Kara's week went better than she could have hoped.

Snapper was actually somewhat impressed that Kara had managed to garner a such a valuable opportunity from Lena Luthor, though of course he didn't allow his enthusiasm to show for too long. The reporter almost felt guilty for his grudging praise. Lena hadn't agreed to give her a tour L-Corp's Applied Sciences division because of Kara's hard bargaining stance and silver tongue. It had been because they were…

What were they? Friends? That would have seemed right, except for the fact that friends generally didn't battle each other twice a week over the fate of the world. Not that Lena knew they were battling, obviously. But from her perspective, Kara Danvers was still a threat; the reporter made no secret of the fact that she wanted to expose the Luthor.

Kara didn't quite understand how to feel about the CEO, and she was all too aware of how her friends would react to ask them about it.

Regardless of Kara's mixed feelings, the interview was more than enough to get Snapper off of her back for a few days. And she got another free lunch out of it, which was almost as important in Kara's book.

Lena still refused to bend on her world-conquering outlook, but she never seemed angry at Kara for arguing against her. Their third lunch together was just as enjoyable as their second, even despite a rather passionate debate on the future of humanity.

So, of course, her luck couldn't persist until the weekend.

Saturday morning was spent embroiled in a rather heated argument with her landlord, who insisted that Kara pay her in full for last month's rent. Which was a physical impossibility, as none of Supergirl's powers let her materialize money out of thin air. The money she'd saved by not paying for two lunches this week allowed her to shell out some of her debt to the landlord, but it wouldn't buy her much time.

Saturday afternoon wasn't much better.

Kara's patrol of the city was interrupted by a frantic call from Alex. Vanity was reportedly assaulting Van Kull Maximum Security Prison, a facility several miles out from National City. Apparently, the building was actually living up to its name; Lena was actually having a somewhat tough time disabling its defenses. Yet there was no doubt that unless Supergirl stopped her, she would eventually manage…whatever it was she was trying to do.

No sooner had Supergirl begun flying towards the prison, however, then she got another call from Alex. Reports were rapidly coming in about a man assaulting the city's downtown area, destroying property and endangering civilians. All that her sister knew was that witnesses described him as exhibiting super strength and emitting some kind of bright light from his chest.

Alex wasn't sure which one should be Supergirl's priority, but Kara was.

"Lena- Vanity -doesn't kill anyone. It doesn't matter why she doesn't, not right now. The point is that no one at the prison is going to die today because I'm late. The same might not be true for the people downtown."

The officer sighed over the phone. "You're right. Go take out 'light man' first. Which is probably what Luthor wants. Keeping you focused on her distraction while she completes her scheme."

"Distraction?" Kara asked, now flying towards the source of the disturbance. "What makes you think she's behind this new guy?"

"I don't believe in coincidences, Kara," her sister shot back. "Right now, it doesn't matter anyway. We just take this guy out so you can deal with Luthor."

"On it!" the hero replied. Kara seriously doubted that Lena would send out a minion to cause wanton property damage, but now wasn't the time to argue. It didn't matter who sent him; he needed to be taken down.

"Give him hell, sis. I'm on my way with a squad car to complete the arrest and organize cleanup."

Kara smiled. "See you in a bit!"

\

It wasn't hard to find her target.

This villain, whoever he was, was carving a path of destruction through downtown. Most civilians had long since run for their lives, but 'light man' was still methodically smashing up storefronts and tossing cars. He looked like an ordinary man, save for the bright circle of green light that was shining through his shirt.

He definitely had super strength. It was an impressive display, but Kara knew it wouldn't stand up to her own abilities. The hero flew in, stopping to hover twenty feet over the villain and calling him out.

"The nearest bank is two blocks over!" Kara declared, placing her hands on her hips. "Or do you just enjoy causing destruction for the sake of it? So many people would kill for superpowers, and you're just using them to cause chaos!"

'Light man' turned to face her. Despite herself, Kara couldn't help but be unnerved by the evil grin on his face. And suddenly, she began to feel nauseous.

"I'm here for you, Supergirl!" the villain declared, a victorious glint in his eyes. "You really are predictable, aren't you? I don't quite understand why my mistress thinks you're such a threat, but I follow orders. So-"

A massive beam of green light erupted from his heart. Kara realized she was in danger an instant too late.

Supergirl screamed as the laser struck her full in the chest. Burning knives were piercing every inch of her skin, burying into her nerves with sadistic delight. She slammed down into the ground, barely even feeling the impact as her back collided with the pavement.

