Chapter Text
Kara Danvers had always imagined that the moment she met her soulmate would be beautiful. Bathed in warm sunlight, the blue sky full of fluffy white clouds, engulphed in the scent of flowers, watching the marks slowly appear on skin.
Lillian had ensured that Lena never entertained such a foolish idea as soulmates.
Far be it from them to suspected such a thing might happen from inside a burning building, in the middle of a rainy winter night. Truth be told, Lena had little more than escape on her mind. Jumping from her penthouse window was not an option, the red-hot door handle hardly more inviting. Looking around within the bare walls, she came to the realization that she was trapped like a rat, her marvelous intellect could not save her this time. Doing her best to delay the inevitable she pressed low, her face nearly touching the carpet. Her eyes and lungs burned from the smoke, her head swam, and her eyes wouldn't open, the crackling of the flames muffled and indistinct. Cheek meeting the soot-covered carpet fibers she gave up fighting, allowing herself to be taken, the final muffled sound registered by her muddled mind was a deep guttural grinding.
~°°••°°~
It was supposed to have been easy. When the not so stealthy assassin launched a missile into Lena Luthor's living room, Kara thought it was going to be a cakewalk. Unfortunately, that was not the case when the man on the roof fled, and Supergirl had to chase him through a 30 story building before turning him over to the police. She had trusted the fire crew to evacuate people and rescue anyone trapped inside, and they did, save for one particularly influential woman. Alex found Kara amongst the chaos on the ground and filled her in on the combination of all the wrong things to happen at just the right time. The firefighters had gotten everyone but Lena out of the building, the windows too high to enter through, and the extra security features had activated on the door holding it closed despite the use of axes and battering rams.
Kara looked up to the smoking hole in the wall, "Supergirl it's too dangerous the floor could give out any second," Alex warned, "the beams are collapsing under the weight of themselves,"
Kara's feet lifted from the ground, she took off before Alex had the chance to chastise her about her reckless decisions. Kara was through the gaping hole in the wall and scanning the apartment in a matter of seconds. The locked bedroom door was tinfoil in her hands, folding over onto itself with a shrill shriek. Tossing the door aside Kara took a step forward, the ground let loose a metallic cry, suddenly shifting as two supporting walls began to give way where the living room and bedroom joined in a T. The abrupt movement caused something in Kara's peripherals to catch her attention, a person, the pale skin that wasn't smeared with soot stood out stark in the dark smoke. The beams edged closer to falling, the jolting movement rolling the unconscious occupant fully onto her back.
Kara lept to action, launching forward and scooping the woman up bridal style, floating them off the ground, just as the room shuddered and groaned. The pair exploded through the window as the walls gave way, as the corner of the building came down in a cacophony of screeching metal and crashing glass.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Kara looked down to the limp woman in her arms, even covered in soot Lena Luthor's distinct beauty was apparent. The frigid drops of rain that had begun to slow left tracks in the dark smudges masking her features. Kara moved to fly down to meet the paramedics when Lena began coughing violently, her lungs greedily taking in the cleaner air. The motion nearly caused Kara to drop Lena who panicked, instinctively reaching to grab anything to catch herself. One hand found purchase in the crook of Kara's neck, the other planted firmly on her shoulder, thumb pressed across her left collarbone.
Lena's sore lungs gave ragged breaths as she clung to the caped hero who watched her for a beat before speaking, "Don't worry, you'll be okay, I've got you," trying to keep her voice as soothing as possible.
Lena seemed to relax into Kara's arms as she descended into the emergency crew chaos.
~°°••°°~
Paramedics poked and prodded for nearly forty minutes before deciding that Lena was in well enough condition to climb out of the back of the ambulance and be questioned by a scowling woman with short copper-colored hair. After being picked apart and forced to bite back a plethora of snide comments, Supergirl strode over to save her once again, "Her apartment was just blown up agent Danvers, I think she's been through enough tonight without you cross-examining her every move," her firm tone held an air of gentle teasing.
Agent Danvers huffed, "Fine," she relented before addressing Lena, "You'll be available for future questions," it was a demand lacking any semblance of a question.
