A threat to the city stirs on the horizon while Lena and Kara meet Lois and Clark for the first time as a couple.

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Interstate 95

New York, NY, Local time 1347

James Earl Roof's anger simmered just south of its boiling point when he drove his car onto the exit off of the George Washington Expressway and entered the borough of Manhattan.

For the last five hundred miles or so, the Elkton, Maryland native had been fuming over how his former girlfriend, Kelly, had recently married his childhood friend from a few years back, Caleb. His two friends and he had hung out together before James Earl had learned the harsh lessons the world had to teach him. His friend, Caleb, was of mixed race; his father a black man; his mother white. Before Kelly had turned her back on both the white race and him, James had liked Caleb and the rest of Caleb's family.

Now, he wondered why his old friend hadn't done the proper thing and married one of his own kind.

To James Earl, Caleb hooking up with Kelly was another symptom of the cancer that had spread throughout America as a result of liberals wanting to tear down everything that good folk had fought and died for when the Southern states had sought to protect their sovereignty from Northern aggressors. Apparently, blacks, Muslims, and foreigners weren't only taking white folks' jobs and opportunities away; they were taking his race's women, too.

Six years ago, he'd begun to understand the scope of the problem. His old man had had a successful construction and home renovation business in those days but it had been hit hard after the financial crisis of 2008. The old man spent most of his nights drinking and railing against those who were ruining America like illegal immigrants, big banks, Wall Street, gay people and the useless DC politicians. Sometimes, his dad had taken his anger out on James Earl, too.

The young man then recalled always being tense around his dad. He never knew what would set the old man off.

He also remembered the day when his old man came home from his business after shutting it down for good. Even at the age of fifteen, James Earl had known defeat when he'd seen it. At first, there was talk of it just being a minor setback for them but things would look up.

Then his step-mother and his dad broke up.

She'd claimed the old man had abused her; he'd hired a PI who'd proven she'd cheated on him. After they'd divorced, his father and he had lost the house when his old man had defaulted on a business loan.

Around that time, James Earl started having problems in school because he bounced back and forth between his mom's and dad's apartments that were located in different cities. It had gotten so bad, he had to repeat ninth grade and had to complete the last three months of his second stint in Elkton while he lived with his old man.

The next year, he dropped out of school.

For the next few years, he drifted, getting into trouble pretty much all the time. He smoked a lot of pot then. It helped him deal with all the disruptions that his bouncing between his parents' homes had caused for him. Soon after, since he had plenty of time on his hands, he began to read about how the white race's rights in America were being trampled by the other races on the internet.

When he'd turned nineteen, James Earl had created his own website which included photographs of him with patches from white-ruled African governments on his clothes and others of him waving the Confederate battle flag. However, when Kelly's father had found out about the website, the man had ordered the girl to terminate her relationship with James Earl.

After she'd left him, he lost himself in studying websites run by the Aryan Nation and the Council of Conservative Citizens, among them. Their writers had talked about the plight of real Americans and how all these other groups were trying to take their country away from them. They said real Americans had been stepped on for years and were expected to sit back and just take it. They all said the liberals, the judges, the professors from those elite colleges were disenfranchising white men. They also said some black men, particularly all those who were pampered, professional athletes, were using their money and influence to push an agenda that further beat the white man down.

However, most of all, they said the sad state of affairs in America was the fault of the foreigners. Those people came here uninvited and were taking jobs away from real Americans. They were the cause of all of society's problems, from health care to the vanishing middle-class.

Then, yesterday, James Earl watched Supergirl and her fellow freaks attack Daniel Ducannon and the Hunter on TV. While the White Dragon and his people had only been there to counter-protest against the vast left-wing conspiracy pushed by the liberals marching in the park, Supergirl, who wasn't even from their planet, had beat Ducannon down.

Suddenly, he swerved to avoid a taxi that had drifted into his lane without signaling. When he saw the yellow car was being driven by a foreign-looking man, his anger grew so hot he wanted to draw his .45 automatic and chase the bastard down. However, he managed to keep his cool and continued to fume over the events of yesterday's battle in the park.

Despite the fact the Kryptonian was admittedly a total hottie, James Earl knew Supergirl's type. As was the case with Kelly and her father, a guy like him would never have a shot at being in a relationship with someone like her. She'd always think she was too good for him.

So, when he'd received an email from a member of the Knights of the Aryan Brotherhood about a foolproof plan that allowed the strike force to avoid an engagement with NYPD while 'making a statement race traitors, blacks and foreigners would never forget,' James Earl had realized they'd made him an offer he simply couldn't refuse.

