Work Text:
Poetry from memory (The scent of you)
- See, works perfectly fine.
Lena Luthor was a lot of things. Stupid was not one of them. Neither was ignorant. It was her first day at LuthorCorp National City and she was greeted by 2 uniquely scented individuals before she'd even sat down in her chair. One was cocky, arrogant and with a personal vendetta again 'Luthor'; if only he knew the truth. The other... Shy, bumbling but with some steel in her bones.
As a female Alpha, Lena had learnt and honed the skill of scenting individuals early in her life. While the world has developed vastly in the last few centuries, it still couldn't rid the basic and baser biological design from humans. Hence came the suppressors, scent maskers and for the desperate and despairing citizens, even surgical excision of scent glands with hormone replacements. Big Pharma Pac marketed all these like the cure for cancer. Literally.
The Luthor matriarch however decided that Lena was the perfect specimen to study the effects of letting nature takes its full course on an adolescent girl presenting as Alpha. Uncensored and unaided. Suffice to say, Lena was one the few people completely in tune with her wolf and hence able to harness or suppress those qualities as and when she wanted.
That whole first week in National City, the scent of summer rains followed Lena. Crash landing the helicopter, putting a bullet inside Corben, verbally sparring with the reporters ... It was always at the back of her nose, despite the smell of burning metal and coppery blood or pristine room fresheners.
She came to a few conclusions the night of her (semi-successful) renaming ceremony.
- That scent was not of a human's
- It helped her to focus her instincts
- It came from an annoying blonde with bottomless blue eyes.
The only question that remained was, which blonde? Kara Danvers, the budding reporter or Supergirl, the beefcake rescuer.
Hence came the 'Alien Detection Device' project. What a silly endeavour, Lena thought, as she coded human genome STRs into a software to identify and match a sample from epithelial cell DNA.
Lena felt even sillier for wasting a night creating the device, when the next day, she heard Kara Danvers say, "I flew here....on a bus." And when she insisted Kara try the device, she knew, no matter what the result, that Kara Danvers and Supergirl were one and the same. Later, after the reporter had stormed off, she peeled back the outer shell and looked amusedly at the fried circuits. Did Kara really think any scientist would blindly accept a green light as definite confirmation? So silly.
- Tight dresses, tattoos like Lisbeth Salander? Yeah I know Roulette.
Lena was both irritated and amused that Kara Danvers could storm into her office at 8pm on a Saturday. The only reason Jess was still there was the old legal files and free Wi-Fi she needed to finish her law school project. Lena also knew that Jess was as protective of her as a little sister was, and so was even more irritated when Jess complained, Lena, she's really fast. So dear Miss Danvers would use her powers to get past meager secretaries? How... well, desperate. She didn't need Jess ruffled any more times, so gave Kara free access.
That source of desperation became clear when Kara uttered Veronica Sinclair. Alien fight clubs as entertainment? No. Thank. You. And if Kara needed that information, Lena would gladly hand it over. Not that it'd do much good. Cockroaches always have a way of slipping and surviving. She held in that bit of insight though.
The Gala Fundraiser seemed to be a good way to settle the score. She could have handled them alone but, better safe than sorry right? Inviting Kara should have been a piece of cake. Instead, Lena identified another alien 'Mike… of the Interns'. What should have been a simple come and I'll give you free food and wine, turned out to be jealous rambling and flirty lip bites. Lena had gone toe to toe with his kind of frat boy man-whores her entire life, and yet she invited him too to the Gala. What was this? A medieval courtship fight?
What an idiot! Lena smacked herself in the back of her head once she left Catco.
- Hey, I know you! You saved my life.
Meeting Kara's sister was entertaining to say the least. Special Agent Alex Danvers, FBI. Such a testosterone-y title. Made Lena wonder if it even was true. Small world my ass.
Alex Danvers was definitely a badass, no doubt. Lithe but muscular, highly trained (body slamming a police officer impersonator *insert eyebrow rise*) and definitely has a thing for guns. That look when Lena shot Corben was respect. A through and through at close quarters, with a hostage? Alex was lucky Lena had great aim and also a thing for guns. Alex may have saved her life, but Lena saved hers right back. Shooting Corben still rattled her some nights.
What was interesting though was how suppressed Alex Danvers was. And not just in the biological way. Lena's scent gaydar pinged the second she clocked her, but it seemed the poor woman herself had no clue. Or maybe she’s recently had an epiphany? Very recently, given the awkward energy Lena walked in on. Oh god, did she really interrupt Alex Danvers coming out to her little sister? That was not good. But, business first.
As she walked back to her car, Lena wondered how she can help, after Alex says the words out loud. It was bad enough coming out as a teenager, but as a fully grown adult? Lena could only imagine the mortification and disappointment and maybe even shame that Alex Danvers would probably feel, given that this society was still cruel and repressive to anyone who is ‘other’.
Maybe Lena should take her out to some of her secret haunts for a night or three of fun. The woman sure needed to let loose and Lena would happily play wingwoman/lesbian jesus. And if she could stare at the younger Danvers at the same time, well, that was just a nice bonus.
- You’re finally right Henshaw; I AM a monster.
