Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Supergirl or its plots or characters.

Chapter One: Be Not So Fearful

The midmorning sun filtered through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows in Lena's office, filling the room with natural light, but the brunette hardly noticed. She had been staring blankly down at the finance report in her hand for the better part of an hour. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't seem to force her mind to focus on the graphs and figures on the stark black and white pages in front of her.

No, her thoughts were far from work; stuck in the clouds with a certain superhero and the guilt that wracked her still. It hadn't even been a week since the Daxamites retreated into the sky and Lena's vain attempts to get back to business were failing miserably. On a typical day, she would throw herself into her work; partly to distract herself from the trouble in her personal life and partly because, aside from her misguided family, Lena didn't really have much of a personal life… aside from Kara.

But today, all she could think about was how incredibly foolish she had been to associate with Rhea. Several glasses of scotch over the last few nights hadn't brought her any peace either. She prided herself on her intelligence and her ability to make calculated decisions, yet she had allowed her emotions to blind her to Rhea's true intentions. Her desire to develop technology that could potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives and possibly change the minds of the public about the Luthor name had been so strong that it overshadowed everything. Paired with her so called, "mommy issues," Lena had opened herself up to be manipulated by the first supposed mentor that had walked into her life. A mistake that could have destroyed the entire Earth, or at the very least caused it become, "New Daxam," but worse, it put Kara in danger.

Lena's jaw clenched and she swallowed hard against the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat at the thought of Kara in harm's way... even if she was Supergirl… especially because she was Supergirl.

Lena Luthor was a lot of things but she wasn't a fool, despite what her most recent choices may have made her feel like. She had known for quite some time that Kara was Supergirl. No matter how hard the reporter had tried to keep her identity a secret, Lena had seen right through those thick-rimmed glasses to the tell-tale blue eyes underneath.

She couldn't really pinpoint the exact moment she realized it, but any doubts she may have harbored were long gone, particularly after all of this with the Daxamites. She supposed a big part of it was something about the way Kara made her feel safe and worthy of trust, something no one else in her entire life had made her feel. It was the same way she felt during the brief moments she was around Supergirl.

Still lost in the endless pathways of her mind, Lena 's tangential thoughts turned to happier memories, and she couldn't help but smile to herself, remembering the first time she laid eyes on Kara Danvers…

Lena placed one high-heeled shoe out of the black town car only to be greeted by two strangers, reporters by the looks of them with their thick-rimmed glasses and notepads. She sighed in frustration; was one day without the press in her face asking for too much? Apparently so.

One of her body guards, Christopher, made to shield them from her as her chauffeur, George, held the car door open for her. As she stood up fully and smoothed the wrinkles from her skirt, Lena took the opportunity to study the pair, who could have been related they were dressed so alike. But her eyes were instantly drawn to the woman.

Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail and she was dressed in a plain white dress with a thin belt, modestly covered by a blush-colored cardigan. A little taller than Lena, she stood slightly behind the male reporter but even from the slight distance Lena could see the sky blue eyes piercing through those lenses. Something in those eyes pulled her in instantly and it took her a moment to realize the man in front of her had begun to speak from behind Christopher. Lena tore her eyes from the blonde only to have a slight chill run through her.

Clark Kent… better known as Superman… was standing in front of her. The alien that had had put her brother in prison for 32 consecutive life sentences. She hoped she was able to hide the swell of anger that rose in her with a false smile, something she had been taught to do her entire upbringing.

Of course she knew Clark Kent was Superman. She was a Luthor after all, no matter how hard she tried to escape it. Amongst the files she had inherited when she took over LuthorCorp she had discovered the one on the big, blue boy scout.

"Ms. Luthor, we just wanted to ask you some questions about the Venture explosion," Mr. Kent repeated so she nodded to her body guard, making a quick decision.

"It's all right, Christopher," she assured the man, who backed off a bit then but kept close enough to intervene if necessary. As if he would be able any match for Superman, should the alien actually want to harm her.

"May we have a few minutes of your time for an interview?" it was the soft voice of the woman this time, and Lena's eyes were drawn back to her in time to see her anxiously adjusting the glasses on her face. She was a little more cautious knowing who she was dealing with now, but nevertheless she nodded her head towards the skyscraper beside them.