Lena fought down every rude thought, offering the agent a curt nod, before pivoting on her heels and stalking from the crowd.
She had moved off to the edges of the madness, tucked just behind the corner of a building, an effort to block some of the noise. Her thumb hovered over the call button when she heard it, a pair of voices whispering angerly back and forth.
"I don't trust her Kara," it was undoubtedly agent Danvers, but who was Kara?
Lena's curiosity got the better of her, she pressed the button, and her phone screen went dark. She peeked out just enough to see two figures, interest piqued when she saw Supergirl standing with the agent.
"Why not Alex? What has she done to earn that mistrust?" Supergirl, or Kara, shot back, bite evident in her voice.
"Just look at her brother, at what he did to Kal," Alex was fuming, "What makes you think she won't do the same,"
"She's not her brother,"
"They grew up in the same house, that's all it takes,"
"She's a good person, Alex, I can feel it," The caped hero's voice finally rose, she cringed and shrunk into herself, checking to make sure no one had overheard.
Lena held her breath, praying that she remained unnoticed, and by some miracle, she did. Alex opened her mouth to say more but was called away by a large broad man, sending Supergirl a glare before moving away. Her boots crunched past accompanied with a grumbled, "...better hope she's right,"
A cold shiver prompted her to finally call her driver, and soon Lena was on her way to the small apartment she had on standby for situations just like this.
~°°••°°~
Kara was perched on a barstool, Maggie and Alex swayed on stage, singing a somewhat slurred rendition of some Barenaked Ladies lyrics, Winn hanging back with the reporter. They chatted about the events of the previous night, Kara recounted the rescue, Winn rolled his eyes at her nonchalant nature. Kara sipped her water, not indulging in any alien alcohol due to an important interview the next morning. Her first real interview. One with Lena Luthor to discuss the latest attempt on her life. The top couple buttons of Kara's shirt were undone, she gently bushed the collar to the side in an effort to itch the skin right above her right clavicle, the motion caused Winn to narrow his eyes, cocking his head.
His reaction made Kara laugh, "What? Kryptonians can get an itch just as much as you can,"
"No, no, I know that it's just that well, did you always have a birthmark right there?" Winn asked, clearly perplexed.
Kara stopped laughing immediately, brows furrowed, nose scrunched in confusion, "Are you messing with me?"
"We're messing with Kara?" Maggie inquired enthusiastically. Her focus on Alex momentarily broken.
"No, look, I never noticed that birthmark before," Winn gestured at Kara's neck where the small rounded edge of a mulberry-colored mark poked out.
"Kara doesn't have a birthmark," Alex noted setting down more beers with a clank.
Kara pulled her collar from herself in an effort to see what Winn was talking about only to be met with three gasps.
"When did...who would...why is it there?" Alex managed to spit out through her state of shock, her inebriated brain having trouble processing.
Maggie looked down at the silhouette of palm and fingers Alex had left wrapped around her hand, then up to Kara's neck, offering nothing more than a 'huh,' in response.
It clicked. Kara's mind kicking into overdrive as she tried to figure out when and where the marks had been made. Running back through the night before only one person had made contact with that particular part of her neck and shoulder within the previous 48 hours. She ripped the arm of her shirt down exposing the opposite shoulder and revealing a second pristine handprint. Alex, Maggie, and Winn began hollering excitedly, demanding answers, but Kara was too shell-shocked to respond. scooping up her purse and excusing herself, frantically thinking to herself that there was no way this could be happening. Her friends attempted to follow, but she was far too fast, by the time they had floundered through the back door Kara was gone. There was no way in hell Kara Danvers was going to be able to sit straight-faced through an interview with Lena Luthor with the knowledge that she was her soulmate.
~°°••°°~
Lena stood dumbfounded in front of the mirror, eyes scanning once more over the dark handprints painted over her ribs and thigh. Supergirl, a beautiful blond named Kara, had left permanent marks on her porcelain skin. The gears in her mind turned, a Super and a Luthor, destined to be soulmates. It was absurd, impossible, without a doubt the most preposterous thing she had ever considered, and yet here she was, presented with tangible evidence. Of course, there was always the chance that Supergirl didn't have any marks, that it was one-sided and she wouldn't have to worry about it, it wasn't unheard of. It could be platonic, maybe they were meant to be fantastic friends, working together to better the world.
