Swiss Army Kryptonian
-Lena-
Lena had started to question her own sanity after the last part of Lex's security gauntlet required she pull off a back tuck off of a hand spring. She didn't let herself admit to the dissapointment she felt remembering she was invisible after that. There was probably no way to impress her superpowered companion anyway. The Kryptonian would likely prefer to simply dive bomb the facility, punching a hole straight through the building and cut out all of the complicating restrictions Lena had forced on to her.
The Luthor knew her brother. He would have assumed a Kryptonian assault would involve just that. And so she had gone with stealth over force in order to save lives, or at least that's what she told herself. Supergirl wasn't the only way to pull this off, but she was the simplest.
Supposedly she'd been on a thousand missions and never killed anyone. She didn't make the mistakes of mortals. If Lena was able to reach the control room she could locate all the personnel and deactivate communications and automatic security measures. Then Supergirl could safely and efficiently incapacitate them all at the speed of sound.
In theory.
As much as she'd done to outfit missions like this, the young tech genius felt out of place on a midnight caper.
She did all she could to pass silently through the dimly lit halls.
The hallways were labyrinthine, broad main corridors and several bifurcating side passageways where the innumerable labs were housed. Her instincts, honed to hide from visual rather than auditory detection, yelled at her to sprint to the nearest empty room each time someone approached.
She'd almost given them away the first time a guard approached. Her started flinch backward caused her to land heavily with her foot at an awkward and painful angle behind her. She bit her lip hard as a reminder for silence and endured the discomfort until they were out of ear shot.
At first the same few came back, weapons unholstered, to their exactly location looking to be on the hunt. It was unnerving to think that someone on their team was likely staring at a schematic that was, quite accurately, tracking the women's exact progress through the building. Of course she knew how.
Glancing down at the floor, the young Luthor smirked appreciating the board her brother had laid out for her.
As soon as they crossed the threshold from that first room Lena had noticed the change in the floor below them. The lightest give under her foot and she could practically feel the sensors gathering data under the sleek slate tiles. She assumed Lex hadn't anticipated and an intruder that couldn't be located with pinpoint accuracy on his floor sensors, that could still hide from his security team.
Luckily for her, most people tend to trust their eyes more than their tech and, after the fourth pass, the guards seemed to go back about their normal rounds.
The choice in security modality was clever. The place was like a maze, so many turns, bifurcations and loops, that it would be impractical to monitor visual approaches at every corner. She also had a suspicion, as with all of Lex's decisions, there was a Kryptonian-related motivation. If Supergirl were to move too quickly, or lift into the air without returning to them, the sensors under the tiles were likely programmed to raise a more critical alert.
She was frustrated that he had so effectively hamstrung the Kryptonian-advantage she was counting on. Without her speed and flight, Lena supposed the Kryptonian could punch something really hard for her if she asked, maybe melt some robots with her eyes.
Said Kryptonian couldn't even serve as eye candy for Lena, just as invisible as she was.
Turning down a corridor Lena noticed some machinery bracketing a couple sections of wall and a sign that read no personal technology beyond this point.
Lena had a sinking suspicion that whatever was going to come out of those brackets on the walls was not going to be entertaining. She spotted a digital access point on the wall and pulled out her tablet to get connected with the interface. She was game to hack any system Lex could put up, confident she could deactivate whatever it was so they wouldn't have to deal with it.
Her fingers flew over her tablet, self conscious about the object's exposure to visual detection.
~Shit.~
Metal mesh walls snapped up 10 feet in either direction. She must have tripped something. ~Or that was a dummy access point for anyone stupid enough to fall for my brother's trap.~
She backed away from the walls uncertain what they might do, then sensed something familiar above her.
It was the spine tensing pressure of radiation. Her mind raced. That meant that they were moments away from being tech-less and exposed.
Her mind stalled in running through the simulations of options.
She froze. Lex had her in checkmate. There was no countermove. The radiation and familiar scent on the air meant EMP. A direct concentrated EMP blast would fry every electronic onthem including the environmental adaptation system on their protective suits. With the sensors calibrated specifically to detect Kryptonian powers. They would be immediately exposed and with nothing but their wits an a few chemicals meant to deactivate kryptonite in Lena's pack for weaponry. Out of ideas she just shielded her pack with her body crouching down over it.
The bag was tugged out of her grasp and a moment later painfully cold air blew over her back right as the high-pitched distortion sound of the EMP detonated over their heads.
Looking up, she saw Supergirl's look of concern as she bent down touching Lena's shoulder. Straightening Lena raised an eyebrow in amused confusion.
The sportsbra had made a reappearance ~and muscles~ she thought tilting her head in appreciation. Granted not in the context Lena's fantasies had hoped for after that first time, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Embarrassed by Lena's flagrant objectification, the hero moved to cover her stomach making her look shy and just a little shorter, human. The Kryptonian straightened after a moment, placing both hands on her hips as if reminding them where they belonged. Her cheeks were still colored.
Unfortunately, Lena could also see the rest of the hero and herself. She cursed the fact that without the cloaking featue the suits were a silvery color that refracted light like sequins. She didn't think the guards would need a neon beacon to announce their presence in the halls, but it couldn't help.
