’re even,” Supergirl said. “I know yours, and you know mine. While my name doesn’t mean you have the power to hurt me directly, I hope you know it means you have the power to hurt everyone I love, and thus me.”
Lena flinched at the words. “I won’t tell anyone. I just want to ensure that you do everything in your power to make sure I’m safe.”
“And if I try my best and fail to secure the deal you want?” Supergirl asked.
“You better not fail then,” she threatened. She was back on equal footing now.
“You know, something interesting happened while I was handling the beginning of that not so small alien invasion a couple weeks ago.”
“Do tell,” Lena’s alluring voice replied.
“I got a visit from a 5th dimensional imp. He was quite friendly, even if a little clingy,” Supergirl spoke. “He showed me alternate realities of you and I.”
“And?” the brunette replied. Lena’s curiosity was peaked.
Supergirl smirked, knowing she had her attention. “It turns out we’re actually good friends in almost all of them.”
A scoff came from the brunette.“That’s absurd,” Lena spoke. “You and I could never be friends,” she affirmed.
Supergirl replied with a smile, “but that wasn’t the most interesting thing he showed me. In one world we were something else. Not archenemies, not friends per say, but … something else.”
“Like I said, you and I could never be friends, much less something else,” she said with the utmost conviction.
Lena opened her eyes slowly. Where was she? She’d gone to bed in her penthouse last night after Supergirl’s little visit. But this room was most certainly not hers.
She sat up and found herself wearing a nasal cannula and an IV in her arm. She was in a hospital room. What the hell had happened?
She took out the cannula and slowly removed the IV from her arm. She found clothes neatly folded on a nearby chair that she assumed were hers, and shoes that fit her size (though were in no sense stylish) in a closet. She did her best to get dressed though she felt a little dizzy and weak.
She was putting a jacket on when the door to her room opened. And in walked a familiar blonde, carrying a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Though she was wearing glasses, ordinary clothes and her hair was tied up, Lena deciphered it right away.
Supergirl.
“You’re up,” the blonde whispered with a bright smile and a look of surprise.
“Stay away from me!” Lena screamed right away, her hands in front of her as if she could do something with them, as if they served any function against Supergirl.
The blonde was startled. “Lena, calm down, you must be disoriented.”
“Get the hell away from me Supergirl!” she howled.
The blonde frowned and looked confused. “Woah, Lena, take a breath, everything is alright, you’re alright.”
“Step away from the door,” Lena commanded.
Supergirl’s frown remained in place and the blonde opened her mouth as if to speak.
Lena repeated her command, louder this time.
“Okay,” the hero acquiesced as she stepped away from the door slowly and Lena moved closer to it.
“Do not follow me,” Lena warned before she raced off.
She didn’t know she had it in her to run that long, but when she’d finally stopped to breathe, it was 20 minutes later on a subway train. Her lungs were burning, she was gasping for air. What was happening? What in the world was going on?
There must have been an accident. Something that happened in her sleep. Like carbon monoxide poisoning. Or something that landed her in the hospital with Supergirl keeping guard, pretending to be a normal citizen, maybe a friend, until Lena would wake up and the blonde could cuff her.
Or perhaps this was a simulation. Perhaps Supergirl had come in to arrest her after all, perhaps the night before had been a trick and and this was some part of a sick simulation to interrogate her.
Whichever it was, her body pushed her to run home to her apartment.
When she got there, her doorman was surprised to see her.
“Ms. Luthor? It’s so good to see you ma'am. It’s been a while.” A while? She’d seen him the night before. Was he somehow involved in all this? Her simulation theory was starting to have more ground.
When she entered the elevator code for her penthouse, it rejected it. She asked to be taken to her penthouse, but the doorman gave her a strange look. He asked her if she was alright and if he could call someone for her as if she were a child. Lena was starting to lose what little patience she had.
When she insisted again, he spat out some lies about how she didn’t live there anymore. She was outraged. This show of disrespect pushed her over the limit. As a security guard approached to take her out she stole his gun from his holster. This was escalating far too quickly, but she was agitated. How else was she to react when she couldn’t even get to her own house?
She took the doorman with her to the elevator and compelled him to take her to the penthouse. Once there, she let him go right back down.
But stepping into her penthouse gave her the opposite of peace. She walked into a family having lunch in her kitchen. The place looked completely different. Different furniture entirely, different art, different everything. Who were these people and what had they done to her place?
The family stared at her in confusion and Lena’s first reaction was to aim the gun at them.
She feared the worst. Had she been in a coma? How long had it been? Or maybe this was an error in the simulation.
The family trembled in place. “Please, we’ll give you anything you want, just please don’t hurt us,” they pleaded.
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?” she spat out. This wasn’t real. They were not real, no matter how real they looked. It had to be a simulation.
A red-blue flash appeared by the balcony. Goddamn it.
“Hey,” the superhero said softly as she walked into the apartment.
Lena aimed the gun at her, knowing it wouldn’t do much.
The hero kept her hands up where Lena could see them. “Please calm down,” Supergirl spoke. “You’re confused. This isn’t you,” she said as she began to move forward, blocking Lena’s vision and standing in front of the family.
“How would you know who I am?” Lena replied angrily as the hand that held the gun visibly shook.
“I can see you’re scared, but so is this family. Let them go, and let’s talk,” Supergirl suggested.
Lena looked at the family behind Supergirl. The parents stood in front of their small children protecting them, who shook vehemently and had tears in their eyes. Was this real? If it was, Lena had just pointed a gun at a couple of children. She never hurt kids. Supergirl was right, this wasn’t like her.
When Lena stood still, Supergirl nodded at the family and whispered to them to go, and they made a run for the emergency stairs.
“Lena, we need to leave before the police come,” Supergirl said once they were alone.
Lena was in shock. Why was Supergirl protecting her from the police?
“What is happening?” Lena asked, short of breath, her lungs feeling like they were shutting down. She could hear the sirens close by.
“Let me take you home. Let me explain,” Supergirl said.
Home? This was her home. Or at least had been. “No, this is my home. They were trespassers!” she exclaimed, perturbed and antagonized.
“Lena please,” Supergirl begged as she stepped forward.
“Stay away from me!” she screamed.
“I’m sorry for this,” Supergirl said.
Lena frowned, she barely had time to process the words before she was swept away by Supergirl who flew her out the window and to God knew where. Probably a cell, she figured. Maybe that was better at this point. She was losing her mind.
She was put down and as soon as Lena felt the surface floor she jumped away from the blonde and searched for the gun she’d been carrying, except she no longer had it in her hands. She looked up to the blonde, who stood calmly a few meters away. Then Lena looked around at the place she was in.
It wasn’t a prison cell. It was a small apartment by her standards, though it had large windows. It was an open concept but it gave a cozy feel with some rustic and some colorful touches.
“Where are we?” Lena asked.
“This is where you live,” Supergirl answered. “Well, actually it’s where we both live, though it used to only be mine.”
“I don’t understand,” Lena said as she shook her head.
Supergirl took something out from her pocket and put it on, then she lifted her left hand to show a ring on it. “We’re married.”