Chapter Text
Lena Luthor .
Now that was a name constantly dragged through the mud by the media. It's amazing that the Luthor’s company is still in business. Better yet, it's practically thriving.
All the press and free publicity (any publicity is good publicity) actually helped LuthorCorp, ahem , L-Corp’s stock prices to skyrocket after it plummeted. People are all opportunists.
When the stockholders sold their shares in panic due to the company’s horrendous reputation, L-Corp's stock prices fell so low that many non-billionaire took the chance and bought their own shares; thus, bounced L-Corp's stock prices right back at the top. Seeing the trend in L-Corp's success in stock, the billionaires came crawling back and bought even more stock than before and thus increasing the company’s value.
It's basic macroeconomic that many seem to overlook when dealing with money. The business cycle. Supply and demand. Domestic and foreign investment. Foreign exchange rates. It's all there.
Kara imagined, no, she knows that Lena Luthor is probably swimming in an ocean of money right now and not. Sharing. Any. To. Kara. Sure, she probably donated millions to charity, but most of those “non-profit” charity organizations only give, like, 2% of the donations to people who actually need it. They keep the rest to themselves. Meanwhile, Kara is sitting at her desk Googling every fact about Lena Luthor and eating four dozen potstickers because she couldn't afford five dozens.
The downside to being a God-like alien is how much she has to eat to keep up her energy. And food in this economy? Not cheap.
It’s Monday morning and every employee in Catco is hustling to get the latest scoop on Lena Luthor after the leak over the weekend. Someone in the company had let it leak that Lena Luthor was developing a device to detect aliens. Many anti-alien extremists are ecstatic that another Luthor is supporting their cause. Others aren’t as supportive of the woman’s decision. They’re calling her out on her xenophobia and demanding her to be thrown in a cell just like her brother before she can cause any destruction.
The young superhero would be out there getting her hands on Lena Luthor right now if Snapper didn’t give her a fluff piece on “Hipster’s Latest Trend: Depressing Even Your Depression” and check up on her every few minutes. These people treat her like a child who can’t finish a simple task. Okay, so maybe she has the tendency to disappear in the middle of a task, but that’s because she’s out there saving kittens and stopping armed robberies. Not that anyone besides her family, friends, and the DEO know about her being Supergirl. Cat Grant might knows too, but that’s up to debate.
Closing out of her browser after finishing reading yet another conspiracy theory on Lena Luthor, Kara got back to work on her fluff article.
“Let’s see here,” she muttered to herself before rapidly typing away. To Kara, it feels like writing another English essay last minute and throwing together whatever bullcrap she can come up with by staring at a blank wall. The sources she used were from anywhere else but Wikipedia because her college training is still very much ingrained into her extraterrestrial brain.
Just as Kara was finishing up her article, she got a phone call from Alex.
“Good morning, my sister from another mister… and mother,” Kara greeted as she answered the phone.
“Nice one, Kara.” Alex snorted before she got down to business. “There was an explosion at L-Corp and we think it was caused by alien technology. We would handle it ourselves but it seems like there’s a hostage situation at the top level of the building.”
“Okay, I’m making my way there.” Kara hung up the phone, printed out the finished article, left it on her desk, and zoomed out of Catco.
When Kara made it to L-Corp as Supergirl, the building was surrounded by cops and undercover DEO agents.
“It’s a bird!” Kara’s super hearing picked up from a bystander down the street.
“Ow!” The same person yelled out after being smacked by their companion.
“You idiot, it’s obviously Supergirl so you can stop pretending to be in an extra character in a story now.” The two bystanders then walked away as they no longer have a purpose to be there.
“Supergirl!” Kara’s head turned towards the DEO agent that called her name. “The group of rogue aliens have the CEO of L-Corp taken as hostage on the 40th floor.” The superhero nodded before flying up to the said floor.
Hostage situations are tricky. If Kara bursts in too suddenly, then the criminal might trigger the weapon in hand on reflex. If she goes in too slowly, then the victim might be dead or permanently harmed by the time she gets there. A loud explosion broke Kara out of her musing and she immediately flew through the debris to find the CEO.
“Ms. Luthor? I’m--” Kara cut herself off as she took in the scene in front of her.
To Kara’s surprise, the youngest Luthor was not in a helpless position. In fact, Lena Luthor was standing tall in all her glory staring down at the aliens on her office’s floor. The aliens were groaning and coughing. Some were knocked unconscious. Kara gave Lena an incredulous look and the woman stared right back at the superhero.
“Supergirl.” Lena greeted her curtly.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like you need my help at all here, Ms. Luthor.” Kara tried to lighten up the mood.
“No, I don’t. However, you’re welcome to drag these attackers out of my building. I have to get back to work and sort out this PR mess.”
“Are you sure you don’t need anything else? I mean I can fly you to the hospital to see if you’re hurt anywhere and let the cops handle these people here.” Kara offered despite the obvious dismissal from Lena.
“I don’t need help--especially not from another Super . This isn’t my first attack so you best be on your way.” The way Lena rudely shooed Kara away rubbed her the wrong way. Refraining from retaliating, Kara simply nodded and threw the aliens out of the broken windows. They’ll survive the fall to the ground. Nothing to worry about.
“Good day to you Ms. Luthor,” Kara said and dramatically flipped her cape. Lena Luthor wasn’t what she expected to be. Well, she was, but at the same time not. She expected some kind of hostility from the young Luthor considering her cousin did put Lena’s brother in maximum security prison. What she didn’t expect was the very human Lena Luthor to single-handedly take out her alien attackers before Supergirl can even get there. The woman is intriguing, no doubt. She wondered how much food Lena could buy her with all that Luthor wealth if she were to successfully play Lena right into her hands.
Kara flew to the DEO to report the situation, letting the DEO agents ready at L-Corp to bring the rogue aliens back to containment. Alex was suspicious as to how Lena managed to knock out a group of aliens without much help at all. J’onn agreed and deemed it necessary to being Lena Luthor in for questioning. There were detection of alien technology, and with the Luthor’s legacy, the young Luthor might have a stash of stolen alien technology. It would be an explanation as to how she managed to take out her attackers so quickly.
Back at Catco, Snapper walked in to check in on Kara only to see that the reporter isn't there. “DANVERS!”