Chapter Text
Rhododendron
She kept a smile on her face as she felt her chest tighten. The silver K on her left wrist humming with energy.
Why did it hurt.
She didn't even have the initial of her soulmates last name on her wrist. Yet judging by the pain in her chest she already knew them to some degree.
Rhododendron. Her soulmate was powerful. Dangerous if the flower that kept her throat raw was any indication. She had been like this for months. At least since the director sent Lois and Clark to New York.
She had a friend that specializes in the disease. He had given her some medication to try to help stem the spread of the roots inside her. Her friend theorized that all humans had roots inside their bodies. Just like they had the first letter of the first and last names of their soulmate. Said friend had asked her to help him with an experiment.
She turned him down of course. It was wildly unethical as hell. Not to mention breaking many laws as well.
The itch in her lungs grew to the point that she couldn't continue on without a hard cough. Making a leaf and several petals fly from her mouth. The leaf tore her throat open and she muses the fact that the leaves were toxic. Yet her body was beginning to expel them.
Danger.
To y/n it sounded about right. Stealing a look at the flash drive she pocketed it. And continued on.
•
Flower after flower came from her that morning. Her body felt weak. So much more so than normal. Leaf after leaf as well. A shock of pain went through her body. The root on her spine tightening.
God help her.
Only god could help her.
The silver K on her wrist began to hum again. Slowly she could feel the root loosen its grip on her spine. Letting her relax enough for her to slump on the floor. Out cold.
•
Clark felt the hum of the lettering on his left wrist. Going over to Lois's apartment for the day. Having gotten home late from New York with the scoop of the century. He takes a deep breath and freezes.
Blood and flowers?
"Clark, what's wrong?" Lois notices this and looks over to the man. Seeing his worried expression as he seems to be looking through the rest of the floor.
"I smell blood and flowers."
"Ah. Ok. So what are you going to do for the next five days?"
"Going to look for my soulmate. What else?" Lois was not happy that she wasn't his soulmate but still loved him as a good friend.
She could only hope that she would find her own one day.
"With that Kryptonian super computer of yours...." Clark chuckles shaking his head lightly.
"You know that I can't Lois. It doesn't work that way." She sighs. Smiling. Looking down at the DP on her own wrist. Clark knew who her soulmate was. One Wonder Woman. Oh god, the day those two meet will be a day for the history books.
Secretly he John and Berry had a bet going. He was sure to win.
•
A hand to her cheek wakes her up. The sound of several foot steps trying to stay quiet sounded in her apartment. A pinch to her neck forced her out cold.
~
Lex couldn't believe his luck though he found it odd that the three initials on her wrist shimmered. His eyes grew wide. A giant S inside a shield. With all the trouble that's been going around with stupid fucking Kent and Lane he had a sinking suspicion that the man was her soulmate.
His men put her into a cell. Under express observation. Wondering about the shimmer on her wrist.
~
Clark stopped. Something felt wrong. So very wrong. He may not know who his soulmate was. Resigning himself to never wanting to find her due to being Superman. She would be safer alone in this world. Not knowing him.
God damn it Kal-el stop breaking your own heart! It's safer for her!
He could be blinded and under the light of green kryptonite he would still be able to pick her heartbeat out of thousands. He let himself lose focus of his hearing for a moment. His body instantly becoming in tune with her.
His eyes go wide. Stopping suddenly.
Something was wrong with her. Not her normal female functions either. She had deep internal wounds. Blood that formed...
Leaves.
Petals.
The hanahaki.
She knows.
He felt his heart hammer in his chest. Placing a hand on it. Trying to see if he could find anything wrong with himself.
Nothing.
He went over to Bruce. Hoping that he would have some answers.
Instead he got Alfred.
"Hey, sorry to have stopped by unannounced but I was wondering if Bruce was in..." Now at the bat box he could hear....sounds coming from the master bedroom.
"I am sure that I could help you with whatever it is that you need master Kent."
"The hanahaki." Alfred nods.
"It can only happen between soulmates. Some times the flower is a warning. Sometimes begging. A cry for help. Some times the flower could be the soulmates favorite flower. Or the flower could represent something about the soulmate. First petals, then leaves will be coughed out. The root will slowly begin to tighten. Once that starts it's a race to see what will kill the person faster."
"Does the soulmate unaffected not feel the effects?"
"No. Often times the one being affected will hide the truth from the one not affected. Not until it's too late. More often than not it is women who are afflicted."
"When you say that it's a race against time...what do you mean?"
"They either die by drowning in their own blood or the root severs the brain stem."
Clark felt like he was about to pass out.
"And..." He swallows hard. "And if the soulmate unaffected stayed away from them to protect them? That the one affected isn't aware that they know their soulmate?"
"You mean like someone with a secret identity?" Alfred looks over Clark as he notes the man's pale and clammy skin. A faint sheen of sweat on the other man's brow. Curious.
"Un known. That isn't something that the others have looked into."
Alfred hardly has time to move when Clark crumpled. Stopping the man of steel from landing face first to the floor.
Clark put his hand to his mouth surprising Alfred as the man begins to tear up.
Slowly he realizes why Clark was asking questions. Only Clark knew the culture on Krypton. Clarks reaction to the information lead him to believe that the rules were different on Krypton.
"Take some time to breathe. Then go find her. I may not know what Krypton's culture is like. But something tells me that it's different."
•
Lex looks at the pod that y/n was laying in. She's out cold. Soon the pod will flood. He needed a test subject for this latest experiment. If he was correct then this will force her dna to change. He had gotten his hands on Kryptonian dna that wasn't related to Superman.
He stood back. A sly smile on his face. Two, no, three problems concurred in one go.
Getting rid of the whistle blower.
Testing out the new compound.
Torturing Superman's soulmate.
Christmas came early to one known as Lex Luthor.