A month and a half before the Chitauri dropped from the sky, young Peter Parker had been enjoying an end-of-year school visit to OsCorp. He'd always been interested in the company; not only had his parents worked there in life, but their cutting edge research seemed to always be on the cover of science journals, which he was an avid consumer of.

Sometime during the tour, Peter had managed to sneak away from their group, making his way to one of the restricted labs. In trying to avoid being spotted, Peter had inadvertently walked in on an ongoing experiment, where he was bitten by a highly mutated, radioactive spider. This caused him to develop superpowers, and thus Spider-Man was born.

As far as origin stories went, Kara thought it was decent.

"Do you really think it can happen again?"

"No, I don't. Peter just happened to have the right genetic markers needed to survive the enhancement. Lightning in a bottle, really." -Gwen explained. "But that doesn't really matter, because OsCorp thinks it will work. As soon as they found out about Spider-Man, they went into human testing, ethics be damned."

"And every test subject so far has died." -Peter said, grimly. "It's horrible, and that isn't even taking into account that most of the 'volunteers' aren't; they got picked up from the streets."

Kara grimaced. "I assume you have proof?"

"That's what I'm here to get." -he said, pulling out a beat-up USB drive from his pocket.

The kryptonian shook her head. "You really do need the support. Alright, you two, I'll help."

Gwen grinned. Kara crossed her arms. "On two conditions: Gwen gets to safety before anything crazy happens. Non-negotiable."

The blonde tried to protest, but Kara gave her a look. "This is going to be dangerous, Miss Stacy. If I recall correctly, OsCorp employs its own private security force, and I'm betting they won't take kindly to this little espionage plot we've got going on."

The teenager sighed. "Fine. But you have to keep me in the loop."

"Speaking of which, I'm calling in Stark."

Spider-Man shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "You need a distraction, don't you?"

"Something subtle, preferably. Iron Man is kind of the exact opposite." -Gwen pointed out.

"Sure, but two Avengers will look more convincing than just myself. Besides, I'm pretty sure Stark personally knows Osborn, so he'll be a lot more effective than I ever could be alone." -she reasoned.

The teens shared a look. "Osborn's been bedridden for over a year, Supergirl. He hasn't been CEO for a while."

Kara frowned. As far as the public knew, herself included, OsCorp's founder was perfectly healthy. "Then who's the man in charge?"

"It's a woman, actually." -Gwen said. "She got promoted from Chief Science Officer when Osborn couldn't keep up appearances. Her name is Lena Luthor."

The Kryptonian paled. She hadn't heard that name in years. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Um...no. She is the acting CEO. Her computer-reproduced signature is on my internship papers." -Peter joked.

"Rao, this is already a mess. Forget about Stark; I'll confront Luthor by myself."

"Uh...ok? Are you sure?" -Gwen asked.

"Positive. Just make sure you get that information, Spider-Man." -she said, floating away and towards the main entrance, at street-level.

People gawked as she stormed into OsCorp's lobby, but Kara couldn't bring herself to care. She pushed past the security checkpoint, ignoring the alarms she was triggering, as well as the shouts of the guards.

"Where can I find Lena Luthor?" -she asked a panicking receptionist.

"F-floor ninety, m-ma'am." -he squeaked out.

Kara nodded, and took flight, as a bunch of heavily armed security personnel approached, assault rifles levelled at her.

The building was arranged like one of those toy donut towers - a series of concentric circles with a vast, empty space at its center, currently filled with a self-promoting hologram. OsCorp didn't limit itself to the biological sciences; Osborn had made sure his brainchild had a finger in what seemed like every pie, producing everything from military-grade weapon systems - in Stark Industries' absence - to everyday hygiene products.

It didn't take long to reach the ninetieth floor, only a half-dozen stories or so away from the roof. Kara landed, and roughly pushed open the doors to what could only be the CEO's office.

Just as she'd expected, her former roommate, friend, and hopeless crush sat behind a lush, mahogany desk. Lena Luthor looked much the same as she had, back in college; where Kara looked like the cute-girl-next-door type, Lena was the bombshell supermodel, only now she dressed the part, having ditched the messy hoodies and week-old jeans Kara remembered. A tight black dress hugged her statuesque figure, and her long, raven-black hair was made up into an elegant bun.

"Kara?" -the woman asked, rising, clearly confused. "You're the security breach? What are you doing here?"

The kryptonian crossed her arms. "I might ask you the same thing. What the hell, Lena? You always talked about improving humanity, but seriously? Illegal human experimentation? That's low, even for you."

Luthor frowned, still clueless. "If this is some kind of vendetta for what I did to you, Kara, I'm sorry, but…"

"Screw that. I'm not talking about the past; this is something very much ongoing."

She seemed unconvinced, but let it go. "Then you know more than I do, clearly. OsCorp has been heavily fined in the past for failing to comply with much less risky regulations. Why would we illegally experiment on people? We would never recover from that, if it got out."

Kara shook her head. "I don't know, but I have it on good authority."

The office's doors burst open behind Kara, and a squad of heavily armed security guards followed in shortly. "Are you alright, Miss Luthor?" -the lead asked her, a brutal-looking giant of an eastern european man, pointing a shotgun at Kara's head.

"Just fine. There's no need for any of this, Supergirl and I are only talking. Besides, she's invulnerable; you might as well be threatening her with a bag of marshmallows." -she said, sardonic. "You may take your leave."

The guard did not move. "You can't be serious. This...thing just violated every security policy we have. Mr. Osborn would be livid if he knew." -he defiantly declared.

