The first time Lena Luthor speaks to Kara, the last daughter of Krypton is fourteen years old.
She's only been on this planet for a couple of months, everything still feels new and strange, but Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers are trying so hard to help Kara adjust that Kara feels pressured not to fail them. Her x-ray vision is overwhelming and often has a mind of its own, Kara's sense of touch is still far too sensitive, skin constantly buzzing with foreign energy, and sometimes Kara finds herself listening to a radio thirty miles away by accident to avoid the sounds of the neighbors fighting six houses down the street, but she's doing her best.
Kara tries, but it doesn't feel like enough, because no matter how much effort Kara invests into keeping her newfound superpowers tame during the day, Kara can't control what happens to them at night.
At night, Kara dreams of a dying, burning world, dreams of the home she will never again return to and all the people she will never again see, dreams of the language she so loves but that Kal-El can hardly speak. At night, Kara dreams of her fallen family, dreams of how disappointed they would be with her failure to keep her promise, to look after a cousin already grown and far too terrified of Kara to ever look to her for answers. At night, Kara dreams the entire history of a planet that only Kara is left to memorialize, dreams of holidays lost and the sweet, fruity flavor of the Argoan wine that her mother would sometimes, on special occasions, allow Kara to indulge in.
At night, Kara shivers and shakes and wants to scream, wants to swear and cry and tear the whole galaxy apart, but Kara can't even breathe long enough to whisper Rao a prayer. At night, Kara thrashes, she breaks her bed and twice even lasers through the ceiling when Alex startles her awake, and Kara scrambles into the corner, arms cradling her knees, too-strong fingers carving into the flesh of her thighs just to expel the excess energy and emotion.
Kara can't control what happens to her powers at night, though, and because she knows how difficult that must make things for the Danvers, Kara tries particularly hard to make them proud of her progress during the day.
Which is why, when Eliza asks, Kara agrees to accompany her foster mother to work at the LuthorCorp science lab for a day. It's Kara's first real outing, it will mark her first human interactions with people outside of the family who has graciously taken her in, and Kara isn't exactly sure that she's ready for it. She doesn't know if she can keep control of her superpowers for that long, doesn't know if she can handle that much stimulation at once, but Eliza must expect Kara to be ready if she feels comfortable enough to ask, so Kara wants to try.
She makes it into the lab and through a few introductions to some of Eliza's colleagues, makes it through a brief explanation and demonstration of the project Eliza is working on, makes it through two whole hours before Kara realizes she's made a mistake. Kara initially enjoys it, thrives on the science and the math and the straightforward, analytical approach to testing it, enjoys the familiarity of research and exploration that Kryptonians were once renowned for, but Kara underestimates what Earth science is capable of.
There's an explosion just before lunchtime, something unexpected, loud and probably damaging that has Eliza and many of the other scientists rushing toward the newly blasted-opened door down the hall with fire extinguishers, and Kara's palms slam over her ears as she leaps backward, just barely refraining from lifting into flight. It's too much, it's overwhelming and terrifying and the last time Kara saw an untamed fire, it was through the window of her pod a long time ago and yet not long ago at all, for Kara, and it meant her world was ending, that Kara was all alone, and suddenly Kara can't breathe.
She feels like she's spiraling, feels like every sensation is too much, but it's all unfocused. The noise of the smoke alarm could be right next to her or miles away, the resounding clanging of the explosion could either still be happening or just echoing through Kara's superpowered ears, and Kara's x-ray vision is so alert that she's scanning through her own eyelids and through the three buildings next door. Kara can't breathe, she feels like every cell in her body is vibrating in an extremely unpleasant way, and she can't understand what's happening or how she could ever be meant to control it. Kara tries her hardest, even grinds her teeth together to achieve a familiar sensation in a weak attempt to ground herself, but she thinks she's losing the battle, thinks that she is failing right up until a gentle, comforting murmur against her ear has Kara gasping an involuntary, but no less necessary gulp of oxygen to her lungs.
The Kryptonian's eyes fly open, back pressing into the wall of the lab, and Kara glimpses a staggering supernova of green and blue looking back at her, sees a girl not much older than Kara is with dark hair and pretty skin and a look so concerned that it makes Kara want to cry. She's wearing a stark white lab coat dusted with ash but can't be old enough to be one of the scientists, and she's trying to say something to Kara, but the alien can't make out a single one of the words she's speaking over the chaos wrought by the explosion. Kara doesn't know what she wants, stares at her bemusedly, near stupidly, until the girl offers her hands up between them and holds them out to Kara like a question.
