Chapter Text
It was a cold Sunday on March 22nd in 2020 in Metropolis. Lena didn’t even like to come to this city anymore but she and Lillian came each year to pay their respects to Lex. Lex had gotten himself killed nine years before while trying to kill Superman. It wasn’t Superman’s fault even. Lex simply hadn’t fully tested the weapon he wanted to use on the Man of Steel and it exploded, killing him instead. Lena had reached out to Superman, apologizing for her brother’s behavior and asking if he might want to work with her for the betterment of humanity but he’d turned her down. She’d moved the company to National City a few years later, both to try to contact Supergirl with the same offer, and to rehabilitate the company’s image. She even renamed the company to L-Corp to disassociate the company from the Luthor name.
“I still don’t understand how his jealousy of superheroes drove him to such madness,” said Lena softly.
“I think he got it from Lionel though Lionel never let his obsessions drive him to madness,” replied Lillian. “I begged him to try to work with Superman but he simply saw all aliens as lesser beings and wanted them exterminated. I wonder where we failed him?”
“You didn’t fail him, Mother,” said Lillian. “He made his own choices and those choices led him to this end.”
“Such a waste,” said Lillian. She turned her head to look at Lena. “Who are you taking to Sam’s wedding next weekend? Anyone?”
Lena shook her head. “I really don’t want to be dating again right now,” replied Lena. “Not after my divorce from Andrea. Give me more time, Mother.”
“It’s been a year, darling,” said Lillian. “She cheated on you. It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know,” said Lena. “Therapy has helped with that. I don’t blame myself anymore. She loved an idea of me that she had in her head but I was never that person. I know how long it’s been, Mother, but I’m not quite ready to start dating again.”
“You can take a plus one without it being a date,” said Lillian. “That would keep most of the men away from you.”
“Men don’t take hints, Mother,” said Lena. “Not even me coming out as a lesbian in Vogue has changed that.”
“Is Felicity Smoak, that scientist who worked for Oliver Queen, available?” asked Lillian. “She’d make a good plus one for you. I’ve seen her dance. At least you can have a good time.”
“Felicity is dating someone who she is bringing to the wedding,” said Lena, with amusement at her mother’s attempts to get Lena out of her penthouse.
“Sam’s fiancé, Alex, has a sister, doesn’t she?” asked Lillian. “Oh, what’s her name? The reporter.”
“Kara,” said Lena. “I saw footage of her on TikTok, dancing at Barry Allen’s wedding.”
“Who’s Barry Allen?” asked Lillian.
“He’s a forensic scientist, a crime scene investigator, in Star City,” said Lena. “Sam knows him through her superhero work. Alex shared the video that someone else had taken. Her comment was ‘My sister can dance!’ and she was quite good at it.”
“Is she single?” asked Lillian.
“I think so,” said Lena. “Alex said she went through a breakup last year right before Thanksgiving and she hasn’t said anything else. The few times I’ve seen Kara at Sam and Alex’s place, she’s come alone and not mentioned anyone else.”
“Then maybe she needs a plus one for the wedding as well,” suggested Lillian. “It can’t hurt to ask. Make it clear it’s just to go together to have a dance partner and have a good time, nothing more. Besides, I suspect you’ll be getting to know the entire Danvers family more now that Alex and Sam are tying the knot.”
“That’s true,” said Lena. “That’s a good suggestion, Mother. I’ll talk to Alex and if she thinks it’s okay, I’ll talk to Kara about it.”
They turned from the grave and began the walk back to the limousine.
“How is Lizzie doing in school?” asked Lillian. “I’ve been busy traveling for the foundation for the last few weeks and have had trouble keeping up.”
“She’s doing great,” replied Lena. “I was lucky that she turned five on the day that kindergarten started or she would have had to wait another year and she’s already ahead of her class.”
“That’s wonderful. I should come over for dinner some evening to spend time with her. Now, about the Luthor Family Foundation building we still have here in Metropolis,” said Lillian. “I think it’s time we sell that. All of our operations are on the west coast now anyway.”
“I’ll have Sam give me the numbers on the current situation with that,” said Lena. “Then we can make a more informed decision.”
They got into the car and continued chatting as the vehicle left the cemetery. The Luthor family’s ties to Metropolis continued to fade.
*****
Two days later, back in National City, Lena stepped into Sam’s office. “How go the wedding preparations?” asked Lena.
“They’re going really well, to be honest,” said Sam. “Alex hired a great wedding planner and she’s been a godsend to us, arranging venues, menus, catering, everything. Worth every penny, believe me! I’ve been able to sleep without fretting about it constantly.”
Sam looked at Lena and smiled. “Still going to be my Maid of Honor?”
“Absolutely!” said Lena. “And I presume Kara Danvers is still going to be Alex’s Best Person?”