Kara took two deep breaths as the agony began to subside. Kryptonite. This was no random act of violence. Supergirl had just been caught in a coordinated ambush, and so far the plan was going wonderfully.

Her enemy was standing several feet away, smiling victoriously. The kryptonite beam had ripped aside his shirt, revealing a large sphere of sickly green rock welded into his chest. Thick metal beams radiated out from the kryptonite 'heart', and Kara suddenly had a good idea where his strength came from.

A cyborg. One made for the sole purpose of bringing her down. By who, Kara wasn't certain. Lena? No. Lena didn't use kryptonite. And if Lena had made this cyborg, he would have been smart enough to know not to hesitate in the middle of a fight.

Cadmus or the DEO? Quite possibly, though how either would have got their hands on kryptonite Kara couldn't imagine.

"My name is Metallo. And you're done."

Kara grit her teeth through the slowly fading pain. Her powers had already begun to be drained, but they were far from gone. There was a brief moment of opportunity. If Supergirl had flown forward with all her remaining speed and power, she may have been able to punch the villain in the head before he could react. It likely would have decapitated him, cyborg or no.

But Kara wasn't a killer, and so she also hesitated.

Another green beam fired at Supergirl. The hero rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast. Even still, the close proximity to the kryptonite sent another spasm of pain through Kara.

She rocketed towards Metallo, but she was still woozy and the villain was ready. He ducked, avoiding her first punch, and came back with a brutal haymaker that Kara only barely dodged.

This wasn't good. Metallo was clearly a trained fighter, and Kara could feel her powers slipping away with every second she spent near that glowing kryptonite heart. She flew a few feet back, opened her mouth, and unleashed the most powerful burst of freeze breath she could muster.

For a moment, it looked like ice would consume the villain. His eyes widened in surprise, but he unleashed a kryptonite blast just in time. The heat of the beam evaporated the icy cloud and struck Kara in the leg.

The hero hit the ground, crumpling to her knees. Desperate, she let loose a blast of heat vision, but her powers were already more than halfway depleted. Metallo simply stepped aside, easily avoiding the thin beams.

He began to walk forward. With every step the villain took, the constant burning pain rushing through Kara's veins only increased. She needed…needed to fire another blast of heat…but it was too hard to concentrate…

"Don't worry. We're not going to kill you," Metallo declared, though Supergirl barely heard his words. "We're just going to make you wish we'd had."

BANG!

Kara glanced up to see a bullet smash into the side of Metallo's face. Blood spurted violently into the air, and for a moment Supergirl thought he was dead. Yet the villain only took a few steps backward, grimacing in pain, and looked to who had fired the shot.

Alex was crouched behind the wrecked remains of a once expensive car. A thin trail of smoke rose from the gun in her hands.

Face contorted with anger, Metallo turned to face the officer. Judging by the glint of metal visible in his wound, the bullet hadn't done any real damage. The kryptonite heart began to fire-

No!

For a moment, the pain was gone. All that remained was Kara's sister and the madman who was about to murder her.

The kryptonite beam fired, but its aim was off.

Its aim was off thanks to the powerful burst of heat vision that had hit Metallo square in the chest.

"You!"

He spun back towards Kara, but his kryptonite heart was now flickering violently. The hero prepared to be the target of yet another beam, but her enemy's face was now consumed by panic.

That didn't mean Kara couldn't see the anger in his eyes.

"You'll pay for this," Metallo hissed, the rock in his chest now sputtering violently. Then he turned around and began to run down the street, his legs moving faster than any human could hope to achieve.

Within seconds, he was out of sight.

"Kara!" Alex ran out from behind her cover, lifting the hero to her feet and into a fierce embrace. Even with her powers not entirely gone, Supergirl could feel the force behind the hug.

She simply sighed, relaxing into her sister's arms. The kryptonite had been pure agony, but it was nothing compared to the fear she'd just felt. For a single moment, Kara had believed she was about to lose her sister. It was a thought too terrible even for her nightmares.

"Rao, Alex! You can't do that again! If something happened-"

"I don't care," Alex replied firmly. "You're what matters. And I'm fine. It'll take more than a second-rate cyborg to bring me down. Right now, I'm worried about you."

Kara sighed, stepping back from her sister's embrace. As comforting as hugging Alex was, if a civilian returned and managed to snap a photo of the two of them together, kryptonite might become the least of her worries.

"I'm fine, Alex."