"I have a flight in thirty minutes, so if you can walk and talk then by all means," she replied, the smile still plastered on her face but slightly less forced after responding to the blonde.

She strode purposely into the building, hearing the steps of the two reporters behind her. Various employees opened doors for her and the elevator was waiting for her but numerous times she had to tell her staff that the two reporters were with her and did not need to go through the security precautions. She figured that if Superman was going to harm her then he certainly wouldn't try to sneak in a gun or a bomb.

The ride in the elevator was mostly filled with small talk and disingenuous pleasantries from Mr. Kent, but when they arrived at her top-floor office, the conversation turned to business.

"What we are really here for is why you had a ticket aboard the Venture, but didn't show at the last second?" Mr. Kent questioned, seemingly done playing nice.

Lena mentally rolled her eyes. When she had heard about the near miss she had experienced by deciding to forgo her trip, she was relieved but hadn't anticipated so much suspicion would be thrown her way. But she couldn't say she was truly surprised.

"There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why I wasn't aboard the Venture yesterday," she replied shortly, making her way into her office.

"That's why we're here," Mr. Kent shot back quickly, making a futile attempt to appear unbiased.

"There was an emergency regarding the planning for a ceremony I'm holding tomorrow," she explained, matter-of-factly, hanging up her coat and purse before continuing, "I'm renaming my family's company and I had to cancel."

"Ah, lucky," came the sardonic response from Mr. Kent and she couldn't stop the humorless chuckle that escaped her lips as she brushed her hair out of her face. Feeling like testing the boundaries a bit, she fired back just as quickly,

"Lucky is Superman saving the day." As she turned back towards the two reporters, Lena gauged both of their reactions simultaneously: the woman quickly turned her face away to look at Mr. Kent who just chuckled as well, looking down briefly before looking up at her. She could see the arrogance there, not even entertaining the idea that Lena Luthor knew his secret identity.

"Not something one expects a Luthor to say," Mr. Kent was trying to push her buttons but she refused to take the bait. She was about to open her mouth to respond when the woman chimed in,

"Supergirl was there too!" This statement drew Lena's attention back to the pretty blonde, a brief thought that her statement and the way she presented it was odd, but deciding to mentally file that away for later. Right now, she felt she needed to be on the defensive despite the way those blue eyes held no accusation, only curiosity. The woman definitely gave her pause, but she refused to let her guard down fully.

Noticing the shift in conversation, Lena took the opportunity to stride past them to pour herself a glass of water, cutting closer past the blonde and flashing her a smile on the way. It probably was more friendly than she had intended it to be.

"And who are you exactly?" she asked, keeping her tone even despite the warmth that was spreading in her chest from when she had looked at the female reporter. A flurry of pressured words spilled from the woman making Lena feel a little guilty for flustering her.

"I-uh-I'm Kara Danvers. I'm not with the Daily Planet. I'm with CatCo Magazine…sort of." Lena had her back turned, setting down the water pitcher, but she could hear the woman's confidence, or lack thereof, dwindling as her sentence drifted to a close.

"That's a publication not known for its hard-hitting journalism," she responded, looking back at them as she made her way towards her desk, "It's more like, 'High waisted jeans: Yes or No?'"

A small twinge in her chest told her that she may have hurt Kara's feelings with her jab at CatCo but she kept that hidden as the blonde replied,

"I'm-uh just tagging along today, so-."

Kara's disjointed sentence all but confirmed that she had further shaken the young journalist's confidence even further. Lena could feel the guilt starting to spread and she hated herself for feeling that way. Why should she care how this woman felt? Especially since she was associating with Clark Kent, who obviously was here to try to pin the Venture explosion on her.

"Right, could we just speed this interview along?" she interjected coldly, her walls going back up. She really didn't have time for this and she didn't like how those blue eyes were looking at her or maybe she liked them too much. Either way, she turned her attention back to Mr. Kent. "Just ask me what you want to ask me… Did I have anything to do with the Venture explosion?" she said flatly, opening a report that had been waiting for her on her desk and glancing down at it, nonchalantly.

"Did you?" the curt question caused her to look up and challenge,

"You wouldn't be asking me if my name was Smith."

