Admittedly, this is not what Lena had in mind when she had said she wanted to make a difference for the people. When she said she wanted to make a difference, she meant pioneering new technology that would be able to save millions- billions- by being able to cure cancer, feed those that were starving, give people safe places to live...
She definitely did not mean to be able to climb walls.
Not that she was complaining necessarily.
Admittedly, this is not what Lena had in mind when she had said she wanted to make a difference for the people. When she said she wanted to make a difference, she meant pioneering new technology that would be able to save millions-billions- by being able to cure cancer, feed those that were starving, give people safe places to live...
She definitely didnotmean to be able to climb walls.
Not that she wascomplainingnecessarily.
Okay, so let's back it up here.
When she was ten and touring with Lionel at Luthor Corp, she looked into one of the rooms she passed and saw that it had spiders everywhere (talk about nightmare fuel). She shuddered and clutched her father's hand and asked why they would ever have that room.
"We need it," he explained," because they produce incredibly strong silk, and we've changed them a little bit so that they produce a lot more a lot faster. That way, we can make things like clothes and blankets for people in places that don't have them. Don't worry, we also made them so that they're completely harmless.
"However," he continued,"wedohave some other spiders that we are still testing to try and make their venom useful, but so far, nothing has occurred. I won't be showing you that room."
They continued their tour around the building until Lionel got called away for some business, and he left her alone with his assistant. Luckily, the girl he hired was a complete numbskull and she was able to get away pretty easily.
Not-so-luckily, she had wandered into a part of the building that she had never seen. Her footsteps echoed in the halls, everything seemingly abandoned. Then she felt a sharp pain in her hand. She yelped and looked down to see a spider resting on her hand, staring up at her. She screeched and shook it off hurriedly and hoped to all that she knew that that was one of the silk spiders, but the sinking feeling in her stomach told her that she knew it was one of the spiders meant for harvesting venom.
Before she could dwell on it, a door opened and her father poked his head out."Lena? What in the world are you doing here?" he asked sternly.
"Y-Your assistant told me where you were. I was getting worried," Lena lied easily, trying not to cringe.
Lionel sighed, his face softening as he held out his hand for her."Well, they can handle themselves without me. Out spider test was unsuccessful anyways. We can discuss what we're going to do with them tomorrow. Let's go get something to eat."
After that day, everything was surprisingly normal for Lena. Business went about as usual. After some digging into some files, it turns out the spider that bit her actually was one of the silk spiders.
Apparently, her sinking stomach was just her being incredibly paranoid. And hungry.
After Lionel died of a rare illness he had contracted while out of the country, she wondered what the spider program would have been able to do for him had he continued with the project. If it would have been able to save him.
And that was how she ended up scouring through Luthor Corp's basement. There were perhaps hundreds of tossed projects or prototypes sitting around just waiting to be dug up once more. Hidden in a far corner of the room was a wooden case of a few remaining vials of venom. Throughout the years, scientists had realized that some of the test trials had yielded previously unknown crucial discoveries and had unearthed them to mass produce them. It seemed as though they needed to take one just earlier that week, if not that day because there was a broken vial with venom still dripping from it slowly.
Disregarding every safety procedure her father had ever told her about dealing with unknown substances, she reached forward to touch the liquid, hissing as she cut her skin on the broken glass. A burning pain shot through her hand as she realized the venom had gotten into her blood stream.
She panicked, realizing that there was a good chance that she could die right there because of her own idiocy. She had to get home. Make amends with her brother and mother before she met her end...
And then almost three days passed and she realized that death was probably not at her doorstep.
What shedidrealize however was that she felt... different.
It took another handful of years for her to realize what had happened to her. After she moved to National City, she quickly realized that adrenaline and near-death experiences were going to become part of the routine for her. After almost getting killed and the whole ordeal that she went through with that, she woke up the next morning and nearly ripped her door off of its hinges. Her eyes couldn't seem to focus on anything, and every little noise that she heard made her flinch. And the doorknob was stuck to her hand, so there was that, too.
Making her way carefully to her computer, she pulled up old files and realized that the spider venom had enhanced her natural reflexes, agility, strength, speed, and... made her stick to things. Apparently, the extreme stress and adrenaline that she had been under had caused the venom to react and make itself known to her body.
And so, she took the entire day off to go into her personal gym and try out her new powers, testing the limits of her strength and speed, while also trying to control them so that she didn't, ya know, break her keyboard trying to type an email.
By the next day, she was practically normal again. Except for the fact that her senses were dialed to eleven and Jess was starting to get sweaty with how often she had to run back and forth to send out the paperwork Lena was completing. By lunch, a majority of her paperwork had been filled out already and she sighed and rubbed her temples as she reminded herself that she needed to pace her work.
A week later, Lena was back to a normal routine. Mostly. She woke up earlier to hone her senses and push her strength. And she still got done with her work faster, but she decided to give most of it to Jess at once so that she had time to catch a breath.