It was halfway true. Kara was in no mortal danger, but her entire body was still sore. "My powers aren't completely gone," she said. "I should be fine in a few hours."

Relief shown in Alex's eyes. "Then go," she nodded towards the buildings in the distance. "Fly back to your apartment and get some rest. I'll meet you there for ice cream and Netflix."

Kara stared at her sister. "What? Alex, Lena is still attacking Van Kull. I have to stop her!"

Alex shook her head. "You do, but not today. You're in no shape to take her on right now, and she'll show her face again. You have to recover first."

"I still have my powers, Alex. I have to try, and we're wasting time!" Kara put her foot down. "Who knows what she could be getting out of that prison? If nothing else, we have to know what we're going to be up against."

Her sister gritted her teeth. "I almost just lost you. I can't go through that again!"

"Even if I lose, Lena won't do anything to me," Supergirl said. "I'll meet you at the prison, hopefully with Vanity in custody. If not, then Netflix and ice cream."

She shot into the air before Alex could protest.

\

Kara flew to the prison as fast as she could manage. Which wasn't nearly as fast as she would have liked. Her powers hadn't started to recover yet- it would take a long stretch of sunbathing to do that if Clark's dealings with kryptonite were any indication -and they seemed less than half as strong as they normally were.

Deep in her heart, Supergirl knew she couldn't win. Not today. Why was she so desperate to go to the prison? Did she want to assure herself that Lena wouldn't hurt anyone? Or was she simply curious just who Lena was rescuing? Kara couldn't say.

As she approached the facility, a quick use of her still somewhat-functioning telescopic and x-ray vision told Kara much of what she wanted to know. The prison's automated defense systems had been devastated. The guards, however, were either in hiding or suspended in some sort of stasis field that Lena had clearly made ample use of.

Despite herself, Kara couldn't help but be impressed. Even Krypton's scientists had never really perfected that technology.

As fate would have it, Vanity was just about to start her flight away from the prison just as Kara approached. She was holding a green-skinned woman in her arms, now a few hundred feet into the air.

Green-skinned?

Yet even as Kara flew to intercept, Lena droppedthe woman from her arms and rocketed in the air. Right at her.

Kara dodged the first six blasts from Lena's palms, trying to close the distance between them. But with her powers drained, Supergirl proved too slow to avoid the fourth pair of red beams launched in her direction.

The last of her powers were gone. For a moment, Kara felt death closing in as she was suddenly suspended dozens of feet in the air without the ability to fly.

But just as she began to fall, a bluebeam shot from Lena's hand and collided with Kara. Suddenly, her entire body was surrounded by a blue glow.

Stasis field.

Blue light still connected her with Vanity's hand. Lena hovering several feet about her, Kara was slowly lowered through the air and deposited onto the grassy ground. Kara, too weak to rise, turned towards the green-skinned woman now standing next to her.

Supergirl barely even noticed the stasis field dissipating. She knew full well who this woman was. Bright red hair and green eyes were more than enough to mark her as Poison Ivy, the world's premier eco-terrorist.

Kara knew the story. Pamela Isley had been mutated in a freak lab accident that gifted her with the power to command plants and control human minds. She'd used her powers to dominate several prominent corporations, nearly bringing them to the brink of collapse until Batman had somehow caught on and defeated her.

Ivy had used her control over plants to kill more than one executive who'd challenged her, but it was her power to take over minds that truly frightened Kara. All she had to do was transfer some microscopic spores with her lips, and…

"My, my. What a stroke of good fortune!" Ivy laughed, standing over Supergirl. "I doubt even Ms. Luthor planned for this day to go so well." She began to lean down towards the hero's lips, and Supergirl's eyes widened with fear. Kara tried to squirm away, but she was still too weak to move.

Not me. Not me.

"Ivy!" Vanity suddenly dropped to the ground beside them. "We had a deal. She's not one of them."

Isley rose to her feet. "Sorry, Ms. Luthor, but I didn't think you'd want to ignore an opportunity like this." She nodded at the defeated hero. "Imagine what we could do with her, if it worked!"

"I'll do the thinking," Lena snapped. "You just follow my orders and you'll have everything we agreed on and more. Now, I'll meet you at base. You remember the coordinates, I assume? Supergirl and I need to have a few words."

To Kara's astonishment, Ivy didn't seem angry. "Sure thing boss!" The villain dived into the ground, seemingly dissolving into the grass.

"A useful method of transportation," Vanity mused.