Now, while he drove carefully along the boulevard, he occasionally glanced down at the street map display of the the screen of his smart phone and followed the app's verbal instructions as it guided him to his rendezvous with the members of the Brotherhood's strike force.

#

The Quin Hotel Penthouse

New York, NY, Local time 1428

"Clark, how the hell can Midvale afford to stay in a joint like this? Did she knock over Fort Knox or something?"

The tall Kryptonian male in his guise as mild-mannered Clark Kent winced. The Fort Knox fiasco with Hancock and Lex was still a sore spot even after all these years. "Lois, you know Kara would never do anything like that. For Rao's sake, would you please stop embarrassing me in front of my cousin?"

Now the feisty brunette glared at her man. "What are you talking about, Smallville?! We're in an elevator between the fifth and sixth floor. We've got a ways to go before we reach the penthouse level."

He gave her a look of mild reproach. "Two words, Lois. Super. Hearing."

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry, Kara!" she announced loudly.

Suddenly he glanced up at the elevator car's ceiling and smirked. "Sweetheart, Kara just asked, 'Do you kiss your father with that mouth?'"

"Actually," Lois drawled, her lips curling into a smug smirk. "I haven't kissed that man in years."

Clark was silent for a brief moment while Kara spoke to him. Then he grinned. "Kara said, 'Point taken.'"

The Daily Planet's best shared a laugh at General Lane's expense while the elevator car continued to climb. Soon, it came to a stop and the doors slid open to reveal the glamorous foyer of the hotel's penthouse. Standing there to greet them was Kara Danvers a/k/a Supergirl dressed in a very smart and expensive-looking, medium blue A-line dress with her lead-lined spectacles on the bridge of her nose. For a brief moment, he thought she kind of looked like a sexy-librarian in that outfit. Then, when he reflected on what he'd just noted about his cousin, he immediately slammed the door right in the face of that totally disturbing, and hopefully, fleeting notion. Still, both his super senses and his reporter's eye for detail told him the construction of her garment was far better than the typical clothing the young woman usually wore, piquing his curiosity.

Pushing aside the mystery of her apparel for the moment, Clark smiled at his old baby sitter and called out to her. "Kara!"

"Kal!" she exclaimed and rushed forward to embrace him. Then she hoisted him up in a bear hug that would have snapped a human in two.

He returned the favor by enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug of his own. "It's so good to see you! I've really missed you!"

"I've missed you, too!" she exclaimed. "Now let go of me so I can greet your better half properly!"

"Oh—right! Sorry!" he said and drew back from his cousin.

"Hey, Midvale!" Lois drawled when she pulled the blonde into a warm hug. "It's so nice to see you, again. You do know you're always welcome to drop by for a visit. I'm sure National City can get by without you for a few days."

"Hey, Lois!" Kara said and hugged the other woman gently. "As always, thank you for the invitation. I promise I'll come by soon. Hopefully, you won't mind if I bring a special someone along with me."

"For the love of God, I hope you're not talking about Cat Grant, Midvale!"

"Lois!" Clark snapped as he rolled his eyes at his lover then shot a look at Kara. "Kara, if you're referring to Alex, she's a member of our family, too. Our porch light is always on for either of you."

Suddenly, she regarded him with an apprehensive look on her face. "Um…no, not Alex, Kal. Actually, the reason I asked you both to come here today is I have some big news I wanted to tell you. Guys...I've finally found someone special to share my life with me. We're in love and I'm so lucky to have her. Anyway, we've decided to go public like the both of you but before that happens, I wanted you to meet her!"

While Lois numbly stared at his cousin upon hearing Kara's news, he simply blinked twice and forced himself not to show any reaction that Kara might take the wrong way. Although he loved his cousin dearly and was proud of how she'd become a first-rate hero in her own right, despite the meekness she often showed the world, the head of the House of El, at times, could become angry at the drop of a hat.

Jimmy Olsen had found that out the hard way last year when he'd called on Clark to fly to National City and save Kara from Reactron. Despite the fact she'd known the villain could have killed her if Superman hadn't stepped in to drive the man away, she'd still been boiling mad at his old friend for several days afterwards. Her stubborn, almost bordering on arrogant, pride was one of the few real differences between them. She'd been old enough at the time the two of them had left Krypton to know the family's exalted status in their home world's society while he'd been merely an infant, too young to understand any of that. When he'd arrived on Earth without his cousin, the Kents had found him. They'd been salt-of-the-Earth Kansas farmers who'd taught him that his abilities were a gift to help those in need rather than a reason to assert his superiority over others. Sometimes, Kara was like a window to his long lost home world, a world he'd never really known, a world where its rulers' myopic pride had doomed their race to oblivion.