The girl waits, and waits, and Kara doesn't understand why until she stretches her fingers forward and lets them hover overtop of Kara's, not quite making contact. Kara realizes she's asking permission, thinks that this girl is trying to touch her but doesn't want to without Kara's consent, so Kara nods shakily and marvels at the tender smile she is met with in reply. The brunette spans the rest of the distance between them with both hands, carefully but firmly taking hold of Kara's own, and Kara breathes a sigh of relief when she presses calloused fingers gently, rhythmically into Kara's palms and doesn't stop.
She can't realize it, Kara knows, but the girl is helping Kara to stabilize her senses, she's supplying Kara with a focus point. Kara is able to readjust, able to use the mild pressure at her hands to recalibrate her sense of touch back to something that resembles human, and Kara is slowly able to level out the rest of her sensory input to accommodate.
The brunette's smile changes, just a little, shifts into a knowing little thing of sympathy that quirks the corners of red, red lips, and the Kryptonian doesn't know how she understands what's happening to Kara, or how she'd known that this would help to calm her, but Kara is grateful, and she feels like she can breathe again.
"I used to have anxiety attacks when I was younger," the girl whispers kindly, once Kara has settled. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. We all have our demons," she declares conspiratorially, but her playful grin and teasing wink make Kara smile, even if she isn't exactly sure what an anxiety attack is, or how it relates. "I'm Lena. Luthor," she clarifies, and Kara understands abruptly that this girl – Lena – is part of the family who owns this lab, part of the family who employs Kara's new foster mother. "And, considering that explosive little blunder back there was mine, I think I owe you an apology," she crinkles her nose ruefully.
"No, it's- it's okay," Kara tells her earnestly. "I just- I guess I don't do well with a lot of sound?" She offers uncomfortably and shrugs.
Lena laughs, the noise melodic and sweet in Kara's sensitive ears. "That experiment was supposed to turn out a bit differently, but I suppose I got my math wrong, somewhere along the way. I'll work it out," Lena rolls her eyes and waves her hand dismissively. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Kara assures with a nod. "Thank you," she adds belatedly, an embarrassed flush coloring her cheeks, "for helping me. You didn't have to do that, but I- I really appreciate it."
"It was my pleasure," Lena smiles warmly. "And also my fault, so I think it's only right," she reminds Kara good-naturedly. "I should probably go, and help clean up my mess. It was very nice to meet you…?"
Kara blinks at the inflection, doesn't quite understand the cause for it at first, because Kryptonians are naturally gifted with languages, yes, but patterns and intonations often vary, particularly between planets, and it takes time for Kara to assimilate.
"Kara," she answers the unasked question after a brief, but still too-long pause. "Kara- Danvers."
Her heart shatters at the words and Kara's breath feels short all over again, she feels like she's been punched in the gut by something that can actually hurt her under this planet's yellow sun, and she has to angle her head downward to blink the tears away without notice. It's the first time Kara's used her new name out loud, the first time she's had to mask the esteemed nobility and pride of the high House of El, and it feels to Kara like Krypton has just died twice and she will never recover from the loss.
"Well, Kara Danvers, I'll see you around," Lena murmurs, low and intrigued, and Kara nods stupidly and pulls her sleeves over her palms, watches Lena walk away and seeks out Eliza, instead, who apologizes profusely to Kara and promises to take her home on her lunch break.
Kara doesn't speak to Lena for a long time after that.
Kara doesn't speak to anyone, at least not very much. She doesn't exactly enjoy it, and sometimes Kara feels like she's drifting through a world that she was never meant to be part of, feels like a well of wasted potential and knowledge, but Jeremiah and Eliza think it's safer this way, and Kara isn't in much of a position to argue.
So Kara doesn't speak to Lena, but Kara does learn more about her. It's kind of unavoidable and in no way Kara's fault, because the entire school knows Lena's name and half of her family's business, and Kara's noticed in the two years she's spent on this planet that nothing travels through Midvale faster than a bit of gossip. Also, Kara isn't blind, Lena Luthor is irrefutably hard to miss, and blending into the background of things leaves Kara with a lot of time for people watching.