Kara tried to rise to her feet again and found that she couldn't do more than lift her arms.

Lena looked at her curiously. "What happened to you?"

"Besides the red sun blasts?" Supergirl growled angrily. Her body was still throbbing with pain, made even worse by the fact that the last of her invulnerability had drained away. "Kryptonite. Some cyborg in the city had a heart or something made out of it."

"Are you serious?" Vanity asked. She actually sounded concerned. "I could tell you were weaker than normal, but I didn't think..." the villain sighed. "Please don't try anything."

Kara scoffed. "As if I could-"

A yellow blast flew from Lena's palm, hitting Kara in the chest. Instantly, the pain faded to a dull ache. The hero tried to push off from the ground and found that she could.

Without thinking, Kara accepted the villain's offered arm and was raised to her feet. She still felt weak, and capable of no more than a quick hover in the air, but that was a far cry better than she'd been a minute ago.

"Yellow sun radiation," Supergirl breathed. Lena nodded.

Suddenly, her memories of the confrontation came rushing back to her. "Now it's time for my question," she rounded on the villain. "What in Rao's name are you doing with Poison Ivy? Don't you know the things she did?"

Lena crossed her arms. "I shouldn't need to explain the things she can do for my plans. As for the things she's done, I can't say I condone all of them. She never intentionally killed an innocent person, but she was far too willing to accept innocent people dying as collateral damage in her schemes. It would have happened too, if not for Batman."

"You just freed a murderer," Kara hissed. Supergirl wasn't sure why she was surprised. Lena was a supervillain, after all. Even if that fact was sometimes difficult to remember at certain moments.

"The people she directly killed would have been in jail if the justice system functioned properly," Vanity shot back. "I can't say I'm thrilled about it, but I'm willing to work with her to save future innocent lives…and this planet. She won't be hurting anyone under my watch."

Kara glared at the villain. "You're using her for mind control!"

"Yes, that's our agreement," Lena agreed. "I tell her to take over corrupt executives and politicians, and she does it. In return, I continue my efforts to save this planet from alien invasion and environmental degradation. She betrays me, I activate the tranquilizer implant in her neck and she wakes up in one of my cells."

"Does she know about that?" Kara demanded.

"Oh, yes. It was one of my conditions for helping her escape. I'm not taking chances, but I seriously doubt she will betray me. She knows she can't save this world's environment without me," Lena asserted. "And I promised her some help with a certain crush she has back in Gotham."

Kara dug her feet angrily into the grass. "And if she mind controls you?"

Lena shrugged. "I already developed and took a vaccine for her spores. And her power really only works well on people with somewhat weak wills."

"So why did she try it on me?"
"In her mind, I suppose it was worth a shot. And it would probably have worked for a while. If she kissed you and commanded you to do jumping jacks, you would have. Only when she asked you to do something against your nature would you have revolted," Lena explained.

The thought of losing her mind still sent shudders down Kara's spine. "And now you're going to use her to enslave anyone in your way."

"Not anyone," Lena countered. "Just those who deserve a prison sentence anyway and are too weak to resist. They'll hand over their property to me and actually do some good in this world, for a change. Once I rule the world, they'll be set free just like the people in my cells."

"It's still wrong!" Kara declared.

Vanity shook her head. "I'm putting a few assholes in a mind-haze for a while in order to facilitate my plans to save this planet and everyone on it. It's no different than putting someone like Roulette in one of my cells."

Kara's mind flashed back to when Lena had shown her live footage of Roulette in confinement. It had been hard to resist chuckling at the sight of the ringleader stewing in a cushy cell. She bit her lip, suddenly feeling guilty.

The hero sighed. "Whatever. It'll all be resolved once I take you down and expose who you are under that suit. Now I recommend you get out of here. My…ride will probably be here soon and she'll probably shoot you on sight."

\

Alex was not happy camper when she arrived a few minutes later, clearly still upset that Kara had gone racing off. Her mood didn't improve any when Kara related the events at the prison.

"At least this proves she doesn't want to mind control me," the reporter said as she sat in the passenger seat.

Her sister glared at her. "Or, more likely, she's just waiting to try once she uses her tech to refine Ivy's spores into a more powerful version. Jesus, Kara, do you have any idea what she's capable of now?"

"I know, I know," Kara replied.

With a sigh, the officer returned her gaze to the road. "We have to take her down. I'm willing to try almost anything at this point, no matter the cost. Before long, she'll be unstoppable."