Lena rarely forgot a face. Maybe a few blonde bimbos hanging on to every word of cis-white-straight businessmen at parties, but that was more because they embellished their faces using said businessmen’s money rather than Lena’s poor memory. Never has she forgotten the monstrous face of someone who tried to kill her though, especially by throwing her 100 pound concrete company logo at her head. So it was a surprise within a surprise, when a similar face shows up alongside Supergirl at the NC port few hours later, significantly less monstrous, even when they shape-shift into a green alien.
Lena put it out of her mind for the time being because she was occupied with other important things. Like how the hell she could escape this madness while making sure the police would come soon enough to watch her mother’s grandstanding speech. In the fight that ensued, it was clear that the cyborg was human, with many many mechanical parts, whereas the alien simply shape-shifted into the man the cyborg originally was. Damn, that was confusing.
With all the commotion and violence, Lena’s alpha senses went haywire. She could feel every emotion from her mother – cruelty, disappointment, disgust. She could, weirdly, also feel the intentions of the green alien – integrity, guilt, protective instincts. It confused her to no end.
Once she had methodically processed and compartmentalized her nth murder attempt, she sent a few flowers Kara’s way. It was the least she could do for seeing the good in Lena. But she wasn’t the only one. Lena couldn’t get out of her mind the emotions of the green alien.
So Lena did what she did best – research. J‘onn J’onzz was the Martian Manhunter fancy name for a police officer, who, like Supergirl was thought to be the last of his race. Roulette should really upgrade her cybersecurity. That was the easy bit. The hard part of the research was – what sort of ‘thank you for saving my life’ gift could you give to someone like that? Hopefully, she’ll figure it out before her next assassination attempt.
- Aiding and abetting, felony, accessory after the fact, conspiracy…
Detective Maggie Sawyer was a professional. A police officer from Gotham City who wasn’t corrupt but still worked within the system? She was rarer than pet dragons and earth bending Avatars. She was also the only reason Lena hadn’t completely lost her shit when being asked the same set of questions by her partner, a Detective Fillion, while handcuffed to the interrogation table.
Why did you take the kryptonite? I didn’t
What are you planning on doing with it? Design costume jewellery for Ophelia.
Where is your mother, Lillian Luthor? Hopefully, dying in a ditch somewhere.
That last answer earned her an eye roll from Sawyer and an amused snort from Det. Fillian. He left to update their captain about their lack of progress, giving her a shoulder pat and a hang in there kid on his way out. Sawyer just sat there, staring at Lena for a few minutes. Almost like she was trying to tell Lena something without actually using any words. Oh. Ohh!
So Lena scented her. At first she just picked up stale coffee, gasoline and gunpowder. But underneath that, she smelt something foreign, something that wasn’t detective Sawyer’s at all. Two somethings. One was almost the same thing with a different signature, and was that…chapstick? The other scent, that was completely alien. More alien than Kara and Mike alien.
This means that Detective Maggie Sawyer has strong affiliations with aliens, was familiar with Kara and maybe even the elder Danvers, but was treating Lena with no hostility or anger. Ergo, Lena was not considered an actual suspect. Which also meant that Det. Sawyer and her partner maybe requested to be the ones to bring Lena in, knowing the danger she was in. Knowing too, that when the Luthor goons broke Lena out of her holding cell, they would be the first ones to be crossed out – by the goons and by the police department.
If she survived this debacle, Lena swore to herself that, one Det. Fillion was never going to worry about his post retirement plans; and two, Maggie Sawyer would be parent-trapped to enjoy a date with Alex Danvers, come hell or high water.
+1. You were right? I mean, you were right!
Winn, now’s really not a good time. I have to –
I know, Lena. And I'm hoping you’ll still spare a few minutes for me.
Why?
Okay…we’re going on a bit of a tangent here, but hear me out yeah? So, male omegas are just as stigmatized and taboo as female alphas. Obviously, you know this. And I was made to remember that everyday since I presented, which, combined with being 14 years old and thriving academically at MIT, made my teenage years hell on earth.
My mom bailed when I was a kid, and my dad raised me as best as he could. He was a good dad, normal, scared of losing his job, but I assumed that was true of any single parent. He was angry though, and I learned better than most how to read the emotions that people don’t show. How to use my omega to survive in less than ideal conditions; the way I assume you have too…
You know, Kara once asked me if I never saw any signs.
Signs of what, Winn?
Signs that might point to how my dad became the infamous Toyman, homegrown bomber-terrorist. Shocked you with that, huh? The only reason that people don’t look at me the way they look at you Lena, is because my dad was famous as Toyman and not Winslow Schott Sr.
Well that, and because his body count was significantly lesser compared to Lex Luthor.
Yeah. Um, anyway, that’s why I came by, really. Kara never stopped believing that you were innocent and I wanted that to be the absolute truth. I didn’t uncover the real footage of you not stealing the kryptonite for you, Lena. I did it more for me. So that I can believe that we are not going to end up in the same path as our parents. Looking at you, fighting naysayers everyday and helping the world be a better place… you give me that hope, Lena.
Winn?
Yeah?
Thank you.
Of course!!
..
..
You know if you really want to show me your appreciation though….
Spit it out Schott.
Can you help me build Star Wars suites of armor?
I thought you’d never ask.
Now, come on. Let me help scour your old files of LuthorCorp to find the Evil Queen who ruled behind the screens.
You’re one of a kind, Winn Schott Jr.