At that moment, he offered his cousin a bright smile and said, "That's wonderful, Kara! We're so happy for the both of you, isn't that right, Lois?"

Fortunately, his girlfriend understood the warning hidden in his voice. "Yes! We can't wait to meet her, Kara!"

Kara grinned at them and he was relieved the situation hadn't gone off the rails. As for Kara's lover being a female, neither Lois nor he had any problem with that. Lois had always had a very liberal outlook on same-sex relationships despite her military father's right-wing views on the subject. As for himself, even though he'd been raised in a very conservative region of the country, when he was in his late teens, the hologram of his Kryptonian father had taught him all about Krypton's society and the fact that same gender relationships were almost as common as heterosexual ones once the birthing matrix had been created on Krypton thousands of years ago. So, he shared a similar outlook on the subject with Lois.

Now an excited Kara practically bounced on the balls of her feet. "All right then! She's waiting for us in the great room and Kal…the hotel chef has prepared a huge banquet for us! Follow me!"

Moments later, when Kara led them into the massive living area of the penthouse proper, the couple found a disturbingly familiar brunette standing there dressed in smart-looking casual wear.

"Lex Junior?!" his girlfriend snapped. "What in the hell are you doing here?!"

Fortunately for Clark, there were no flies on him. His superb Kryptonian mind had rapidly come to the conclusion that (a) his cousin's mysterious significant other WAS Lena Luthor and (b) the furious glint in Kara's azure eyes was the tell-tale sign that the head of the House of El was about to go Medieval on Lois' ass.

"Lois," he said, his voice calm and low, seeking both to soothe Kara and warn off his, at times, frustratingly oblivious lover. "Ms. Luthor IS the woman who Kara loves." Then he smiled politely at the other brunette.

Now, all the pieces of Kara's mysterious puzzle had come together for him. He'd watched his cousin's arrival at the battle in the park on the newsroom's TV and could tell she'd used a high friction hyperbolic flight path to arrive from National City to the Big Apple as quickly as she had. She couldn't have been carrying any luggage with her, so, an enormously wealthy individual who also happened to be a very close friend of hers had to have been responsible both for the fancy new dress and the swanky penthouse. Indeed, he'd bet good money that Lena Luthor had used her virtually unlimited resources to have a professional shopper deliver garments meant for Kara to wear to their decadent suite.

A moment later, he ceased his woolgathering and said, "It's nice to see you again, Ms. Luthor."

The Luthor responded with a wry smile of her own. "It's nice to see you again, as well, Mr. Kent," she replied. Then she turned and shot a hard look Lois' way. "Hello to you, too, Ms. Lane."

Lois didn't respond to the other brunette's cool welcome. She simply stared at the Luthor in silence.

Clark knew seeing anyone who reminded Lois of Lex Luthor had upset his girlfriend. During the battle between Lex and him, his enemy had casually shoved Lois from the top of LexCorp's sixty story building. Of course, Clark had rescued her from her fall. Once Lex had been apprehended, the man had been charged and convicted for attempting to murder her, among the myriad of other crimes he'd committed during the war between Lex and him. Even now, Lois still had nightmares of her brush with death that continued to haunt her dreams.

"Lois," he said, "do you remember when I wrote that story about Ms. Luthor and how she was working to change the direction of her family's company to become a force for good?"

Apparently, he'd managed to snap her out of her fugue state because she answered him. "Yes."

"Well, she convinced me she was sincere then and after reading some of Kara's stories, I've seen nothing that has changed my mind about her commitment."

"Thank you for that, Mr. Kent," Lena said, the expression on her face showing her gratitude.

"Please, call me Clark."

"All right, Clark. I'd love it if you called me Lena...like you used to before."

He stared at her for several seconds before he nodded slowly. "I didn't know if you would remember me from so long ago."

The Luthor smiled wistfully at him while Lois and Kara gazed at the two of them with confused expressions on their faces. "How could I forget the young man who saved my brother's life and always made me feel so welcome whenever I visited Smallville?"

"Babe?" Kara's voice queried Lena lowly.

The brunette's emerald eyes glowed as she turned to address his cousin. "When Lex was taking a break from his graduate studies at Yale, our father sent him to Smallville to manage a fertilizer plant. On his first day there, my brother was driving his sports car too fast and accidentally struck Clark, sending both of them over the side of a bridge into the river. Clark pulled Lex out of the sinking car and saved his life. The two of them became friends after that even though Lex was always suspicious about how Clark had survived the incident without any injuries."

