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You both have your own potential for death and destruction.
They are in the helicopter again, spiralling, falling through the sky, and Mxyptlk’s words keep echoing in her ears. The machine rattles miserably, the pilot swaying in his seat, unconscious, and the imp’s only humming some happy little tune in the backseat. Despite the save she knows is coming, Lena feels her stomach turning.
“ Here ?”
“This would be your first meeting,” he confirms with an excited nod. Lena makes a mental note to throw up on him, should the need arise. “Supergirl had been cleansed from red Kryptonite once, but only temporarily. The poison remained.” The helicopter spins violently, and Lena’s head almost knocks against the window, the imp’s next words barely reaching her ears: “The DEO reaches out to you to develop a cure.”
“It looks like I’m not even gonna make it out of this fucking heli–,” she yells, half-screaming, but her words are cut off by a heavy thud . Something collides against them, and then, the helicopter is suddenly upright in the air again, slowly descending onto the pad of the nearest skyscraper. Lena’s still gripping onto the door’s handle, knuckles white with the force, when she sees Mxyptlk mouthing Good luck to her and vanishing into thin air.
Then, the door is ripped from the side of the helicopter and out of her hand, then tossed haphazardly aside. But the woman who greets her is not the bright and beautiful Girl of Steel who saved Lena four years ago.
She is Kara, that much is certain. Her face is unchanged, even with the web of pulsating red veins running across it, even with the tender blue of her eyes being speckled with spots of crimson. But there is no sight of the easy, familiar smile that Lena used to be so enamored with, nor the gentle warmth that lights up her Kara’s face (if there ever was such a thing as her Kara , anyway). This Kara’s lips are twisted into a sneer instead, her face is hard and so cruel that Lena instinctively tries to back away from it. Kara follows her futile efforts with an amused twitch of her mouth.
“Lena Luthor.” She doesn’t spare a single glance for the pilot: her eyes are only on Lena’s face, a stare so cold it burns. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
It isn’t real , Lena reminds herself first, and then, Luthors are never scared . She draws herself up, unbuckles her seatbelt and pushes Kara’s hand away when she tries to lift her out of the helicopter. It might be all an illusion by a magical imp from the fifth dimension, but that’s no reason not to keep up one’s standards. She stands resolute on her still-shaking legs, fifty storeys above the ground, on the roof of a skyscraper with a malevolent demigod. Arms crossed, chin raised .
“Supergirl.”
“Oh no, not her ,” Kara grins. “Something much better.”
Lena slowly takes in the view of her as she manages to get hold of her senses, the trembling of her body easing. But the sight that greets her does not calm her nerves.
This Kara’s wearing no red and blue. She’s dressed in black from head to toe instead, a high-collared uniform jacket, tight trousers, gloves and heavy leather boots taking the place of the sleek supersuit. She still wears a cape, all black too, except for the small clasp holding it together around her neck: a blood-red pin of the El crest. Lena never thought she’d see the Super’s insignia look so menacing . Even with their relationship broken in the real world, with Lena having cursed Kara’s very name every day, it’s so unsettling a sight that she cannot help but try to mend what’s so clearly broken.
“Kara,” she breathes, drawing closer. She reaches out even without meaning to, her fingers almost touching Kara’s face. “You need help. Please, let me–”
Her hand is caught in Kara’s iron grip instead, not yet painful, but firm, unyielding.
“Do not mistake me for yourself, Lena Luthor,” Kara says, and the red veins on her face shine brighter for a moment. “I don’t need fixing.”
The words land like a heavy blow that makes Lena’s chest constrict, forcing all the air out of her lungs. Kara watches her pained expression with obvious delight.
“You’re not yourself ,” Lena finally manages to gasp, and Kara laughs.
“I am the best self I could ever be,” she declares. “Free of meaningless morals and obligations. Uncaring of all expectations of me. Are you?” She lets go of Lena’s hand: it falls down to her side, powerless. Kara tilts her head, regarding her with another cruel smile. “Of course not. So desperate to cleanse the family name of your brother’s filth, so starved for approval that you’re ready to become a government lapdog. A sad use of that brilliant mind.”
Lena feels the prickling of tears in the corner of her eyes again, feels her body trembling with shame, with anger . She clenches her jaw so hard that her teeth almost hurt, but she bears it no mind. She will not give this Kara the pleasure of showing her pain.
But savage words are not all that this Kara has in her arsenal. She draws closer, closer, until there’s barely an inch of distance left between their bodies and she’s towering over Lena in all her dark, menacing might. She leans just a little forward, one gloved hand coming up to Lena’s chin, a finger pressing under her jaw to tilt her head back just a touch.
“And to think that you could rule this world with me, if only you’d stop cowering.”
Her smile is almost warm this time, an invitation, a dare. Lena feels like every last cell in her body has been set alight, the devil both tempting and taunting her with such precise cruelty.
“I’m not my brother,” she spits out and Kara only laughs again.
“No,” she agrees. “You’re mightier.”
The hand drops from Lena’s chin to her arm, stroking gently from shoulder to wrist, then back up again, feather-light. Lena feels her stomach turning. It’s not the first vision the imp has shown her of Kara courting her, one way or the other: she’s seen themselves dating, married , exploring the galaxy together. Somehow, this inelegant, forceful attempt at wooing hurts more than all those happy, enamored scenes before. And this poisoned wreck of Kara is still there , hovering over Lena with a cocksure smile, the red veins in her face pulsate with an ever-growing light.
“Why make the world better when you could just make it yours instead?”
Lena shoves against Kara’s chest with both hands in response, hard enough that the Kryptonian trips backwards with a surprised, delighted laugh. It only incenses the contempt Lena feels, the utter fury at being toyed with .
“The whole mean girl shtick would be much more credible if you weren’t still wearing a crest that means hope , Supergirl.” She crosses her arms, taking great care to keep her tone ice cold this time, and has the great pleasure of seeing the arrogant smirk melt from Kara’s face. She raises an eyebrow. “Or is this whole act just your way of begging me to save you?”
For the first time during their conversation, Kara’s the one left wordless and pale, the angry veins on her face pulsating with an irregular rhythm.
“She bites,” she finally drawls. Her posture is stiffer now as she draws closer, her smile colder. “We’ll meet again soon, Lena Luthor.” Before Lena could push her away again, Kara takes her hand and draws it to her lips. They feel scorching hot against her skin. “I might not be so gentle then.”
Lena rips her hand out of her grasp, her heart beating wild.
“I can take you.”
Kara grins wide and delighted once again.
“We’ll see.”
She takes off as swiftly as she arrived, kicking herself away from the ground with enough force that the roof dents under her boots. Lena follows the dark figure with her eyes as she speeds away, and only lets herself to collapse, heaving, once Kara’s figure is well out of sight.