Meanwhile, she worked alone in the old lab downstairs where the venom project was once housed to create a suit for herself, should she ever choose to go out and fight crime. A mask that would cover her face and disguise her voice and a lightweight suit that was durable, bulletproof and could stretch to accommodate her movements. And to top it off, web string to be able to swing herself around and disarm criminals. (It took a long time in order to get the formula correct; let's just say that there were many nights of scrubbing webbing out of her hair for hours).
It took her a few months for her to work up the courage to put it on and actually go out and fight in it.
Butdamn, did it feel good to be able to go out there and make a difference. Defeating thieves and muggers easily, before they can even get the chance to raise their guns.
Though she will admit, it was a little annoying that no one really seemed to take the criminals seriously when they said that a woman with that could crawl on walls and shoot webs from her wrists apprehended them. There was a woman who was bulletproof, super strong and fast, could fly, had laser and x-ray vision, super hearing, and freeze breath and they can't believe a woman can climb walls and shoot webbing?
That changed on the night she heard a woman's scream from the rooftop and swung over to see a man had forced her into a corner and was waving demeaning threats into her face, brandishing a knife. Lena's blood boiled and before she even began to assess the situation, she leaped into the alleyway.
"Y'know, you would think that living in a city with so many crime fighters would teach men to leave women alone at night," Lena snarked. The man turned around, started and brandished his knife at her.
"C'mon, Spider Bitch. Let's see what you can do then," he growled.
Lena sighed and rolled her eyes beneath the mask. She leaned to the side to look at the woman. "This is the part where you make your getaway while I beat this guy up."
The woman nodded and ran away while the man spat curses at her. "Why do you freak shows always get in the way?"
"Why do you asshats always think that a knife is going to scare us?"
He snarled and threw the knife aside and pulled out a pistol. "Scared now?"
Lena faked a gasp of fear. "Oh no! Please, no. Anything but a gun! It's so scary. So much fear is running through me right now!" She doubled over and clutched her chest and she heard him snicker in amusement. And then she shot a web onto his hand so that he was now attached to the wall.
"What the hell is this shit?" he cried, trying to tug his arm off of this wall.
She shrugged. "I could tell you, but I'm pretty sure your brain wouldn't understand it anyway." She tilted her head as she heard police sirens in the distance begin to get closer. "Besides, the cops will be bringing you in soon, so I'm just going to head on out. It was a dishonor meeting you. Really, I mean it, you're an asshole. Okay, you have fun!"
Lena laughed as she heard him screaming expletives at her as she climbed up the side of the building and ran from rooftop to rooftop until she found a good view and set on the ledge. She was simply enjoying her night while listening out for anything when a soft thud of footsteps behind her made her jolt up and turn around, her wrist outstretched.
It was then that she realized that she was facing Supergirl.
The Kryptonian spoke first. "Who the hell are you?" she questioned.
Lena chuckled and lowered her arm. "A friend," she replied simply.
Supergirl glared. "How am I supposed to know that your intentions now will stay your intentions while you're here?"
Lena rolled her eyes, though it's not like the super could see them. "Look, you're just going to have to trust me. I'm here to do some good fighting crime and take a little bit off of your shoulders. I believe that you should be saying thank you, but I'll accept your skepticism."
Supergirl sighed in annoyance and stepped closer. "I can't see under your mask because of lead, so obviously you don't want me to know who you are. Why?"
She hesitated. "Look, we're allies alright? You're just going to have to trust me. I recently came into these powers and I want to do something productive with them. I have a day job where I do the same thing: try to make the world a better place. But while I try to make advancements during the day to change the world, there are things that I can do that will make a difference here, now. You can understand that, can't you?"
Understanding shone in Supergirl's eyes and she sighed. "Alright, fine. You can stick around. But the second I think you're up to something-"
"You can kick me to the curb," Lena finished, her voice laced with excitement. "Wanna go out and find some more criminals to beat up?"
Supergirl finally cracked a smile. "I actually have a job to get to in the morning, so I've gotta go. Besides, it's almost two in the morning. You should head to sleep. I'm pretty sure Guardian has next watch."
Lena smiled and offered her hand to shake. "Honor to meet you."
Supergirl met her handshake and nodded to her. "Until we meet again," she responded simply as she flew off.
Lena paused before jumping from the roof. "Wait, so Supergirl has a normal day job?" she called, knowing she could hear her. And if she listened closely, she could swear she heard a laugh respond to her in the distance.
The next morning, it was hard for Lena to keep from grinning like a madman at the fact that she had made an alliance with the Supergirl. Sure, she knew the hero through Kara and everything, but it was different to be able to talk to her as an equal: as a hero.
Her joy was wiped off of her face as she saw her a news report of her mother's trial. She hadn't realized how long she had been watching them until Kara walked into her office holding a bag.
"Everyone in National City has an opinion on me," she began. "Ungrateful daughter, heroine, bitch. Ugh, everyone has been calling for a quote." She looked up in a slight panic as she remembered that her best (only, she reminded herself bitterly) friend was a reporter working for a cutthroat boss. "But not you, right? Snapper Carr hasn't sent you here to shake me down?"