Lena did her best to push the thought from her mind, but it remained to pester her quietly for the rest of the night until she fell into an uneasy sleep.
~°°••°°~
Kara had been awoken that morning by a call from Alex, who had screamed "Luthor!" into the phone before anything else could be said. The day hadn't improved much from there, anxiety creeping in, rooting itself deeper with each passing minute. Would Lena recognize her as Supergirl? What would it mean for her secret identity if she did? By the time Kara was approaching Lena's office doors, the nervous energy had planted a nauseous feeling in her stomach. Her knuckles connected lightly with the cool metal earning her a call to grant her entry.
Self-consciousness over her exposed handprint folded into her gut, regret over her shirt choice followed promptly thereafter. Swallowing down the sick feeling, she cleared her throat, "Hello, I'm Kara Danvers, I'm here with CatCo,"
Lena stood, moving around her desk to meet Kara's extended hand, and Kara couldn't resist the urge to glance down at her legs. Her pencil skirt ended just above her knee, leaving the pristine mark visible, nearly causing Kara's heart to stop. Even after stressing over it for a day she wasn't prepared to see the handprint, her handprint, branding Lena.
She couldn't help but note the way Lena's eyes would linger on her neck for a few seconds here and there throughout the interview, the debate in her eyes clear, though Kara wasn't sure exactly what she was debating. Not entirely wasn't sure she wanted to know.
~°°••°°~
She was intelligent, gorgeous, and most definitely Supergirl. The not so exceptional disguise of glasses and a ponytail was the first tipoff, the second, the crisp print peeking out from her shirt collar, the final being the fact that she kept stumbling over details that only Lena herself and Supergirl could have known. Her initial plan to simply ignore the fact that they were predestined to be together becoming harder to uphold. Every dazzling smile, every stammering attempt to recover from a slip-up, each and every time she would stare for a beat too long, Lena felt her resolve crumble. Kara was charming, in a clumsy sort of way Lena never really found endearing until now.
As the interview came to a close, Lena felt a long-buried part of herself become desperate, selfishly wanting for more time with the reporter. Putting forth all of her efforts to silence this part of her seemed to be working until Kara bid her a farewell offering up a soft smile that that didn't quite reach her eyes, eyes that seemed to beg her to say something. She was wordlessly pleading for Lena to give some indication that she knew, that she was aware of why those marks were on her skin.
Lena understood why, Kara saying something would put her identity in danger, on the off chance that Lena hadn't noticed, or hadn't connected the dots, the possibility that Lena wanted nothing to do with her, the thoughts had clearly been nagging at her, Kara's eyes told all. And so the part of her she had shoved down came forth, ripping from the tiny box she had placed it in screaming so loudly that Lena couldn't stop the words that tumbled out, "We should get dinner,"
Kara halted her movements, her wide eyes bore into Lena's curiously, "I already got everything I needed for the article," she was certainly clever enough to recognize that this was not about the interview, Lena realized feigning ignorance was just her way of attaining the confirmation she so desperately needed.
"I was actually hoping that we could discuss certain other things," the fleeting, pointed glance to Kara's neck gave the blonde what she was fishing for, the knowledge that Lena knew.
"Of course, I-I'd love to," the blush that crawled up Kara's neck was deep and admittedly somewhat endearing.
Leaning over to her desk, Lena retrieved a simple white business card scrawling her personal phone number over the blank back before handing it off to the floundering girl of steel. The com on Lena's desk crackled announcing that she had a meeting to attend, "I suppose that's my cue, I'm sorry to leave you so suddenly, but the old suits must not be kept waiting,"
Kara nodded numbly, not processing the interaction fully until Lena parted ways from her at the elevator.
~°°••°°~
Not until she was alone on her way to the main floor did she fully comprehend what had happened. Her immediate list of possible date ideas was concluded with one mildly concerning thought, "Alex is really not going to like this."