'I know we don't see eye-to-eye but you're still my brother and besides... I don't really have anyone else to tell.' She wrote, flourishing her pen a little more than usual. 'There's this girl, her name is Kara. As soon as I met her, I liked her. You know. Liked her. She's so beautiful and intelligent and I've decided to ask her out. I just had to tell someone – you and I both know I don't have any real friends.'
Lena signed off the letter, which had another page to it, and sealed it in an envelope.
'Your beloved sister, Lena x'
She left her office and took Jess , her assistant, aside. "I need you to see that this is delivered securely to Lex," she whispered.
While they weren't exactly friends, Lena knew that she could trust Jess to do her bidding – if only because she knew of the hell that would rain down upon her if she disobeyed Miss Luthor's orders.
"Of course, Miss Luther," Jess nodded, slipping the letter straight into her satchel. "You have a visitor by the way, a Miss Danvers?"
Lena could feel her cheeks flushing just at the idea of Kara being within a ten foot radius, and she looked over at the small seating area at the end of the hall. Sure enough, Kara was stood there, clutching a folder to her chest. She gave a little wave and a small smile to Lena when they caught each others' eye.
"Of course, I'll see her right away. Move my three back half an hour for me?" She said to Jess, as she beckoned for Kara to join her in her office.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?" Lena asked smoothly, closing the door behind them and moving toward the countertop by it.
"Well," Kara began, tucking a stray strand of perfectly blonde hair behind her ear. "I've been given the opportunity to write an article for the next issue, and I heard about your gala and I wanted to delve a little deeper. It's a really good cause, and I guess I just wondered if – with your permission, obviously – I could cover the story and get the word out there a little more."
Lena had gestured to the counter as Kara talked, offering her a drink, but a wave of Kara's hand told her 'no thank you'.
"Well," Lena began. "Of course, I'm delighted that you want to cover a story for LCorp, but I'm afraid that particular one might be a waste of your time. The fundraiser is fairly well publicised and I wouldn't want you using up your time when something more important and less popular might be going on."
Kara hadn't thought of that – in all honesty, she'd come here just to see Lena. She'd been confused, the past week or so, about all the feelings stirring in her. It was all thanks to Alex and her coming out. Ever since, Kara had been analysing her own relationships with women. Particularly a brunette with a mixed accent and killer heels.
"Of course, I should have known, I'm sorry for wasting your time Miss Lu-"
"Please, it's Lena to you." Kara's cheeks turned slightly pinker. "How about I make you a deal?"
Kara tilted her head in confused interest. Lena thought she looked like a puppy listening harder to what you have to say.
"I have another gala to go to tomorrow, to make my surname look good. Go with me, and I'll make sure you get to report a little-known project close to my heart?"
"Attend a gala? With you?"
Lena nodded. "As my... plus one." She had wanted to say as my date, but she didn't want to scare Kara off before they'd even had a chance to get to know each other better.
"I-I would love that, yes, definitely."
Kara's grin would have knocked Lena off her feet if she hadn't been in Business Mode for over eight hours.
"I'll have a car pick you up at, say, six thirty?"
"That would be great, thank you, Miss Luthor."
"Please. Call me Lena."
Kara swerved into a small alley behind the LCorp building, and took off into the air without hesitation. So many thoughts were swirling through her head that she didn't even realise how quickly she'd gotten to Alex's apartment, and before she knew it she had landed in the living room.
"Kara! What are you doing here?"
Alex was wrapped in a towel, having clearly just got out of the shower.
"It's an emergency!"
"What's happened?" Alex rushed forward and placed a hand on Kara's arm. Her face was the picture of worry. "Is it Winn? James? J'onn?"
Kara shook her head and gulped. "I... I think I have a date tomorrow night."
Once Alex was properly dried and dressed, the pair stood at the kitchen island with a coffee each.
"You think you have a date tomorrow? You're not sure?"
Kara nodded. "I want it to be a date. I really badly want it to be a date, Alex."