“She is,” said Sam. “She rocks that blue tux that Alex chose for her!”
“Do you think I could ask Alex if Kara wants to be my plus one for the wedding?” asked Lena. “We’re both in the ceremony and having her with me might keep the male vultures from descending.”
“Alex won’t mind,” said Sam. “I’d say just ask Kara yourself but I know how your brain works, so go ask Alex first. I promise you she’ll say yes.”
“And Kara doesn’t have a date for the event?” Lena queried, trying to be sure.
“No, she doesn’t,” said Sam. “In fact, she’s sworn off dating. Alex and I keep trying to tell her not to give up but maybe it’s too soon. She tends to give all of herself to someone and when the breakups happen, she gets hurt pretty badly.”
“She’s an in for a penny, in for a pound sort of woman?” asked Lena. “The few times we’ve chatted, she’s seemed intense.”
“The intensity is just part of her,” said Sam. “I’m pretty sure she’s on the spectrum. Genius IQ, photographic memory, insane levels of pattern recognition and matching, obsessed with random facts about so many things, all of which makes her a brilliant investigative reporter. Did you know she speaks multiple languages?”
“Does she struggle to maintain eye contact too?” asked Lena.
“Yeah, often but not always,” said Sam. “She’s definitely an interesting person. You two might have fun as plus ones for the wedding. Heck, since neither of you is dating, she might be a good plus one for other events too, like the L-Corp Spring Gala which is two weeks after my wedding. Here, let me give you her number.” Lena gave Sam her phone and Sam entered the information, handing it back to Lena.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Lena. “And I’ll let you get back to work.”
Sam laughed. “I can super speed through these spreadsheets and I might just do that if Alex calls and tells me she can get off work early, assuming I don’t get called out for some superheroing.”
Lena laughed, waved, and closed the door as she walked out.
*****
Lena called Alex when she had a break in meetings, just after 3 pm. The phone rang three times before Alex picked up.
“Hey, Lena,” said Alex, “I’m kinda busy here. Can we make this quick?”
“Sure thing,” said Lena. “I’m wondering if it would be okay to ask Kara to be my plus one at the wedding. We’re both in the wedding party. I think both of us are single at the moment, right? And we’ll be seated together and walking down the aisle together as part of the ceremony. Not as a date, of course, just as my plus one. Would that be okay?”
“Absolutely!” said Alex. “Give her a call. Do you have her number?”
“I do,” said Lena. “I got it from Sam since Kara seems to cover both Supergirl and Sam for CatCo and Sam knows her.”
“Definitely call her then,” said Alex. “Look, I gotta run, okay?”
“Later!” said Lena, and she heard the click as Alex hung up. FBI agents were apparently a busy lot.
At that moment, Lena heard an explosion outside. She rose and walked quickly to her balcony looking at the street below. Supergirl was battling someone in a mechanical warrior suit that appeared to stand close to a dozen feet tall and was bristling with weapons. The primary weapon, on the right shoulder was a gatling gun. Lena wasn’t sure but it looked like a 30 mm gatling gun from a US Air Force A10 Warthog aircraft, designed to destroy armored vehicles. The mech was shooting bursts at Supergirl. They weren’t hurting her but kept driving her back.
Lena knew what was coming though. She’d seen Sam jump off her own balcony several windows down from Lena’s since they were both on the top floor of L-Corp. Sam adjusted her position in flight, then came down feet first into the back of the mech with full force. The mech started to lose its balance but its gyros were trying desperately to right the machine and avoid falling. But that meant the mech wasn’t firing. Supergirl took that moment to fly forward just above the ground, slamming into the legs of the mech from the front, completing the destabilization of the metal suit, resulting in it crashing to the street face down. Sam and Supergirl ripped the ammunition pack off the back then ripped the mech body open with their bare hands.
Supergirl picked up the blonde haired man by the collar and even from twenty one floors up, she thought she heard Sam laugh at something the man said. NCPD arrived on the scene, Supergirl turned over the criminal and Sam flew back to her office. Lena continued to watch as a few minutes later, a flatbed truck arrived and Supergirl hoisted the mech suit onto the bed of the truck then flew off. Lena watched as police and emergency vehicles cleared the area.
As she turned back and re-entered her office, she found Sam standing there. “Enjoying the show?” asked Sam.
“You and she work so well together,” asked Lena. “Did you ever consider dating her?”
Sam shook her head. “The spark wasn’t there. No physical attraction.”
“Maybe it would develop after a while if you tried?” asked Lena.
“I always wondered that but Supergirl explained more about Kryptonian biology once she’d defeated Reign and I told her I wanted to help her,” said Sam. “Kryptonians are wired a little bit differently. If the attraction is going to be there at all, you know right away.”
“Anything an observer would notice?” Lena was curious now.