"Ah, but it's not… it's Luthor," Mr. Kent unnecessarily reminded her, matching her iciness. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ms. Danvers give Mr. Kent a sideways glance.

"There's some steel under that Kansas wheat," finally giving them her full attention, a sly smile curling her lips. It was returned by a quick humorless one by him. There was no convincing Superman that a Luthor could be good, so she tried a different tact: directing her plea to someone who hadn't made their mind up about her just because of her name.

"It wasn't always… I was adopted when I was four," she purposely cast her glance towards Ms. Danvers. She thought perhaps that Mr. Kent/Superman would see that she and him weren't so different, both of them being adopted and not being able to choose their families. But the expression she found in Ms. Danvers' eyes told Lena that she had struck a nerve with her.

"The person who made me feel most welcome in the family was Lex… made me proud to be a Luthor," she mused, memories of her childhood with Lex making the slight Irish lilt she picked up at boarding school in Dublin slip through on the word, 'proud.' Lena wasn't sure why she was sharing this but maybe her honesty would get through to one of them.

"Then he went on his reign of terror on Metropolis, declaring war on Superman, committed unspeakable crimes," she swiveled her chair, turning away from them to look out at National City, her new home. Memories of her brother's betrayal and the people he hurt…killed. These thoughts always caused a dull ache in her chest, knowing that the Lex she had grown up with had become such a monster. Her true feelings were getting a little too close to the surface with these two reporters here to jump on it, so Lena determined that story time was over. She collected herself and shifted back around, with renewed purpose, she grabbed her TV's remote and flicked on a presentation she had been working on for the new company's name.

"When Superman put Lex in jail I vowed to take back my family's company, rename it 'L Corp'… make it a force for good," she explained to them earnestly. She needed them to see that she wasn't Lex and hopefully generate some positive press for the new direction she was taking the company in. She paused, watching the two share a glance before continuing,

"I'm just a woman trying to make a name for herself outside of her family. Can you understand that?"

She finished by gazing directly at Ms. Danvers, those blue eyes full of understanding. Lena had just met the young woman but something told her that she got it. Her response proved her instincts to be spot on because Ms. Danvers stuttered a quiet, "yeah." This seemed to surprise Mr. Kent because it generated a sideways glance from him which held unknown meaning.

Sensing she had truly reached at least one of them, Lena still felt like she needed to show Mr. Kent/Superman that all she wanted was to help.

"I know why you're here… Because a subsidiary of my company made the part that exploded on the Venture," she stood, crossing the room once again, to a rack of thumb drives. Plucking the one she was looking for out, she turned back to them.

"This drive contains all the information we have on the oscillator," she stated, handing it to Mr. Kent, "I hope it helps you in your investigation."

She could see his guarded surprise as he glanced back at Ms. Danvers briefly.

"Thank you," despite his grateful response, Lena could still see he wasn't going to trust her, but she made one last plea.

"Give me a chance, Mr. Kent. I'm just here for a fresh start… Let me have one."

The reporter just smiled noncommittally and bid her farewell,

"Good day, Ms. Luthor."

Then he made his way to the elevators. Ms. Danvers' expression had been slightly more open, a little more willing to give her that chance. She too mumbled her own, "good day," before exiting just as quickly. Her eyes tracked them as they walked out and she released an inaudible sigh.

While the whole interaction had been tense, Lena had a feeling that she had gotten through to Ms. Danvers. Whatever she was to Mr. Kent, she hoped she could convince him to give her a chance. She couldn't explain the immediate pull the blonde had that caused her to reveal so much about her past with Superman in the room, but all she knew was that she hoped her and Ms. Danvers would cross paths again.

It was amazing that she hadn't figured out her secret right then and there. Especially when not thirty minutes later, she and Superman had saved her life when her chopper was attacked.

"Should be a smooth flight, Ms. Luthor," her pilot, Tom, assured her as he readied the helicopter for takeoff. She placed the headset over her ears and responded,

"I hate flying. I know statistically it's the safest way to travel but still." And then they were rising from the ground.

Almost immediately she noticed the drone to her right.

