A/N - The Prologue is intended as a SuperCorp summary catching readers up on Kara and Lena's relationship through the first two stories. The plot of Volume 3 will begin in earnest with the next chapter.

By Nia Nal

At CatCo Worldwide we pride ourselves on striving for journalistic excellence in the pursuit of reporting not only important, hard hitting serious news stories that help shape the perception and understanding of our small, shared world, but also in keeping our local, nationwide, and international readers knowledgeable about the ever evolving social landscape of our fair city, the country, and the world at-large.

It is with an eye toward the ever evolving social landscape of National City that we have the exclusive honor and great privilege of announcing that CatCo Worldwide's own Editor-In-Chief, Kara Danvers Zor-El and The Lena Luthor Foundation's founder, Lena Kierian Luthor are engaged to be married.

Both of theses amazing women are highly respected, long standing pillars of the community here in National City and are known the world over for their tireless commitments to making the world a safer, stronger, more united community.

For the first time ever, CatCo's Pulitzer Prize winning Editor and her world renowned inventor, philanthropic fiancé sit down together for a revealing interview about their lives, their sometimes turbulent friendship, and the path that's led them to the precipice of becoming National City's most famous married couple.

So, before we begin, full disclosure to our readers… Kara is not only my boss… she is also one of my closest, dearest friends.

Kara: (smiling) The feeling is very mutual, Nia. After all we've been through you are like a sister to me.

Thanks, Chief!

Kara: (scoffs playfully) Jimmy…

Additionally, Lena is also one my closest, dearest friends, as well as being my husband's best friend. Recently she was his "best person" at our wedding.

Lena: (smiling) As much as I love you, Nia… I have to admit it was so nice being on Brainy's side of the aisle because the tuxedo and blouse I got to wear was so much more comfortable than I imagine those bridesmaids dresses were.

Kara: (turns and looks at Lena with a shocked smirk) Actually, that was one of the most comfortable bridesmaid dresses I've ever put on. I've worn a few in my time and that was probably the best, but… having said that… you were mindblowingly stunning in that tuxedo. As much as I love seeing you in beautiful, flowing dresses, skirts, and the like… I've never met anyone else who looks more stunning or commands the eyes in a room more than you do in a suit or a women's tuxedo.

Lena blushes and kisses Kara

As much as I would love to sit here all day and reminisce about how wonderful my wedding day turned out… what we're really here for is to pull back the curtain on how you two went from casual acquaintances, to best friends, to estranged frenimes, back to best friends, and ultimately discovered that the deep emotions you shared for one another were in fact the sparks of a romance that neither of you saw coming… but the rest of us who know you so well did.

Kara: (rolling her eyes, bitting her lip, and giggling) Yeah… we've been told countless times over the past several months how blind we were to all the signals we apparently put out there almost constantly.

Lena: (looking at Kara and putting a hand on her knee) In my defense… as I think most people probably assume by this point… I was not raised in the most loving, caring household, so I'm sometimes oblivious to obvious emotional ques.

I assume you're speaking of growing up with Lillian and Lex Luthor?

Lena: Yes. I was very young when my biological Mother passed away. I went from what I vaguely remember being a warm, loving single parent household to being thrust into the Luthor family dynamic. Lionel was a sweet man, but was a workaholic… Lillian, who was devoted to Lex, was stand-offish with me from the start. At first, Lex seemed to be warm and caring… genuinely happy to have a sibling. After Lionel passed away Lillian became even colder, manipulative… playing games with my emotions, pitting me against her darling son… and Lex… his megalomanical, narcissistic, sociopathic tendencies began to bubble to the surface making me question whether he actually ever really cared or was playing his own games the entire time. I didn't discover until many years later that Lionel was actually my biological Father and Lillian's deep disdain for me was born of her embarrassment about his infidelity and her jealous belief that Lionel cared for me more than he did either of them.

How did you learn to cope with such challenging emotional circumstances?

Lena: As I grew out of adolescence and Lex approached adulthood I began to recognize that the emotional support I believed my brother provided was not genuine. At the same time, as Lillian began to groom Lex to take control of LuthorCorp, she stopped feigning any real interest in being a mother to me and shipped me off to boarding school. Finding myself in this new world and dealing with the trauma of questioning the legitimacy of anyone's feelings toward me… my ability to trust in people was shaken to the core, so I built a suit of armor around my heart and erected an invisible wall to try and shield myself from the pain of developing attachments.

I imagine that made for a very lonely time in your life.

Lena: Sometimes, yes, but as people who have made a concerted effort to chip away at my emotional defenses will tell you… I was never devoid of feelings or the longing to connect… I just made it an exceptionally challenging exercise to undertake because I felt that if someone really wanted to find the vunerable, scared person behind the wall and beneath the armor that they'd have to earn it.