Under any other circumstances, Alex probably would have poked fun at Kara for how stressed she seemed – but she could tell that this really was bothering her little sister, so she reached out and took her hand, and looked her in the eye.
"Then make it into a date."
"What? How?"
"Pull out all the stops. Look as good as you could ever possibly look. If it's a real date already, you'll look great. If it's not... Then if you look as good as I know you can look, it will become a date."
Kara narrowed her eyes. "Is that a thing?"
Alex laughed. "Yeah, I've done it. Hanging out with someone you really like, you maybe want it to go a little further, so you act as though it's a date. And sometimes it turns into one."
"And what if that backfires?"
"Their loss."
Kara definitely did not miss the inflection Alex put on the use of the genderless pronoun.
"You know, don't you?" she asked, regarding Alex suspiciously.
"What do I know?" Alex couldn't help but smirk.
"That it's a woman."
"I know that it's Lena Luthor, yeah." Alex laughed at Kara's shocked face. "C'mon, Kara. You're totally fine all day long, then you have a very brief meeting with Miss Luthor and the first thing you do is fly to my apartment with your head in a spin? It's not subtle."
"It's not?" Kara bit her lip, almost embarrassed that she hadn't been able to keep her feelings inside for longer than the three minute journey between LCorp and Alex's place.
"Not to mention... Clark told me all about the way you two were looking at each other."
"The way we... All I did was make polite and friendly eye contact!"
Alex nodded and laughed again. "Yeah, but he said Lena was practically devouring you with her eyes."
Kara's mouth dropped open. "She was not! She was not... devouring me!"
Alex just made a face, laughed again and finished off her coffee. "I bet she was stood there thinking... She could just eat you out. UP! I meant to say up!"
Kara had gone the brightest shade of red Alex had ever seen her turn in the whole time they'd known each other. Her eyes were flitting side to side and her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. She was muttering discombobulated words.
"Well, thats just, that's innapropri- that's just not- I'm leaving now."
Without a backward glance, Kara was up, up and away out of Alex's window. The agent just laughed to herself again, and muttered, "Looks like both Danvers daughters have had their gay awakenings."
'My dearest sister.
I'm glad to hear that you have connected so strongly to someone. Please, take this gift. No person can resist a woman wearing it.
Lex.'
"It was delivered by courier," Jess informed her. "As per your protocol, we investigated it. There's nothing out of the ordinary – other than the nature of it."
Lena tipped up the envelope, and into her hand fell lipstick. "The nature of it?" Lena laughed. "I suppose, what kind of metahuman supervillain sends his little sister lipstick?" She inspected it further. It was a crimson, vaguely scarlet type of red. It reminded Lena of blood.
The next afternoon, Alex and Winn both went over to Kara's to help her choose an outfit to turn her 'friendly gathering' into a date.
"How am I even supposed to fit my costume under this?" Kara asked, turning side to side and looking at herself in the mirror.
Alex had chosen a tight, cyan blue dress that hugged Kara's body. It was sleveless, allowing Kara to show off her incredible arms. ( /hghsmtq)
"You don't, that's the point. You don't have to worry about anything tonight, okay?" Winn promised her. "You get to have fun tonight, we'll deal with anything that comes up. Supergirl has more than earned a night off."
Alex nodded in agreement.
They collectively decided that Kara should keep her hair down, as well as picking out some black pumps, and natural makeup (a pale pink lipstick to offset the bright blue)
Lena must have given Kara's number to the driver she was sending, because her phone rang at promptly six thirty, with a gentleman alerting her that he was outside and ready to go when she was.
Alex took hold of her little sister's shoulders, and looked her right in the eye. "We'll get the alien. You go get the girl."
Kara grinned brightly, picking up her purse and her phone.
"Don't hestitate to call me."
"Oh, we will hesitate, don't you worry," Winn laughed.
"Just have a good time," Alex told her seriously.