"I was in middle school at that time when my step-mother and I would go and visit Lex in Smallville during my summer vacations before my parents sent me away to boarding school. Lex and Clark both would often take me into town and buy me ice cream and comic books. Even though I was five years younger than you, Clark," she said to him while smiling slyly, "you and your friends, Lana and Chloe, were always so patient and kind to me. Lex told me about your secret identity a few years ago. That was before he'd been poisoned by a business rival with a neurotoxin. The poison had made him forget about the friendship he shared with you and driven him insane. After that, I told no one, not Lex, and certainly not my step-mother about your secret."

He smiled shyly at the young woman. "So...is that why you said, 'There must be some steel under that Kansas wheat' when Kara and I were investigating the Venture incident?"

She grinned mischievously. "Guilty as charged!"

"Wait a minute," Lois then said. "So you know everything about Clark and Kara?"

Lena turned to Lois and drawled, "Kara Zor-El and Kal-El, two survivors who were rocketed to Earth from the dying planet Krypton. While Kal-El came here directly, Kara was lost in the Phantom Zone for several decades. Once her ship broke free from the Zone, she arrived on Earth at the age of thirteen while her cousin had grown up to become Superman. Years later, after spending time trying to live a normal life on this world, Kara decided to become a hero in her own right and protect the planet from those who seek to harm it."

Now Kara graced the Luthor with a loving smile, stepped toward her and planted a gentle kiss on Lena's cheek. Then the blonde tenderly placed her right arm around Lena's waist and turned to face Lois and him. "Lena and I have been friends almost from the day we'd met. A few months later, we both realized our relationship had grown beyond friendship. Lena has helped me save aliens from human exploitation. She's saved the lives of every alien in National City from a deadly virus her step-mother had planned to release. She did so even though it meant turning in her own step-mother to the police. Then, a few weeks ago, she led the assault to recover my foster father from Cadmus. Also, she saved my life after I'd exhausted all of my powers to keep an alien starship from leaving Earth's atmosphere and hurtling into hyperspace. If that ship had been allowed to escape, it would have taken dozens of kidnapped aliens and my sister Alex half-way across the galaxy. Lois and Clark, Lena is, without a doubt, the best person I know."

Kara appeared to pause for a moment to allow what she'd just said to sink in although he also was happy to know that Jeremiah was safe for the moment. Then she added, "You guys are completely justified in how you feel about the pain Lex Luthor caused you. However, I assure you both that Lena is good. She's nothing like her brother and she'll prove it to you." Kara now turned to her lover and said simply, "Show them."

Lena smiled gently at Kara before she faced both Lois and him. Suddenly, an emerald ring appeared on the middle finger of the brunette's right hand. Then she made a fist, raised it and pointed the ring at herself. In an instant, her outfit changed from her elegant casual wear into the emerald and ebony body suit accompanied by the pristine white gloves typically worn by the charges of the Guardians of the Universe.

"Y-you're the Green Lantern?!" Lois sputtered.

"Yes," Lena replied.

"Great Rao," Clark murmured. "You're the Lantern of Sector 2814?"

The Luthor nodded.

"Abin Sur?"

"He died when his ship crash-landed in the Mojave Desert several months ago. His ring found me before he passed away. He told me the ring had chosen me to be his successor."

He stared at her for a few moments, admiring the subtle grace and majesty she exuded while she stood before them as the emerald energy of the ring rippled through her uniform. Then he turned to his girlfriend and said, "Lois, the Guardians of the Universe are the eldest, most technologically advanced race in the entire universe. The rings they provide their Green Lanterns have AI that is practically sentient, far beyond anything even the most advanced scientists of Krypton's Science Council could have ever imagined. The rings are able to scan the minds of any living creature, perhaps even an individual's very soul, and determine if the candidate is worthy of wielding the ring's virtually unlimited power. Therefore, since Abin Sur's ring has chosen Lena to wield it, she must have earned the Guardians' trust."

"That's right, Kal," Kara said. "In every meaning of the word, Lena's a hero!"

While he nodded his agreement with Kara's declaration, Lois asked, "What does a Green Lantern actually…do?"

Lena answered the reporter's question then. "Each member of the Green Lantern Corps is assigned to one of 3600 sectors of the universe to deal with threats that threaten a sector or an entire inhabited planet inside that sector. Although most of us assist law enforcement authorities on our home worlds or assist with natural disasters on a regional basis, our primary charge is interstellar in nature and the Guardians created Power Rings to give us the means to do our jobs. These rings are artifacts of nearly inconceivable technology. They allow us to project emerald beams of energy into almost any object of any shape or size, limited only by our imagination and willpower. With them, Lanterns can transverse the vast depths of space almost instantaneously. We can survive in any environment and travel through hyperspace to any point in the Universe in mere seconds or minutes as you perceive time. Finally, the rings protect us from almost anything that could harm us. Essentially, they're the most powerful weapons in the universe."