Kara: (smiling affectionately at Lena, taking her hand, and intertwining their fingers) The most rewarding challenge of my entire life.

Lena: (blushing) It's safe to say no one went through more to earn it than you did, love. I've made some casual friends over the years, but only a few people, prior to my arrival in National City, managed to scale the wall and pierce the armor. I committed myself to those relationships, but at the first sign of betrayal I would shut down and even if they didn't betray me I would find other excuses to isolate myself again because I was certain that betrayal was inevitable.

Kara, before we delve into Lena's move to National City and how you two met, it seems to me that there are some glaring similarities in your early life to Lena's… and some striking differences… that are crucial elements to the dynamic that eventually informed the early years of your relationship.

Kara: You're not wrong. Like Lena, I lost my birth parents at a young age and found myself in a strange home learning to adjust to a new family. I was older than she was when I made that transition, which may have made my initial adjustment more challenging, but I was fortunate to find myself in a loving home with warm, inviting people that desperately wanted to help me find my way. That alone should tip the degree of difficulty squarely back in her favor… but even with all that love and support… because of my powers, their encouragement to bury the truth of who and what I am to protect myself and those I grew to love created a similar sense of isolation. Much like Lena I made some casual friends, and developed a few close, trusted relationships… but I tended to keep most people at arms length because I was frightened that allowing anyone to the know the real me was too dangerous.

So, as I understand it, the story goes that Lex made an offer to the government to have LuthorCorp purchase and privatize the DEO, at which point he reached out to you, Lena, to join LuthorCorp and move from Metropolis to National City, correct?

Lena: (nodding) Yes.

How did you two end up meeting?

Lena: My first week in National City I was booked on the inagural flight of the Venture space shuttle, but at the last moment I had to cancel which turned out to be fortuitous…

Kara: Because a critical engine part that was manufactured by a LuthorCorp subsidiary failed… causing an explosion which triggered a hull breach. Superman and I saved the shuttle upon re-entry.

If Lena wasn't aboard the shuttle how did this lead to the two of you meeting?

Kara: Well, at the time Cat Grant had offered me the opportunity to select a new position within CatCo. I was struggling to decide what I wanted to do, but what I didn't know was that Cat had apparently pegged me as an aspiring reporter when we first met. The day of the shuttle incident The Daily Planet sent a family friend of mine and an old colleague of Cat's, Clark Kent, to National City to interview Lena about the possibile LuthorCorp connection to the explosion. Cat had me tag along for the interview.

Lena: (eyeing Kara sweetly and squeezing her hand) She was so nervous and awkward. I had no idea at the time the difficult life choice she was trying to work through, but I felt an almost instaneous connection to her. She was kind and understanding… it never felt for a moment like she saw me as a Luthor… all she saw was Lena… which was both refreshing and frightening.

Frightening? So, I assume then that your wall went up and your armor locked into place?

Lena: Absolutely, but the more I tried to remind both Kara and myself that I had no intention of making friends in National City the more I found myself drawn to her. I know she tried to respect my boundaries, but her natural inclination to be warm, friendly, and inviting melted my defenses… to a greater extent than anyone had ever done before.

Kara: I was as drawn to her from the outset as she was to me. I did try to respect her desire, at first, to keep our relationship professional, but the more we interacted the deeper the connection became and it just organically developed into the most amazing relationship I've ever been a part of.

So, at this point Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor are becoming the best of friends, but there was a third party to this relationship that we've not touched on yet… Supergirl. Kara, how did your alter ego factor into the equation?

Kara: (sighing) Lena and Supergirl… Early on they were acquainted with each other through a series of anonymous attempts on Lena's life that neither us of knew at the time were being orchestrated by Lex.

Why was Lex trying to kill Lena?

Lena: Aside from being a narcissistic, megalomaniacal, sociopath who reveled in torturing me psychologically… Lex harbored a secret, deep seeded hatred of Kryptonians. As we all now know he was siphoning off LuthorCorp and DEO resources to wage a secret war against Superman and he saw my growing relationship with Kara as an abomination… an embarrassment to the Luthor name that had to be stopped.

Why would your relationship with Kara have struck a nerve with Lex at that point?

Kara: Despite the fact that I kept my true identity secret from everyone at the DEO except for my sister Alex and J'onn Jones… Lex somehow discovered that Kara and Supergirl were the same person. Lex was willing to sacrifice Lena to try and draw me into situations where he supplied his hired thugs with Kryptonite so that they could kill us both.

How long did this go on?

Lena: For a couple of years. He switched tactics after an incident where a rare form of Kryptonite called Harun-El created a clone of Kara that Lex tried to use to discredit Supergirl in the public's eyes and strengthen his position as the American public's hero and savior.

Kara: Stopping that plan is what finally drove Lex to reveal my true identity to her.