"I'll beat her," Kara promised.

From the look in her sister's eyes, Alex wasn't so sure. Kara couldn't blame her. She wasn't very confident herself.

\

"Buy you a drink?"

Already a few bottles of rum into the night, Alex glanced up. Maggie Sawyer was standing next to her table, a bemused look on her face.

The officer frowned. "What are you doing here?" she asked, watching her words carefully. "How did you even know this place existed? You're not an alien, are you?"
"Afraid not." Maggie shrugged. "But my line of work has brought me down here more than once. It's a nice place, if you can get past the rusted décor. So…buy you a drink?" she said again.

Alex rolled her eyes. "I'm flattered, Sawyer. But as I've already said, I'm not a lesbian," the officer pointed out. Not that Maggie was unattractive; anyone with a working pair of eyes could acknowledge the detective was a stunner, but it didn't change the fact that Alex was straight.

"I've heard a lot of lesbians say that, but that's not why I'm here," Maggie replied. "Girls in blue need to watch out for each other, and you clearly need some liquid courage."

"Got that covered." Alex nodded at her empty glass.

Maggie smiled. "Let me rephrase that. You need some more liquid courage," she said, and Alex couldn't help but laugh. "Megan makes a great alien vodka that's suitable for humans."

"You know what? Why not?" Alex agreed.

The past week, she'd felt as if she was drowning. Lena Luthor seemed unstoppable, and Alex was under no illusions what her victory would mean for Kara. She didn't buy the villain's supposedly benevolent intentions for a fraction of a second. Any world ruled by a Luthor would have no place for a Super.

Watching her sister shoulder the burden of being Earth's champion was hard enough. Seeing Kara get manhandled on an almost daily basis by Lex Luthor's sister was almost too much to bear.

Meanwhile, every day Lena Luthor sat in her office, looking down at the city. Physically vulnerable yet completely immune from attack. She was the greatest threat her sister had ever faced, and yet she was untouchable thanks to the burden of proof required by America's legal system.

Now kryptonite was in play. Kara was certain Luthor wasn't behind it, but Alex's gut said otherwise. And if it turned out instead that Cadmus was making its move, or Henshaw and the DEO had finally jumped the gun? That didn't make Alex feel any better.

It was maddening.

Yet at the moment, there was little Alex could do about it. Nothing was stopping her from getting shitfaced with a fellow officer and allowing her fears to slip away for a few blissful hours.

"Maggie?" Alex called. "Make it something strong."

\

Kara was sitting on her desk that Monday, ostensibly typing up her latest puff piece for Snapper. In reality, she was looking at a few news articles discussing seemingly unrelated disappearances in the last few weeks. One of whom was a patron at the alien bar who Kara was fairly certain was a well-disguised alien.

Even with Roulette off the streets, it seemed someone was still kidnapping extra-terrestrials. Kara couldn't fathom the motive for abducting innocent refugees scattered throughout the city, but there was more than one group who sprung to mind as potential suspects.

A chorus of nervous muttering and quick footsteps was picked up by her superhearing. "What is she doing here?" "I'm taking my lunch break early." "Doesn't she have a bank to go rob?"

Curious, Kara leapt to her feet and stepped out of her office. Sure enough, Lena Luthor was walking down the hallway towards her. The CEO was dressed more casually than usual and receiving dark, nervous stares from every staff member on the floor. Yet she still moved through the building with an air of quiet confidence that demanded deference.

Kara wasn't afraid of the Luthor, but her heart began to beat rapidly.

"Lena, hi!" the reporter greeted, ignoring the curious looks she got from more than a few staff members. Supergirl might be angry at Lena for breaking a terrorist out of prison, but Kara Danvers supposedly didn't know about that yet.

Besides, the hero could acknowledge that the villain had made a good point. Subjecting immoral individuals to a mind-haze wasn't much different from imprisoning them outright. Neither of which was acceptable, but also not over the line of morally irredeemable.

In Kara's opinion, anyway.

"Surprise visit to Catco?" the reporter asked.

Lena shook her head, a tinge of nervousness in her smile. "No, I'm here to see you, actually. If we could talk in your office for a moment, I'd be grateful."

Was something wrong?

"Of course! Right in here!" Kara stepped quickly back into her office. "A bit smaller than yours, I'm sorry," the reporter continued. For a moment, Kara was actually embarrassed. Lena had a massive, comfortable office that she had easily allowed the reporter to make herself home in. All Kara could offer was a virtual cell that wouldn't even fit a table.

