Chapter Text
What in the name of Rao am I supposed to do now? Lena dropped the magazine she was reading, oblivious to Kara's words playing in her mind. Maybe it was because she spent so much time around Kara. Maybe it was because the thing stressing her out right now involved Kara. Either way, she was calling on a god she didn't even worship.
If there were any mercy at all, Rao would strike her down before Kara saw this.
The magazine hung sloppily off the side of her desk, an image of her and Kara staring up at her. Lena didn't read gossip rags. She didn't maintain her own public-facing social media accounts. Neither of those were good for her mental health. She could practically hear Kara telling her, “Put the Twitter down, Lena, obnoxiouswomanhater69 does not deserve your time.” The magazine that was currently laughing up at her was brought to Lena by Jess, along with a memo that included a page number and a note that said, 'Legal is on standby, waiting for direction.'
Rather than make any rash decisions, Lena would call Kara. She had the money, power, and legal team to make this article be retracted, but maybe Kara would have a better solution. Lena looked at her phone, and could see that she was too late. Kara did manage her own social media accounts, and she had sent a series of screenshots to Lena less than five minutes ago. Kara was being inundated by curious fans, busybodies, and other news outlets hoping for interviews.
Lena clicked Kara's contact card and waited for the phone to ring. Kara picked up before the first ring ended, said, “Be right there,” and ended the call. Lena knew what that meant. She walked purposefully to the balcony doors, her heels echoing throughout the empty office. She barely reached the doors before Kara landed in full Supergirl gear. Her cheeks were bright red. She came into the office, saw the magazine, and averted her eyes quickly.
Lena imagined that she was blushing as hard as Kara was. How could she not? The pictures of them seemed scandalous, sure, but they weren’t true. The collage of pictures in the background were Kara and Lena walking in the park, holding hands and laughing. That was nothing. They were always holding hands and laughing. The main attraction of the article was the photo of them kissing. The problem was, they weren't! The angle the photo had been taken from made it look like they were sharing a very public, very intimate kiss. The photographer was at an angle behind Kara, who was leaning down to Lena. Lena was on her tippy toes, hand on Kara's shoulder to maintain her balance. Kara's hand was on Lena's hip. You couldn't see their mouths, but it looked like they were kissing.
A second photo, an after, showed Lena's face, and she did look like she'd just been kissed. She was red-faced, smiling, and looking at Kara like she was the sun in the sky. No person who saw this article would question it. The worst part is she had been telling Kara a joke! She was making fun of the paparazzo following them! She couldn't remember exactly what she said, but it had been something like, “Do you think I could pay this photographer to follow Lillian all day every day until they get an incriminating photo?”
And Kara had responded, without missing a beat, “I could laser the camera so fast he would never know it happened.”
Lena's laugh had come from the absurdity of Kara ever suggesting something like that. If there was one person who would never infringe upon the free press (paparazzi included), it was Kara.
She should have lasered the camera.
“What do we do?” The article next to the collection of images was even worse. It included an in-depth timeline of their 'secret relationship', including their 'breakup' when Kara and Lena hadn't been speaking. It had more photos throughout, all of which looked like semi-private moments caught at Noonan's, on walks, and Kara sitting in the crowd of a trial Lena testified at, her press badge absent. The article finished by congratulating them on taking their private relationship public with no fanfare, showing that queer couples deserve to express themselves with nothing more than living their authentic lives.
It was mortifying. It looked real.
“I can stop it?”
Kara picked up Lena's phone and showed it to her. It kept lighting up with silenced notifications. She took out her phone as well. It was also lighting up. “Can you?”
“I can. The article would go away, but the damage is likely done. The longer we wait, the worse it gets.”
The intercom rang, and Jess' voice came through. “Miss Luthor, Finance is here. It's important.”
Lena rolled her eyes. “One moment,” she said to the intercom, then to Kara, “Do you want to be here as Supergirl or as Kara?”
Rather than answer, Supergirl sped off to Lena's private bathroom where she kept an extra set of Kara clothes. She reappeared in seconds, tying her hair up. “Jess, send Jerome in.”
Lena slammed the magazine shut just as the door opened. Jerome, a tall black man with an impressive high fade, practically ran in, his suit jacket flapping and his tie askew. He looked like he had run from the tenth floor, rather than take the elevator. “Miss Luthor, I'm sorry to interrupt.” He noticed Kara, then gave her a thumbs up and said, “Mazel tov, you two.” He attempted to straighten his tie. It ended up askew in the other direction. “We just received a ten million dollar donation in your names, “he pointed at both of them, “to our charity.”
Lena's jaw dropped. The Luthor Ed Fund was her baby, intended to provide educational opportunities to any low-income student who graduated high school. 10 million dollars doubled the fund and could provide 250 years of college. “From who?”
Jerome turned his tablet towards her. “It's anonymous, but there's more. They keep coming.” He hit refresh on the funds financial page. More donations in varying amounts were there. “People are excited.” Lena scrolled and saw in the memo lines that there was a flood of congratulations. Several of the notes just had ten pride flags in them.
Kara waited quietly. Lena simply handed her the tablet, and watched blue eyes widen. Kara handed it back to Jerome, shellshocked.
“Thank you for showing me Jerome. This is very exciting.” Lena's tone didn't match her words at all. “I will put a meeting on the books today or tomorrow. Keep an eye on your email.” He nodded, taking that for what it was: a dismissal.