So, this is when your decision to not tell Lena the truth about Supergirl earlier in your relationship came back to haunt you, correct?

Lena: (somewhat forlorn) My brother had tried brute force… he tried to use the clone to villainize her… why he waited so long to play the most sure fire card at his disposal is a question only he could answer, but the glee with which he shattered my heart by revealing her identity to me was nauseating.

Kara: (crying) Even today, after all we've been through, the pain we both endured as a result of this one moment… the weight of guilt I carried each day I let pass without showing her how much I truly trusted her… allowing my own fears of what revealing my truth could result in consume me while simultaneously violating the most important tenant of our relationship… creating a world where I made her believe I thought of her as a villain… a Luthor… a fool… Lex may have struck the blow that shattered her heart, but I gave him the tool and when he finally used it we were both devastated.

The interview paused at this point for about 15 minutes. Kara and Lena stepped away to comfort each other as they tackled reliving what were some of the most painful memories of their entire relationship. When they felt composed enough to continue they returned to the small sofa they had been occupying.

Are you both okay to continue?

Kara: (taking a deep breath and nodding her head) Yes… Lena?

Lena: (wiping the last her own tears from her face) Yes, I am, too.

Kara: The next year of our lives was… lost to the suffering and pain that I had caused and that Lex continued to wield to his advantage. My path took me from the shame and guilt I felt for betraying and hurting the most important person in my life to being angry at her for the manner with which she dealt with it. I had pretty much lost all hope that I could ever repair the damage I had done.

Lena: Instead of hiding myself completely away like I would have done in the past… I channeled all the years of self-doubt and rage, focusing all my energy into making Kara feel the same emptiness and pain I was feeling. When I said earlier that she had penetrated my defenses more than anyone else… truth be told… by the time Lex told me who she was… my defenses were gone… I was exposed to a degree I hadn't been since I was a very young child… and… if I'm completely honest… though I didn't recognize it then… I was already deeply in love with her.

How did you find your way back to one another?

Lena: (with an ironic smirk) Lex… my brother's fatal personality flaw… his narcissism… opened my eyes to the truth of what Kara had feared all along. I knew her secret and someone was using that knowledge and my fragile state of mind to manipulate me to work against her and to unwittingly build a tool that could be made into a weapon to be used against the rest of the world. Had Lex just left me to the failure of my research I might never had found my way home, but his overwhelming, egotistical desire to tear me down backfired… it opened my eyes… reignited the spark of hope in my soul which was the beacon that brought me back to Kara.

Kara: We had a ton of emotional baggage to work through and I had reached a point where I was reluctant to deal with it, but she was patient, caring, protective, and slowly she reignited the spark of hope in my soul that I feared I might never find again. She encouraged me to face my anger, made me see that the person I cherished and missed so dearly was still there, and helped me to begin to allow the wounds of the previous year to start healing.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing from there, was it?

Kara: Unfortunately, no. Before we could really focus on rebuilding our friendship we still had to deal with Lex. In midst of stopping his real plan he used a device my cousin had locked away which sent me to a timeless, baren void dimension called The Phantom Zone.

Lena: The rest of the Super Friends and I were beyond devastated. After we turned Lex over to the authorities we regrouped and focused nearly all of our time and energy on finding a way to bring Kara home.

This must have been an incredibly challenging time for everyone.

Kara: (trembling, she sets her head against Lena's head) I'm not sure I can even put in to words the sense of hopelessness and despair that consumed me while I was trapped there.

Lena: (places a comforting arm around Kara) I was terrified. We had just found our way back to each other and now there was a very real possibility that we would never be able to find her. I was gripped by a constant sense of dread, but the rest of the team embraced me in a way I never would have dreamed possible. We supported each other, trusted each other, and never surrendered the hope that Kara had instilled in us… the day we finally brought her home….

Tearing up again, Kara and Lena turned and embraced each other for few moments.

Kara: (wiping away her tears) My amazing family accomplished what I started to fear was impossible. They saved me. They brought me home.

A lot has happened since that day. The battle with Lex and Nyxly consumed much of the following days and weeks, and once they were dealt with you both committed yourselves to making remarkable changes in your lives.

Kara: (smiling brightly) Did you change something, Lena?

Lena: (smiling and giggling) I think so… what about you? Hey, wait… what happened to your glasses?

Well, as the whole world now knows, Kara went on to not only become Editor-and-Chief of CatCo, she also bravely removed the glasses and revealed her true identity to us all.

Kara: (grinning ear-to-ear) Yes, I did. No more secret identity. No more duality. Thanks to the advice of Cat Grant and the unyielding support of the amazing woman sitting next to me I am living my life as my full, integrated, true self.

Lena, you also came out the other side of all that chaos and trauma finally walking a path guided for the first time in your life by no one's expectations or desires but your own.