The pair stared at the door and listened to Kara clicking her heels down the hallway. "My little girl, all grown up," Alex smirked.
The ride to the gala was slow, and whilst Kara would have much preferred to fly, but if she were honest, she didn't want to mess up her hair before seeing Lena.
As they pulled up, Kara saw her maybe-date walking out of the venue in perfect time to open the door of the car for her.
"I'm so glad you could make it," Lena grinned brightly.
Kara's eyes were drawn straight to Lena's lips. They were the colour of blood, and Kara found that she actually thought it suited Lena. Not wanting to stare too long at those gorgeous, plump lips... Kara skimmed the rest of Lena's outfit.
Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, which was easily Kara's favourite style on the CEO. Her dress was black and flowy, reaching Lena's ankles. The neck plunged straight past Lena's breasts, the V hidden under a golden belt-type of ornament. ( /jars5ao). Kara's first thought was that Lena was wearing the Millenium Puzzle around her neck, but it turned out to be a matching necklace.
"You look absolutely incredible, wow," Kara breathed, finally looking Lena in the eye.
"So do you," Lena breathed out gently. "Blue is a really good colour on you." Kara grinned brightly, and Lena held out her arm to be taken. "Shall we?"
Kara happily slipped her arm through Lena's, and was guided inside without protest from the doorman.
"I hate to drop this on you, but... One of my family members is here unannounced. My aunt. She's always nagging at me to settle down with a nice man, have children," Lena muttered as they made their way inside and towards the drinks.
"She just doesn't seem to grasp the idea that I'm not interested in men." Kara's heart skipped about three dozen beats in a fraction of a moment.
"Really? That's awful of her," she managed to get out smoothly, reeling from the knowledge that Lena might actually like her – or that it was least within range.
Lena nodded. "I was wondering... You don't have to, but I thought, maybe-"
Kara's laugh cut her off. "You want me to be your girlfriend?" It took a moment to realise she might have missed out the word 'pretend', so she quickly fixed it, not wanting to scare Lena away before they even got to know each other. "Y'know, just for the night, so she might get the message?"
Lena let out a deep, grateful sigh. "Oh, would you? I mean if you're uncomfortable thats fine – I asked a straight girl to do this before and she wigged out on me."
Kara laughed again, looking sideways at Lena as they picked up a glass of champagne each. "It's okay, I'm pretty sure that I'm bi. I really don't mind pretending to be your girlfriend."
Kara wasn't absolutely sure where those words had come from, but in the moment of saying them she knew them to be true.
Lena's eyes lit up. She actually had a chance with Kara, and she couldn't have felt more elated.
"Oh god, here she comes," Lena said, and slipped her arm around Kara's waist, pulling her close against her side. Kara leant in against Lena, feeling like she fit perfectly right there.
"Aunt Abigail, so glad you could make it!" Lena blatantly lied, leaning forward to do air kisses with the older, red-haired woman.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world, darling," she said, with an upper-class English accent.
She regarded Kara with nought but a glance, and looked back at her niece. "Who is this friend of yours?"
"Aunt Abigail, this is my girlfriend, Kara. Kara, Aunt Abigail."
Kara's heart skipped another two dozen beats at hearing Lena Luthor saying the words 'my girlfriend, Kara'. She recovered just in time to hold her hand out to Abigail. "So nice to meet you, Lena has told me lots about her family."
"Including her brother, the mass murderer?" Abigail said snobbily, merely glancing at Kara's outstretched hand and then looking at Lena yet again.
"Laney, darling, we've talked about this. It's time you found yourself a husband!"
"I don't need or want a husband, Aunt Abigail. I've told you a thousand times. I'm gay. I'm really, really gay and I don't want a husband. I have Kara."
At her aunt's practically disgusted look, Lena turned her head, pulled Kara closer by the waist and kissed her firmly.
It took Kara by surprise, but she melted into it, and within moments Aunt Abigail was nowhere to be found.
They broke apart after a few moments, moments that seemed like eternities.