"But he is not here. And I will see to it that Kara doesn't do it again, Mr. Sytsevich." -she said. Lena's features hardened. "Now, as I'm sure you're aware - Norman's opinions aside - OsCorp does not tolerate any sort of racism, or in this case, xenophobia, from its employees. Supergirl may not be of this world, but she is a person, and I expect you to respect her."

Kara crossed her arms. "It's fine. I'm already used to it."

A shadow passed over Luthor's face. "Regardless. It's unacceptable."

Is it, now?, Kara thought, biting her tongue. "Thus, while I appreciate your concern and dedication, I'm forced to ask that you please refrain from attending the OsCorp premises for the next two weeks, Mr. Sytsevich. Your wages will be accordingly sanctioned, of course."

The man turned scarlet, but lowered his weapon. "...of course, Miss Luthor."

They turned around, and filed out of the room. Lena let out a long-suffering sigh. "Half a year at the top, and still they second-guess everything I do."

"Huh. I thought he was following your lead very well."

Lena soured. "That's not who I am anymore, Kara. It hasn't been since…"

"Since I told you I was an alien, and you looked at me like I was the most disgusting creature you'd ever seen? Since you basically kicked me out of our dorm room?"

She stared at her desk, downcast. "...yes. Since then." -Lena said, then locked eyes with her. "I'm sorry, Kara. I never got to say that, back then - you never gave me the chance, not that I deserved it. You trusted me with your secret, your heritage, your heart...and I couldn't bring myself to look past my biases."

Kara pursed her lips. The last time Kara had talked to Lena Luthor had been two years prior; she'd been eighteen, then, just a semester into her college education. Lena had been her roommate, and they'd instantly clicked; they were both orphans, both very smart - Lena quite a bit more, if she were to be honest, working on her doctorate thesis by the time they met - and they shared a passionate love for humanity as a whole. Where Kara's dream was to use her powers to benefit the people who had taken her in, Lena's goal was to put her immense intellect in service of mankind's evolution and advancement.

Unfortunately for their continued friendship, Kara had started falling for her, and when she'd confessed her feelings, not only had she accidentally revealed her alien heritage, she'd been brutally rejected. Heartbroken, Kara had ditched college, starting the chain of terrible jobs that had landed her in the service of the world's most popular bigot.

The irony had been too damn powerful on that one.

"It's in the past, Lena." -Kara said, fidgeting. "Just...let's focus on the now."

Lena shook her head. "What is there to say? I don't know what you're talking about, and you won't tell me what you know."

Kara pursed her lips. "Have you heard about the Spider-Man?"

Lena narrowed her eyes. "...the urban legend?"

"He's not a myth. He exists, and whatever powers he has, he...might have gotten them here. Hypothetically speaking."

Understanding seemed to dawn upon the CEO's features. "That's...you're talking about the serum."

"Serum? What are you talking about?"

"Oh. Forgive me, I forget you didn't grow up on the same education system as us." -she said, pensive. "Doctor Abraham Erskine created a formula in the late nineteen-thirties that conferred superhuman abilities to whoever was treated with it. He called it the Super Soldier Serum, and produced two successful specimens with it, before his untimely death: Johann Schmidt, who became the head of the rogue Nazi science division, HYDRA, and the man who eventually defeated him. Your teammate, Steve Rogers."

Kara hummed. "And you're trying to...what, make more?"

Lena laughed, bitter. "Everyone and their mother has tried to recreate Erskine's achievement. Take Doctor Bruce Banner's rather destructive alter ego; the Hulk is the disastrous result of one such attempt. So far, no one has succeeded, OsCorp included. In fact, our attempt was so terrible, it never moved past mice tests, and was subsequently scrapped. No human testing ever happened."

"Considering Spider-Man is out there, stopping cars with his bare hands, I'd say there was at least one success."

Lena shook her head, stubborn. "I'm sorry, Kara, but that's simply impossible. As Director of Bio-Science, I personally oversaw that data's destruction."

"Well, maybe someone copied it behind your back? Who else had access to it?"

Lena scowled at the idea. "By the end? Only myself and Osborn himself. Norman likes to involve himself in every ongoing project, and obviously has full access to the database."

"You don't think he might've kept a copy?"

"And what would he have done with it?" -Lena said, dismissive. "I'm not supposed to say, but since you are here as an Avenger...Norman is practically on his deathbed. He fell ill a year ago, and in the last six months he's deteriorated so much that he needs twenty-four-seven life support and care."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "You said it yourself, though; people here are still loyal to him over you. Who's to say the research didn't continue without your knowledge?" -she asked. Lena looked angry, but not at Kara. More like she was realizing something. "All I know is, this guy got bit by a mutant spider, here, and now he can bench a truck and stick to walls."

Lena fumed, considering the possibility, but did not respond. Instead, her office phone rang and she answered. Kara didn't have to wonder what the conversation was about for long; within seconds, she heard gunshots, coming from below.

"Whatever you and the Spider-Man are planning, I want you to stop." -Lena said. "I believe your story, and I will get to the bottom of this, but stealing company information isn't the way to go. So, go. Collect your little sidekick, and leave. I'll get in contact with you when I find something."

Kara didn't appreciate the tone, but she knew Lena well enough to realize that her fury was far from aimed at her. She nodded, hurrying towards the violence. "Oh, and Kara?"

She turned. Lena's expression was...uncomfortably soft. "Yeah?"

"It was good seeing you."