Lena: (smiling radiantly) I did, and it's been nothing short of amazing.

So you both turned a corner and devoted yourselves to living full, authentic lives. Though I know full well you both were thriving those of us that know you both best suspected that you both felt something was still missing.

Kara: I landed my dream job. I faced each new day without the burden of hiding who I am and what I can do. My family was happy, healthy, and blossoming. For the first time since my parents placed me in my pod all those years ago I felt like I was living Kara Zor-El's life. I was happy, but…

Lena: (taking a deep breath) It felt lonely without someone special to share it with.

Kara: (nodding in agreement) My sister had married the woman of her dreams, adopted a beautiful little girl, and was starting a new family of her own. You and Brainy were beginning to talk in earnest about your future together… about marriage. J'onn and M'gann were starting to build a new life together and trying to figure out where that life would take them. Watching all of that… it reminded me how tired I was of feeling like I would always be alone.

Lena, is it safe to say you were experiencing something similar?

Lena: (with a thoughtful, measured sigh) Yes, I was. For as much as I had truly begun to embrace living my life for myself, the emotional scars of all those years still left a piece of my heart locked away… a piece I had subconsciously buried because I feared all the years lived as a Luthor had made me incapable of feeling that kind of love. I chose a measure of solitude when it came to romantic attachment… for the longest time because of my trust issues… but after reconciling with Kara and deciding I would never lock myself away again like that… because I was frightened I didn't have it in me.

What changed for each of you?

Lena: An NCPD investigation we were helping with triggered memories for me of someone special I lost many years ago. In that moment a flood of emotions I hadn't allowed myself to face washed over me. For the first time that I could remember I looked at my life, who I was becoming, and where I wanted this new path to take me, and realized I didn't want to make the journey alone. I wanted to love… and be loved… and share it all with someone that would make the journey even more remarkable… someone that would help me complete the puzzle of my heart. Kara's sister-in-law, Kelly, found me alone… struggling to unlock this piece of me that I buried so deeply. She listened as I allowed my fear and pain to spill out… she comforted me by reminding me I now had a loving family that would always be by my side to face such struggles… and her kind, wise words helped me see the truth of my heart… that the love I had so desperately been searching for for so long had been standing by my side the entire time… I just had to be brave enough to tell her how much I loved her.

Kara: (sniffling and wiping a tear from her cheek) My sister and her wife… oh Rao. Ironically… for me… it was my sister that encouraged me to acknowledge my true feelings. We had confronted the suspect in the investigation that Lena mentioned and discovered that they had psychic powers. During the confrontation Lena and I were hit by a psychic wave that trapped us in a dazed, nightmare like state. J'onn managed to pull me out before I got too deeply immersed, but in those few moments I faced the greatest fear of my life.

Is it something you feel comfortable sharing?

Kara: (taking a deep breath, tears forming in her eyes, and nodding) I was lying on the floor of the bar where we confronted the suspect. As I got to my feet I looked over and saw my family gathered around a body on the floor. I made my way over, they separated, and I saw… Lena… lying face up… dead eyes staring at the ceiling. I crumbled in grief… I pulled her close to me, buried my face in her chest, and I screamed in agony. I felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest. A moment later J'onn managed to pull me out… Alex let me know Lena was okay, but…

We paused again for a moment to allow all of us to compose ourselves before Kara continued.

Kara: Alex took me home while the rest of team took Lena to the DEO. When I found out Lena was still unconscious I wanted to go to her, but Alex knew something terribly traumatic had just happened and she insisted I deal with it first. As I shared the horror of my experience Alex helped me recoginze that the intensity of my grief… the reason losing Lena is the greatest fear of my life… is because she is more than just my best friend… she is my world… she is the one person I cannot imaging living this life without. For so long I had yearned to find my soulmate… the person I would share everything with… and all I had to do was look beside me and allow myself to get lost in those amazing green eyes to realize the love I had been searching for had been there all along.

Yours has truly been a remarkable journey.

Lena: (smirking sarcastically) Well, we hate to be boring.

Kara: (taking Lena's hand) The journey was challenging, but knowing that end result would mean us finding the truth of our love for each other… I would do it all again without a second thought. Back when we first met and Cat allowed me to decide what path I wanted my career at CatCo to take she told me, "The journey is going to be hard, and when you reach the other side you will have become a new person." I never could have imagined in that moment how prophetic she was. Setting me on the path to make that choice took a young lost soul desparately trying to find herself and her true place in this world and led her straight to the key that unlocked her heart and made her complete. Meeting Lena that day changed the trajectory of my life… even more than revealing my powers to the world and donning the cape. Kara Danvers and Supergirl represented two halves of an incomplete soul that was yearning to be complete. She completes me.

Lena: (taking Kara's hand and kissing it) We complete each other.