Kara shook her head. "No, no, I'm here as a friend," she reassured quickly. "I thought you could use some fried, sugary goodness in your life. You eat donuts, right?"
Lena smiled and faked consideration, trying to keep it from showing how much this small act of kindness really meant to her. "Well, I am human," she conceded and led them to her couch. "Thank you, Kara."
They talked about Lillian and the trial for a while before Kara read it on her face that it was a topic she would've preferred closed for the time being.
"So, have you heard about some new hero on the block, Spider-Woman?" Kara asked. "She's been stopping a lot of petty crime at night."
Lena struggled to keep a grin off of her face. "Yeah, I have, actually. What do you think about her?"
Kara shrugged. "I don't know. Supergirl has told me that she wears a mask lined with lead so that she can't see underneath, and she only comes out at night. I don't know, it's just a little fishy to me. We know virtually nothing about her or her motives, and that makes her dangerous."
Lena frowned. "But she's making a difference, isn't she? Just give her time, maybe Supergirl and her team need to just give her a chance to prove herself."
She kinda wishes she hadn't said anything. A few hours later, she's surrounded by five guys wielding guns and knives.
"Georgie told us you're the one that got him sent to the slammer," one guy snapped. "We decided we should pay you a visit and teach you a lesson in manners."
"Georgie... Georgie... Oh! You mean that ugly asshole I put away the other night! Yeah, he was kind of a dick. Apparently, what he lacks in good decision making, he also seems to lack in picking his company. By the way, who even talks like that?" Lena remarked. "I mean, seriously. You sound like some stereotypical crime boss in an old movie."
The back of her neck started tingling and she dodged out of the way as one of the goons ran at her with his knife, tripping over her outstretched leg and barrelling into the guy across from him. He cried out in pain as the guy he ran into accidentally shot him on impact.
Lena winced and the ringleader facepalmed at the display of stupidity. "Well, at least he chose dumber company so he would seem smarter by comparison," she mused aloud, dodging a bullet and shooting a string onto his hand and sending him into a wall. One of the two remaining goons charged her with a knife and she dodged it easily, grabbing a hold of his arm and sending him onto the leader of the group. "Though, at least you guys are smart enough to come at me in a group and not just one at a time, in all fairness."
Before she could react, she felt a shooting pain in her arm and looked down to see the guy that the first idiot had run over aiming his gun at her with a wicked smile. "Bitch," he said proudly.
She rolled her eyes. "Give me a break," she muttered, webbing his hand to his face as she heard sirens heading closer. Shooting a string up to the ledge of the building, she let it slowly bring her as she tried to keep her arm as steady as possible.
Once out of sight of any cops, she looked down at her arm. Her suit had absorbed the impact (it was basically a body-sized bulletproof vest, really), but it still hurt like a bitch, and it was probably going to leave a nasty bruise. "Well, at least I've tested that it is bulletproof," she conceded as slowly moved her arm to try to get used to the pain.
"Not bad for someone who just got shot," a voice remarked. She looked up to see the Girl of Steel slowly floating down towards her.
"Not everyone can have bulletproof skin," Lena replied sarcastically.
Supergirl chuckled. "Look, you've got skills. They're raw and unrefined, but they're there," she began. "A friend told me earlier today to give you the chance to prove yourself, and I believe you just did. The people I work with have been talking about you and they think that you could be a great addition to the team."
"I'm not looking for a new job, the one I have now pays just fine. Thanks for the offer, though," Lena remarked, standing with a groan. She decided not to dwell on the fact that Supergirl, the woman that she had been pretty certain since day one was none other than Kara Danvers, just made reference to the conversation in her office earlier. Or the fact that Kara also made reference to a "conversation" with Supergirl just a few hours prior. (It was painfully obvious the second Kara said she flew to the office on a bus, but she decided to ignore it because if she pretended they were two different people, she had two friends and not one).
That is incredibly pathetic, Lena thought to herself.
"We wouldn't need you all the time. We would just give you a way that we could remain in contact with you so that, if something should arise, we can ask you to help."
Lena mulled over the thought. "Look, I'm happy to help, but I don't want to have to give up my identity or my choices to some government agency or something. Give me a burner phone or something to call me on and I'll do that, but I won't answer to you."
Super-Karasighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "I doubt they'll like that, but they also don't have many other choices right now. With Lillian Luthor's trial, everyone is kind of on edge to make sure she doesn't try anything." She looked back at Lena and squinted, undoubtedly trying to see beneath the lead mask to no avail. "I'll talk to them and see if they'd just be willing to work with you on the side-"
"Okay, now you're just making it sound like I'm the mistress," Lena interjected.
"But I can't make any promises," Kara finished with a glare. "I'll find you tomorrow and let you know their decision."
Before she could get another word out, she flew off. "It's a date!" she called playfully. "I'll bring something to eat!"
Lena looked out over the city before grinning under her mask, running from roof to roof as she let out a shout of joy.
this fic is by Vanguard