“We emit a specific pheromone,” said Sam. “It seems that it’s rare for humans to be able to smell it but a few can. Alex can smell it. She said it reminds her of the smell of fresh sex with a woman but it’s also different. I’m told that less than 0.01% of humans have the genes that can detect it.”
“But there are other signs,” said Sam. “During the first few times you meet a prospective mate, your cerebral cortex goes partly offline, or at least that’s how Supergirl described it. That happened with me and Alex too. What was weird was it didn’t happen the first few times we’d met but it did after Alex took more of a romantic interest in me.”
Sam paused for a moment then continued. “I asked Supergirl about that and she said it’s possible that we’re sensing something from the human that brings our own reaction to the forefront. She also said that many times we don’t intentionally look at someone as a potential mate until circumstances change and then, when we consider the entire picture or have more complete information, we react.”
“Was she speculating about this?” asked Lena. “Was it something she learned on Krypton?”
“Oh, she learned it on Krypton,” said Sam. “She was a scientist there.”
“Really?” Lena wondered aloud. “She’s done so few personal interviews, unlike her cousin. So she was a scientist?”
“Lena, Krypton bred its children in a genetically controlled birthing matrix. When Krypton began to destabilize, the ruling council threw caution to the winds and tried for the absolute most genius children they could, hoping they could help save their world. Supergirl was the first of those. The average age to enter the Science Guild on Krypton as a full member was 26 years of age. The youngest to have done so was more than 43,000 years earlier, at 18. Supergirl entered the Science Guild at the age of 13 and completed her first project in her first six months as a member. She’s multifocus, in biosciences, physics, chemistry, cybernetics, and nanotechnology. She’s frequently assisted the government in dealing with threats that come from dangerous aliens since she understands most of their tech and Earth scientists don’t.”
Lena looked stunned. “What? The most brilliant scientific mind on Earth spends her days rescuing cats from trees or examining alien weapons?”
“Her Earth family, who adopted her, discouraged her from going into science to avoid drawing attention to herself,” said Sam. “She ended up drawing attention to herself anyway as a superhero.”
“Do you know her partner? I assume she’s married,” said Lena.
“No, she’s not,” said Sam, “though she doesn’t think of herself in terms we use to categorize sexual attraction. But if pressed, she’d probably say she’s bi or pan.”
“It must be hard for anyone to measure up to her,” said Lena.
“She’s not like that at all, Lena,” said Sam. “In fact, she’s been dumped several times when partners found out who she really was. It was her partners who didn’t want to try to stand in her spotlight. They dumped her.”
“I can’t conceive of that,” said Lena. “Such a fascinating woman, so talented, gifted, and from your description, she’s kind, generous, and seems to believe the best in everyone.”
“Oh, she does,” replied Sam. “Once Lex died, her cousin expected the worst from you next. Supergirl told him to just leave you be and see what happened but that she didn’t think you were like that at all. Then she defeated Reign and freed me from that, learned a bit more about you from me, and she even told me she gloated about being right to her cousin about you.”
“Does she miss science? Working in the lab?” asked Lena, a tentative idea forming in her mind.
“She doesn’t talk about it, but I’ve seen her looking wistful sometimes when something scientific comes up. If I had to guess, I think she does miss it.” said Sam. “I know her time in government labs solving alien threats is something she enjoys.”
Lena glanced at her watch. “It’s after four. Do you think I can catch Kara Danvers on the phone right now?”
Sam stood quietly a moment, cocked her head to the side, apparently thinking about it, then said, “Yeah, I think you can.”
“”Then I’ll go make that call,” said Lena. “And yes, I already talked to Alex.”
Sam laughed. “I told you what Alex would say.” She then walked out of Lena’s office as Lena turned to her desk.
Sitting down, Lena dialed the number she’d gotten from Sam earlier. Kara picked up on the first ring.
“Hello! Kara Danvers speaking. How can I help you?” answered Kara cheerfully.
“Hello, Kara! This is Lena Luthor,” said Lena. “Since we’re both part of the wedding party, if you’re not already going with someone, I thought I’d ask if you wanted to be my plus one? Purely a friendly, fun thing, though I’m hoping having a partner with me will discourage the male vultures from descending on me.”
Kara laughed and it was a happy laugh that woke something in Lena. Kara said, “I’d be happy to do that! I’m not really dating at the current time so having a friend for a plus one works for me. And I think, in my tux, that I can fend off the gentlemen who try to get too close to my fake date.”
Lena laughed in return. “Then it’s a thing! I’ll meet you at the rehearsal dinner and then at the church on the day of the wedding. No need to worry about transportation from either of us that way. You can ride with me to the reception.”
“That will work,” said Kara. “Then I’ll see you on Friday night!”
Lena hung up the phone. She had another hour of paperwork to do but she could do that from home. She wanted to see her daughter and have dinner together.