"Wow," Lena breathed out, smiling gently.
Kara was breathing quite heavily. "I feel... really dizzy," She mumbled out, before her legs gave way and she fell forward into Lena. Lena did her best to hold Kara up, but she slowly slipped to her knees.
She felt like she couldn't breathe properly, and as she stared up at the ceiling it had begun to go blurry. There was a green tinge around her vision. She raised her hand in front of her face, and saw that her veins were glowing the faintest of greens.
"No," she whispered, her hand flopping back down– but Lena caught it. "It can't be, not Kryp-"
"Kara, oh my god, are you alright?" Lena's face moved into blurry sight, and Kara could see that her lipstick was smudged. She brought her own hand up to her mouth and rubbed. It stung her skin.
"Let's get you some air," Lena suggested, hauling Kara up and steadying her.
"Bathroom, bathroom, please," Kara mumbled. While she didn't particularly want to cling to Lena for dear life at the moment, she had to, as she was finding it hard to walk without guidance.
Once they were inside the ladies room, Kara gestured vaguely to the cold tap on one of the sinks. She knew, if she tried to turn it gently in her state, it would be ripped clean off.
She steadied herself against the sink as Lena turned the tap on. Kara thrust her hands under the cool water, using her nails to scratch at her skin, anywhere the lipstick had touched. Once her hands no longer stung she did the same to her mouth, chin, cheeks.
The pain stopped almost completely, and Kara's vision started to go back to normal. She slumped against the bathroom wall, eyeing Lena carefully.
"Are you alright?" She asked quietly, taking one of the hand towels from a rack and running it under the cold water. She moved forward, and made to dab Kara's face with the wet corner. As much as Kara tried to hide it, Lena saw her flinch.
"Who told you?" Kara sighed, feeling as though her strength was starting to return. Lena looked well and truly confused. "Who told you?" She repeated, louder and angrier.
"Told me what?"
Kara stood, drawing herself up and holding herself as Supergirl would.
"Kara, I don't understand."
There was a large part of Kara that could feel the truth emanating from Lena – that she truly didn't know what was going on.
So Kara stepped forward, gently placed her hands on Lena's cheeks. She made to kiss her again, but dipped her nose down slightly. It was mere milimetres from Lena's lips, and she could smell it.
"Take it off," she demanded, pulling back up against the wall. Lena was baffled. "Your lipstick. Get it off."
Truthfully, Lena was slightly scared of Kara's behaviour in that moment. So she did as she was told, running the warm water and using the damp towel to rub away all the traces of her lipstick she could find.
When she was done, she dared to look into Kara's eyes. They were ablaze with anger, but Lena no longer felt like it was directed at her.
When she spoke this time, Kara's voice was much softer, quieter, gentler. She reached out and placed a hand reassuringly on Lena's arm. "Where did you get that stuff?"
"I..." Lena didn't want to admit the truth. She'd bragged to her brother about going on a date and this is what happens? "I sent Lex a letter yesterday telling him... Telling him that I was going to the gala with you. He sent it to me this morning. He said... no one would be able to resist it."
Kara's gaze dropped to the floor, and she analyzed the pattern in the tiles while she thought about this information.
"Please, don't go," Lena said quietly. "I don't want to be here alone – and after whatever just happened to you, you shouldn't be alone either."
Aunt Abigail burst into the ladies room. "What is going on in here? People are asking questions!" (Aunt Abigail hated it when people asked questions).
Lena was the first to the post with a believeable lie. "I'm sorry, Aunt Abigail. I had caviar with my lunch, and it turns out Kara is really badly allergic. We're just getting her tidied up, we won't be much longer."
Abigail nodded abruptly, and left the room. Kara wasn't sure she believed their story – but her full strength was back now, and she felt normal again.
She wet her face one more time to wake her up, then slipped her phone out of her purse. She shot off a quick text to Alex, asking to meet her in National City park in twenty minutes.