"What the hell?" she breathed, before noticing the drone directly ahead of them. Her pulse raced, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She braced herself against the cockpit walls, her breath coming in short gasps. Of all the fears she had of flying, this hadn't not been one she even considered.

She stared at the drone, frozen in fear and unable to do anything. They were sitting ducks, surrounded by these high-tech drones that looked vaguely familiar, or at least the technology did. She could tell these weren't the paparazzi and her heart beat quickened as they targeted the chopper.

Inhaling sharply and crushing her eyes closed instinctively, Lena's whole body tensed as she waited for the bullets to strike her. But they never came.

She slowly opened her eyes only to see Superman and… a female version? This must be the Supergirl everyone had been talking about. Her brain was having difficulty processing the mass amounts of information it was receiving and she wasn't going to have time now to pick it apart.

She watched, wide-eyed as Superman flew away, leaving Supergirl. Lena had never felt so powerless but she watched as Supergirl used heat vision, much like Superman, to blow one of the drones apart.

Then another aimed what looked like a rocket directly at the chopper. In the blink of an eye, this woman had flown in front of them, taking the full impact of the explosive directly in the chest. While it saved them, the woman crashed straight down onto the helipad, the force of the fall crushing the concrete underneath her.

Lena craned her neck down, terrified the woman wouldn't get back up but then another drone had begun firing at the chopper.

The bullets missed her somehow but could see that Tom had been hit and the chopper was starting to spin towards the ground, unable to maintain altitude without its pilot, paired with the damage it had sustained. A blood-curdling scream escaped her throat and once again she braced herself for pain.

But once again, this woman saved her. She had no idea what had happened to the other drone, too consumed with her impending death, but she could feel someone take control of the chopper and guide it gently back down to the helipad.

Lena couldn't believe it. How was she alive right now? Relief flooded her body even as her heart continued to thunder against her chest. Practically yanking the headset off her head as Supergirl pried the door closest to Tom off the chopper with brute force.

The blonde stuck her upper body inside, and immediately assured her,

"You're safe now." Blue eyes trying their best to convey that message but as much as Lena was relieved and grateful to this woman for saving her life, she had so many questions.

"What the hell was that?" she demanded, breathlessly, the adrenaline still coursing through her veins causing blood to pound in her ears.

"Someone's trying to kill you," the superhero told her, a hand pressed to Tom's chest to presumably feel for a heartbeat.

Lena had no idea what to make of that information. Sure, there was plenty of people that wanted her dead but usually they just sent hate mail or threatened her on social media. Never before had someone actually tried to take her life and her mind was racing to figure it out.

Sensing the woman was still looking at her, Lena turned her gaze back to Supergirl, recognizing a crease of concern on her smooth forehead. Sky blue eyes seemed to narrow as they scanned her body up and down. On any other day, in any other situation, this would have made her feel uncomfortable but she got the sense that this woman had X-Ray vision like Superman and was checking her for injuries.

Once she seemed satisfied that Lena wasn't hurt she raised her eyes to meet Lena's the worry still etched in their depths.

"I have to get him to a hospital. Will you be all right?" she asked, seeming to hesitate before she carefully removed the various harnesses that held Tom strapped into place.

"I'll be fine. Save him," it came out as almost a command but the hero gave her one last once over before scooping up the pilot.

"Stay safe, Ms. Luthor," the woman gave her own command, pleading with those clear blue eyes before flying away. As Lena sat there, catching her breath, an inescapable feeling told her that she had seen those blue eyes before… but where?

Yet, Lena hadn't been able to place those eyes that day, despite having just seen them. It took a few more interactions with the two of them for her to realize Kara and Supergirl were one and the same.

She couldn't lie, not even to herself… initially she had felt hurt that Kara hadn't let her in on the secret, that she worked so hard to keep that part of herself from Lena. It had felt like Kara was just like everyone else: unwilling to trust a Luthor, but the more she thought about it, the more she came to realize that wasn't the case at all. Far from it.

Kara had shown time and again, in her words and actions, that she believed Lena was good. If anything, Lena had been the one to hold her cards close to the vest, deceiving Kara several times over but ultimately trying to do the right thing. Lena came to realize that Kara would tell her, or not, whenever she was ready. It had nothing to do with trust. It was about protecting the ones she cared about which made her think that maybe, just maybe Kara returned her feelings. But then there was Mon-El.