The door shut behind him and Kara walked over to the couch and plopped down, dropping her head in her hands. “What do we do now?” Her muffled voice had a tone of desperation in it. “All those people, they're just giving money because they think we came out!” Kara dropped her hands, a look of horror on her face. “Oh god, I have to tell Alex. Rao, this is bad. She and Kelly are gonna freak out. What will Eliza say? They're going to think I hid something from them? I would never!”
Lena recognized the incoming Kara spiral. She hurried to her best friend, sitting on the coffee table in front of her and taking the blonde's face in her hands. It occurred to her that this closeness is exactly what got them into this mess. “Kara, look at me.” She did. “It's okay. We can figure this out. In a press release, we can tell the public that it's not true. It's all going to be okay.”
“But all those donations.”
“I'll replace them. I have the money. It's fine.” Lena felt a tiny twinge. At the rate they were going, she was going to have to pull from several funds. She may be rich, but she parked her money in places it could do good. Taking from her investments and other funds would undoubtedly cause her significantly more than the donations she was about to refund. She knew her heart was beating faster, so she attempted to calm it. If Kara heard, she’d ask about it. Money was nothing, especially compared to how people would feel when they were told this was a lie. Her mind raced.
People would be upset. People from the community, her community, would be hurt.
The intercom turned on, “Miss Luther-“ Jess’s voice was interrupted by the door flying open.
“Thank you, Jess, I see her.” Lena silenced the call speaker and put it on privacy mode. “Hello, mother, what a delightful surprise.” Lena’s tone made it very clear that nothing about this surprise was delightful.
“Do you care to explain this?” Lillian dropped her phone in front of Lena. It was open to an email in Lillian’s inbox. Lena was unsurprised that Lillian received emails anytime the name ‘Luthor’ was mentioned in a publication. “You outgrew this phase years ago after your disastrous dalliance with Andrea. At least she’s also a CEO. Now you expect me to believe this farce?” She waved her hand carelessly in Kara’s direction. “As if a Luthor and a Super would ever-“
Lillian cut off with a disgusted groan. She was as disgusted as Lena was surprised. Rather than accept Lillian’s abuse, Kara had instead leaned across the small space between them, taken Lena’s face in her hands, and kissed her right in front of Lillian Luthor herself.
“Really? I’m right here.” Lena ignored her mother, kissing Kara back. Lillian snatched her phone out of her daughter’s hand. “Enough!”
Lena and Kara separated. Her heart was in her throat, and Lena could only imagine her expression. No wonder the public believed they were dating. “Are you still here, mother?”
Lillian sneered at her daughter. “I won't let you tarnish the family name like this.”
Kara finally looked away from Lena. “Nothing Lena has ever done has tarnished the family name, including dating me.”
“When this pale imitation of an actual relationship falls apart, I'll set you up with a suitable man who isn't a family enemy. And is human .” Lillian turned sharply and left, letting her attacks hang in the air. The door shut behind her with loud finality, her accusations hanging heavily in the silence.
“I am so sorry. I shouldn't have just kissed you like that, but I can't stand how she talks to you. It seemed like the right thing to do in the moment. I know that you have boundaries with people and don't like to be randomly-”
“Kara! It's fine.” If Lena didn't stop her now, Kara would spiral. She was also distracted by the tingling of her lips. Kara had kissed her. She had never thought of her best friend that way, and now she knew these thoughts would be part of her mental Lexicon. Thoughts about her straight best friend. “I don't mind. you didn't have to ask. You didn’t have to help. I’m not sad that you did.” Lena ran a hand through her hair, trying to do anything other than grab Kara and pull her close again. She was in trouble. “We’ll correct this in the press and carry on. Lillian’s opinion doesn’t matter.” The words were bitter as they slid from her lips. This was going to be humiliating.
“We could just…not?” Kara rubbed the back of her neck, looking anywhere other than at Lena. “Show Lillian she's wrong.”
“Explain.” Kara could not be saying what Lena thought she was. That was impossible. “Because what it sounds like you're saying is we date.”
“I might be saying exactly that, if it sounds like a good idea.” Kara's eyes lit up. She started to pace circles as she worked her idea out. “People are donating to your charity because they want to support the queer community. You're queer! I mean, not like weird , but you're gay...bi? A lesbian?” Her face turned red, and she kept going. “The way Lillian talks to you like no one would ever...like I wouldn't ever...” Kara huffed. “Let's show her. She's wrong about you.” Kara shrugged. “Plus, who could fight off useless men better than Supergirl?”
A silence filled the room. It stretched, and Kara began to fidget. Lena's mind raced. This was an idea. A bad idea. Could she go along with this? Should she? What if Kara met someone she wanted to date? How long would they do this? Was it even worth it to mess with Lillian? She opened her mouth to voice these concerns. What came out was, “Okay. We can do this.”
“Yeah?” Kara laughed. “You sure?”
“I just have one request. If anything seems like it's going to get in the way of our friendship, we 'break up.'” She made air quotes as she said break up. “Nothing is more important to me than you, including tormenting Lillian.”
“Perfect. I am going to be the best, most believable girlfriend. Lillian won't know what hit her.” Kara checked her watch. “I have to get back to the office. I'm leading an editorial meeting in five. I'll text you later!” Kara walked quickly to Lena, kissed her, and flew out the balcony doors.
Lena didn't know if Kara had even changed into her suit. She was stunned, still sitting on her couch.
That afternoon, she sent a giant bouquet of flowers and a thank you note to William Dey, the reporter who wrote the lies in that gossip rag. If they were going to pretend, they were going to do it thoroughly.