By the time Kara is sixteen, she's inadvertently learned more about Lena Luthor than the girl herself would ever deign to share with Kara on her own. Kara learns that Lena's family is beyond affluent and that they own half of the town, learns that Lena was adopted into it, and that she and her foster brother, Lex, are nearly inseparable. Kara learns that, most days, Lena prefers her jet black Harley Davidson to the flashy, red Lamborghini publicly gifted to her by Lionel Luthor on her birthday the year before. Kara learns that Lena is one of the most envied girls at Midvale High, learns that most people – Alex included – are too intimidated to approach her, even though Kara's never heard a mean word about her beyond the typical mutters of how she is spoiled by her family's wealth. Kara learns that Lena surrounds herself with other people of similar social caliber, but notices that she rarely spends time with them, rarely converses on any level beyond the surface even when Kara thinks it's obvious that Lena's 'friends,' like everyone else in the school, would all but kill for her attention.
Kara also learns that Lena is often truant, that her absences from class should probably have caused her to fail at least twice, which Kara thinks is a crying shame, but it's also understandable.
The Kryptonian doesn't often get the chance to visit with Eliza at work, these days – Kara's responsibility to the school paper frequently keeps her late after classes – but Kara likes to stop by on weekends when her foster mother works, likes to bring her lunch every now and again, and most times Kara's there, so is Lena Luthor. She's never really sure what Lena is doing at the lab, never knows the specifics of what Lena is working on because Lena only ever works alone, but the youngest Luthor can typically be found bent studiously over a notebook or swearing at a failed experiment in what Kara identified a year and a half ago as Gaelic.
Kara does know that Lena is brilliant, though, knows it because Kara's helped clean up some of the Luthor's failed experiments, and the equations she studies from the stolen scraps of Lena's charred notes are well beyond anything Midvale High School is equipped to teach. Kara understands them, thinks that Lena's equations are fluent and beautiful and Kara laments that she can't evaluate them in their entirety, but Kara also understands that Lena must be incredibly bored at school.
It's not so unlike the way that Kara feels, really, only Kara isn't allowed to show it. Kryptonian maths and sciences frankly make Earth physics look like a joke and Kara could ace junior and senior year in her sleep, but Kara still has to purposefully blow a few questions on every test just to avoid drawing attention. Kara's greatest struggle with Midvale academics is keeping herself 'ordinary,' maintaining a respectable GPA but never, ever excelling, and Kara's not sure she'd be so different from Lena, if she had any other choice.
Sometimes Kara thinks that's why she's so interested in Lena Luthor, thinks she might be attracted to Lena's clear intelligence and limitless potential because it strikes a wistful chord in Kara, makes her wish that she could explore her own mind with the same measure of freedom that Lena is allowed. It's partially true – Lena sets a high bar, and Kara would love the opportunity to rise to it – but there's something else, too.
There's a physical attraction to Kara's interest that her Kryptonian biology and upbringing can't always explain, but Kara is aware enough of its presence to know that she likes the leonine stretch of Lena's neck, likes the sharp color of red at her mouth and the gentle cant of her hip outlined by a pair of designer jeans. Kara likes the way her accent curls around certain words, subtle and soft, likes the little bit of amused charm that sometimes ticks at her smile. Most notably, Kara likes the stylishly reckless look of Lena in an expensive leather jacket and boots, a single diamond perched at her throat and dark hair spilling out of its helmet as Lena peals out of the parking lot astride her beloved bike.
Kara's been nursing this 'crush' on Lena since the day that they'd first met – Kara still isn't sure why that word is part of Earth's vernacular, but Alex's sometimes-cruel teasing makes it clear to Kara that the term is accurate – so it no longer surprises Kara when her powers take it upon themselves to seek Lena out. In fact, the Kryptonian is so accustomed to being hyperaware of the youngest Luthor that the only thing to surprise her when Lena one day approaches Kara is that Kara never hears her coming.
Author's Note: I know I have no business posting this when I'm due for a chapter on my other Supergirl fic, but I have a problem, and Lena Luthor as a genius, motorcycle-loving, grease monkey scientist is my new happy place. This needed to be written.