The reporter's face went red as she realized the entire floor was staring at them. Whatever the topic of conversation, Kara didn't blame Lena for wanting to keep it private.

"Is everything alright?" Kara asked as soon as the CEO had shut the door behind them.

Lena nodded. "Of course, Kara. I just…I wanted to ask you something," she replied, her poise once again seemingly deserting her. "L-Corp is hosting a party this weekend. A gala fundraiser to help the city's homeless. I…was hoping you'd come," the CEO finished, biting her lip.

Kara stared at her. From what she knew about these galas, they usually costed several hundred dollars a ticket. Lena obviously didn't expect her to pay, but the reporter had no idea what she could offer such an event.

"Me? Why?"

Lena frowned, clasping her hands together. "You are literally my only friend in National City…or anywhere, really. You saw everyone out there-" she jerked her head at the door. "No one in this city will touch a Luthor with a ten-foot pole. Especially not a 'suspected' supervillain," the CEO smiled anxiously. "But you…you seem to look past that."

The reporter's eyes widened. Friend? Was she really? You couldn't be friends with your arch-enemy, could you? It was insane.

Kara looked into Lena's eyes. The supervillain was as nervous as the reporter had ever seen her, clearly ready for rejection. A small bead of sweat slid down Lena's forehead.

In that moment, Kara decided that she could be friends with her archenemy. It wasn't as if either was out to hurt the other, and if she did manage to get Lena arrested…well, prisons still offered visitation rights, didn't they?

There were a thousand problems with this scenario. But after another glance into Lena's eyes, Kara found that she didn't care.

"Of course I'll come!" Kara blurted out. "I mean, I'd be happy to be there for you. Honored, really. I imagine you could use a friend while being surrounded all night by a bunch of uptight socialites."

Kara's word choice was deliberate, and if the bright smile of relief on Lena's face was any indication, the CEO knew it.

"Thank you, Kara," Lena replied, some of her usual composure finally returning. "That means…a lot to me," she breathed. "I'll call you later with more details. We haven't exchanged numbers, have we?"

"Nope!" the reporter said quickly, fumbling for her phone. "But we should do that!"

\

It wasn't until several minutes later, Lena having exited the building flanked by more dirty looks, that Kara heard the yell from her boss.

"Danvers!"

The reporter shuffled out of her desk and into Snapper's office. "Is there a problem?" she asked, her voice somewhat distant.

She still hadn't quite wrapped her mind around the fact that she had just become the only friend of the world's most powerful supervillain.

Kara didn't see anything too wrong about the situation. And that was what worried her.

"What did Luthor want?" Snapper asked roughly.

The reporter shrugged. "She asked me to attend her gala this weekend," Kara answered, seeing no reason to lie. "Why?"

Snapper glared at her. "Is there something going on between you two? Because while I approve of networking, a relationship creates a huge conflict of interest."

What?! "No!" Kara shouted, ignoring the curious looks from nearby staff. "That's ridiculous! What on earth makes you think that me and Lena Luthor could ever be…no. We're just friends!"

Her boss frowned. "Are you certain?"

"Positive!" Kara answered, shuffling her feet nervously. "What…what makes you ask?

"Because I'm not blind, Danvers," he replied. "First, she offers Catco an interview- asking for you specifically. Then she gives you an exclusive expose on her upcoming science projects, a scoop I know you would be too meek to push for. Now she's coming into the building to see you personally, delivering a free invite to a high society event. You're telling me there's no pattern here?"

The reporter hurriedly shook her head. "We're friends; we hit it off after she liked my first article about her. But that's it. I-"

Kara suddenly realized what he'd said. A spike of dread instantly embedded itself in her heart. "Wait! What do you mean she asked for me specifically?"

Snapper actually looked bashful. "Well…before your first interview, she called the office offering to sit down with one of our reporters, as long as that reporter was you," he revealed. "She said I shouldn't tell you that you were specifically requested. At that time, I figured she just wanted a chance to present herself to the public by answering some softball questions from Catco's least experienced reporter."

NO!

Lena Luthor had strong-armed Catco into sending Kara to her office for an interview. A reporter who had she had never even met, whose only claim to fame was a few puff pieces that the CEO had almost certainly never heard of.

The day after her first battle with Supergirl.

Still standing in front of her boss, the reporter wasn't sure whether to scream or cry. There was only one plausible reason Lena Luthor could have had for singling out Kara Danvers for that meeting.

Only one.