Heart pounding, Lena followed Supergirl quickly. She knew the hero's x-ray vision and hearing would offer some protection from discovery, but felt a desperate urgency to find cover. The Luthor was frankly confused to not hear the sound of jackboots pounding in the halls after they had been so diligent about finding them previously. Supergirl approached the cage wall which now had a neat hole melted in the middle. Using the hole for leverage she ripped through the metal mesh providing an exit.
Walking further down the corridor, Supergirl bent to pick up a bundle and Lena realized what must have happened.
Obviously Kryptonian physics had a fair handle on the particulars of radiation and electromagnetic shielding. The hero had apparently created an effective impromptu Faraway bag by zipping the lead woven suit Lena had given her around the pack to block the EMP's radiation. She also thought to provide some extra protection by getting it past the metal meshwork through a hole made in the cage wall.
A drop of water falling on her head brought Lena's attention to the EMP mechanics, now covered in frost. Having been exposed to enough radiation to power a nuclear reactor in her life, Lena wasn't sure if the hero's efforts to shield her from more by slowing the rate of ionization with her freeze breath had made much difference, but she appreciated the sentiment.
The hero scooped up the bundle and broke the lock of a door, pulling them into a nearby room filled with several large vertical tanks lit and filled with purple liquid. Closing the door Lena sighed with relief.
Looking down at the bundle in her hands Lena took inventory. Her tablet's screen was cracked and non-responsive. Putting that aside, alarmed, she quickly extracted a section of the pack attached by Velcro and dropped it on to the floor, careful to keep her shoes away from it.
One of the vials of a rather corrosive acid she had brought had cracked open and the contents were now eating their way through the canvas and tile underneath. Luckily, she'd kept that in a separate compartment and the cushioning around it seemed to have saved the rest of her vials from damage. A small part of her had an impulse to 'accidentally' drop the ruined million dollar stealth suit into the fluid. She reasoned, ~if the cloaking and environmental protective features were blown, than there was no necessary reason for the Kryptonian to wear the expensive Kevlar they were left with.~
Smiling wistfully, Lena handed it back to the clearly uncomfortable superhero, and stuck one of the gadgets she had had just saved for her onto the wall for soundproofing their conversation. She smiled at the blonde woman, "I always thought you guys just liked to punch bad guys."
"That's fun too," Supergirl admitted with a lopsided grin.
"Kryptonians, a regular bioengineer's Swiss army knife. What I wouldn't give to have one of you handy in my lab." Lena said with a mock-evil glint in her eyes, "Must be a Luthor thing." Laughing, she felt a new respect for the Kryptonian's powers and the mind behind them.
The young hero grinned back at her nearly bouncing with excitement, "That would be awesome. I always hated science classes here. It's like stacking blocks for babies. But I bet you have the coolest things to work with."
Lena felt her heart race at the prospect of what the Kryptonian had suggested. She had to forcibly shove thoughts of new elements, and new theoretical theorems, and new entertaining positions one could utilize with super-strength and the ability to fly, out of her head to make herself consider their next move.
After a few moments of consideration Lena decided. She sketched out the blueprints from memory and laid out their route. "The control room is close. We'll have to completely alter our route, but this should minimize the time we're exposed in corridors. We can cross from room to room using your superhearing to guide the timing of our movement."
The hero nodded in agreement to Lena's plan without question and exited into the hallway. She led the way with her arms awkwardly rigid, chest puffed out with one arm angled backward keeping Lena flush with the wall. Now that they were exposed, the young hero held herself as a sentry and physical barricade against the next assault.
Lena wished she knew what to make of the woman. She started playing the socialite game of names and influence before she learned to ride a bike. Typically, she could discern deception, ingratiation, personal interest at a glance, but something in the Kryptonian's manor had her questioning herself. It wasn't that she was untrustworthy, that would feel much more familiar to the Luthor. She knew from long experience that no one was one person all the time. It was just that she was so -well she wasn't what the Lena had expected.
When they had met, at first, Lena had seen the suit. All of it- the raised chin, the heroic posture, the commanding voice, had reminded her of Superman.
Superman always wore his signature air of superiority in every aspect of his presence. Gallant poses in front of adoring audiences. Stalwart speeches to the public about fighting to defend democracy and the American-way. Footage of him flying citizens to safety had always reminded Lena of a lord, mounted on his stead, rescuing the fair damsel-in-distress. Even the several times she'd encountered the man in person she'd never seen a distinction in character.
Lena was prepared as soon as she saw the S emblazoned supersuit to meet with another noble gracing the peasants. But there was something underneath that façade of reserve. It was something she felt almost as soon as she started talking, an energy like a coiled spring that came out in bursts.
The Kryptonian was so eager to share things about herself, to talk with her about Lena's inventions. But then, like she felt guilty for shirking her heroic duty, she would return to that pose hands at her hips pushing back the cape so her frame looked broader. Supergirl in her supersuit. Lena wondered if she resented it and how often the woman got to take off the hero's mask.
Reaching a bifurcation in the hall Lena signaled they go right. She felt suspicious that they hadn't encountered any guards while they were exposed and thought there might be an ambush. Lena murmured to Supergirl her plan to throw the vial into the room to knock out the guards. She held up the glass tube and took a deep breath opening the door.
"What the-" Lena breathed out when she saw, sitting in a chair stationed in front of the computer she needed, a set of black latex ears pop out from a mass of bright red hair.