"Listen, Lena," Kara began. She reached out and placed a hand on Lena's cheek. "I really like you. I really, really like you, okay?" Lena smiled the ghost of a smile, expecting a 'but'. "But there's something you need to know. And we should go somewhere more private to discuss it."
Lena nodded. "Of course, anything. The park is across the street, we can go there, if you want?"
"That's exactly what I was thinking." Kara smiled nervously.
She knew Alex would never approve of what she was about to do, but if she was right, then it changed everything – and it was only right that Lena knew exactly what she was getting involved in.
Lena made an excuse to those she knew that Kara still wasn't feeling well after the allergy incident, and that they'd be heading home now.
Lena had taken a seat on a park bench, and Kara was pacing nervously back and forth in front of her.
"Kara. Just tell me."
The blonde took a deep breath, and turned to face Lena, looking her right in those incredible eyes.
"I'm Supergirl," she said quickly, dropping her arms to her sides.
Lena let out a small chuckle. "Don't be ridiculous." Kara took off her glasses. "I don't see it." Kara made to remove her dress, and remembered her costume was nowhere to be found because Alex demanded she didn't wear it tonight.
Instead, she decided to move toward Lena, and lift up the bench she was sitting on, with just two fingers. She didn't even break a sweat.
Lena stared at her in awe, shock and reverence. "Oh my god."
"Yep."
"I kissed Supergirl!"
"No, Lena, that's not the point here," Kara sighed, but she was smiling nonetheless. "Well, I guess it's related... When we kissed, I was almost totally incapacitated. I couldn't breathe. I could barely see or move – and it was painful. So, so painful.
"I could taste it. I could smell it on you – I can still smell it on you, to be honest."
"Smell what on me?"
"Kryptonite. It's the only thing my people are weak to. It causes us physical harm, sometimes irreversibly so. It's in the lipstick Lex sent you. Kryptonite is what he used to hurt my cousin."
"And now he's using it – and me – to hurt you?"
Kara nodded. "He must know about me, and my secret identity. He wouldn't just send you Kryptonite lipstick in the hope you might go out there and make out with Supergirl or Superman, surely?"
Lena folded her hands in her lap, and stared at them. "You thought I'd done it, didn't you?" She said quietly.
Kara moved forward and crouched down in front of Lena, resting her hands gently over the brunette's clenched fists.
"I did, and I'm sorry. I assumed the worst – it was all so sudden. Kryptonite really messes us up."
"It's okay, I understand."
Kara squeezed Lena's hands, and placed a chaste kiss to them. While she'd love to kiss her again properly, she couldn't possibly risk touching those trace amounts of Kryptonite.
It was then that Alex joined them. "Hey, I got your – Kara, where are your glasses?" She asked hurriedly.
"It's okay. She knows," Kara shrugged, maintaining her place crouched in front of Lena.
"You told Lena Luthor that you're Supergirl? Are you out of your mind?"
"No, Alex, I'm not. She needed to know."
"Why on Earth and why on Krypton would a Luthor need to know?"
"Because I could've been really badly hurt tonight, Alex," Kara said simply, looking up at her sister. "Lena needed to know the truth. I couldn't just say 'sorry I have to go' after what happened tonight."
"What happened tonight?" Alex sounded worried now.
Kara could feel warm droplets of liquid splashing onto her hands, and her gaze shot to Lena. She was crying. One hand hurriedly trying to wipe tears away, the other holding Kara's hand so hard that it might have hurt if she were human.
"Lena, please, it's not your fault," she whispered gently.
Lena looked up at Kara, and then at Alex. "My brother. He used me to hurt Kara."
They spent a further half hour in the park, huddled together on the bench, telling Alex everything that had happened. Lena admitted she hadn't put the lipstick on until she knew Kara was pulling up outside.
"Let's get over to the DEO," Alex suggested with a sigh. "We can analyse the lipstick there, find out what kind of concentration the Kryptonite is and how badly Kara could've been hurt."