Thinking of Kara was like going down the rabbit hole, her thoughts wanting to go off on so many tangents. The one that floated to the surface next was concern for how the blonde woman was faring after the battle and her... boyfriend... having to leave Earth permanently.

It was easy to see how much Kara cared for the Daxamite but it was hard for her to see them together. Despite this, Lena had wanted more than anything to comfort the other woman but it was obvious Kara needed some space to process it all.

But it was now several days later and Lena had watched her TV all weekend, hoping to see a glimpse of Supergirl but to no avail. Typically, the superhero would help police and rescue crews even on the most routine of calls if she could but there was nothing.

So lost in thought was she that Lena didn't notice when her new assistant, Lana, stepped into her office. It took the young woman clearing her throat to drag Lena's attention to the present. Her eyes snapped into focus and the densely worded paper came into view. Shaking her head slightly at her own lack of productivity, Lena set the paper down on her desk and glanced up at her assistant.

"Yes, Lana?" she asked after clearing her dry throat slightly. The raven-haired woman seemed embarrassed that she interrupted her but Lena ignored it, giving the woman a small smile, encouraging her to continue.

"Sorry to bother you, Ms. Luthor, but your 1 o'clock called to confirm you were still available," apparently sensing the unspoken question, she continued, "it's a potential investor."

Lena glanced back down momentarily at the unread report, knowing full well that no work was going to get done today. But then she thought, maybe her time would be more useful elsewhere.

"Could you reschedule with them, please? As well as anything I have this afternoon. I'm taking the rest of the day off," Lena replied finally and Lana nodded her acquiescence but before she left Lena added, "Oh, could you also order a mixed dozen donuts from Sullivan's? I'll be picking them up in the next 15 minutes or so." Lana nodded and replied, "of course, Ms. Luthor," as she turned and continued out of the CEO's office.

Shortly after she left, Lena stood from her desk, locked the report away in a drawer, and grabbed her things. She had somewhere she needed to be. She had just been so wrapped up in her own pity party that she hadn't realized it.

Not really any more clear-headed than moments ago, Lena headed towards the elevators and made her way out of L Corp. George and her black town car were waiting for her obediently as was the norm and while the older gentleman looked surprised to see her walk out of the office so early, he asked no questions, merely opened the back door for her. It was what she looked for her in staff: people who are loyal, trustworthy, and who don't ask questions.

"Sullivan's Donuts, please, George. I just need to pick up some donuts before we head to Kara Danvers' apartment," she told him with an appreciative smile. He returned the smile as she ducked down into the seat and he closed the door.

The ride to Sullivan's was uneventful as was getting the donuts aside from some patrons and staff staring at her. Thankfully, all of them had the decency not to make a scene of a Luthor being there, instead keeping their thoughts to themselves. And then she was off to Kara's; all nerves and excitement as she usually was when she was going to be near the blonde reporter. It had taken her a while to acknowledge the fact that these feelings were here to stay but now she was going to embrace them.

When the car pulled up in front of the modest brick apartment building with shamefully lax security, Lena got out and made her way in as if on auto-pilot. In the elevator her heart really started to pound in her chest and she was certain that Kara wouldn't even need her super hearing to know she was coming.

Her high heels clicked on the tile floor as she approached and she couldn't help but wonder if Kara watching her. This thought caused a pleasurable chill to run up her spine in excitement but she kept her face a mask of stoicism as was her habit.

Adjusting the box in her hands to just her left, Lena hesitated as she stared at the door. Mostly, because her lungs had apparently forgot how to expand and it was becoming difficult to breath but also because she needed to collect herself before she faced the beautiful woman on the other side of the door. Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Lena mentally tried to control her rebellious heart to no avail…then she knocked.

A/N: Hey there, folks! When I finished watching season 2 I felt like there was so much opportunity here. It took a little while for SuperCorp to grow on me but now I'm obsessed! This could very well be a one-shot but if there are those out there who want more I already have a story planned out and a second chapter in the works. I hope to show their relationship grow while building on their interactions throughout the season. Let me know what you think and I'll be happy to continue!