"Wow," Lois said, the awe in her voice plain as day. "That's...that's quite...impressive."

Clark was smart enough to keep the smirk off of his face in order to avoid any retaliation by his lover after they returned to Metropolis. Now she understands, he mused to himself. Then he said, "Green Lantern, Batman told me that your partner and you were responsible for keeping the red sun laser weapons off the streets. He also said you were the one who stopped the White Martian dead in his tracks. I'm glad I have the opportunity now to thank you for what you did on behalf of Kara and me."

The beautiful woman smiled demurely. "I appreciate the thought, Clark, and please call me Lena when we're not in the public eye. However, I want you both to know I'd do anything to protect Kara, you and any member of your families. In that regard, there's something I need to tell you. My step-mother knows Kara is Supergirl and she knows I'm the Green Lantern. I believe it's highly likely she knows you're Superman, too."

He quietly absorbed what she'd just said while Lois asked, "Do you think she'll reveal all of your secrets to the world-at-large?"

Lena shook her head. "I don't think so. Even though she's done some awful things in the past few months and she hates Clark for what she believes he'd done to destroy Lex's life, she still loves me...in her own way. After Lex had hired Corben to kill me, my mom was so angry with him, she threatened to end him if he ever tried anything like that again."

"How will your mother react when Kara and you decide to go public with your relationship?"

"I don't know, Ms. Lane. I'll probably have to track her down and have a serious discussion with her about it. I'll make her understand that Clark and Kara are forever off of her hit list if she ever wants any grandchildren. After all, I'm the Luthor heir with the best chance of having kids. And even though she's not a Luthor by birth, the family's legacy is still extremely important to her."

"Well, I suppose having dinner with your future mother-in-law will be your cross to bear, Kara," Lois teased.

"Gee...thanks, Lois," his cousin muttered.

"You're welcome!" his girlfriend responded unabashedly. Then he spied the ruthless reporter's gleam in Lois' eye which caused his gut to experience the sinking feeling he got whenever she attempted to take advantage of some poor schmuck. "Oh, Lena, dear," Lois purred.

To her credit, the Green Lantern regarded his writing partner warily almost as if Lois was the world's most poisonous snake. "Yes, Ms. Lane?"

"Please…if we're going to be cousin-in-laws, call me Lois. So, Lena, while we enjoy the wonderful meal this lovely hotel's chef has prepared for us, I think it would be a perfect opportunity to discuss the arrangements for an in depth interview with Sector 2814's Green Lantern. Also, we should talk about having the Planet print a glowing press release about Kara and you hooking up. Why, it could come off as a modern version of Prince Charming and Cinderella. Or, a reboot of that Richard Gere, Julia Roberts movie, Pretty Woman!"

"Um…are you comparing Kara to Julia's character in the movie?" Lena asked.

"Hey!" Kara snapped. "Her character was a prostitute! Not cool, Lois," she grumbled.

"A minor detail," Lois noted. "Think of this for a headline: 'Lena Luthor confesses to falling for smoking hot newspaper reporter—'I'm slumming it and I love it!''"

"What?! No way!" Kara spat.

Lois laughed so hard at the annoyed look on Kara's face, she had trouble getting her words out. "All right then. How about 'National City's newest power couple is out of this world! Kara Danvers tells all about her CEO lover: She calls me Daddy in the bedroom!'"

"Are you out of your freaking mind, Lois?! And another thing...you call those headlines?! Why, they're insulting, not to mention, demeaning! Besides, why should the Planet get this scoop? If any newspaper is going to tell our story, it's gonna be the Trib!"

"Now, now, my favorite Kryptonian cousin-in-law, let's not be too hasty!" Lois soothed. "You wouldn't want your paper to be accused of a conflict of interest. Besides, I'm certain we can negotiate a mutually beneficial arrangement..."

As his cousin and his girlfriend continued their heated discussion while they sauntered toward the dining room, he sighed and turned to face a perplexed Luthor who'd just used her ring to change back into her casual wear. "Lena, welcome to the House of El where there's never a dull moment."

Smiling wistfully at him now, she wrapped her arms around his left bicep and escorted him to the dining room. "Thank you for the warm welcome, Kal-El."

"Don't mention it."

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