Disclaimer: I do not own Supergirl or anything to do with DC. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
*****
Kara Danvers didn't like to judge people she didn't know, or make assumptions about them just because of their friends, or family. Or at least, she tried not to. But it was kind of hard when her new boss was a Luthor, which was literally something out of her nightmares. Only this wasn't that Luthor. The one who tried to kill her cousin, and succeeded in killing so many innocent people.
This wasn't Lex Luthor, it was Lena Luthor, who as far as Kara was aware hadn't done anything wrong. Unfortunately she still had the overwhelming urge to call up Ms Grant and ask her why on Earth she would ever sell her company to a Luthor, and had Kara done something to offend her and she was looking for a punishment that Kara wouldn't enjoy? Although as it turns out, it wasn't a punishment, but Kara would enjoy it.
She didn't known that the first time she met Lena Luthor though, and Kara couldn't help being on edge, mostly because Mrs Luthor wanted to speak to her personally at the end of the day, but also because the sister of her cousin's arch nemesis was even prettier in person. Beautiful even. Like, when Mrs Luthor was introducing herself to the Catco employees Kara couldn't stop staring at her. And not because she didn't trust her.
Well, a little of that, but mostly Kara was just staring at her new boss with heart eyes, which was extremely inappropriate given the circumstances. But Kara just couldn't help herself. She did however avoid ringing up Ms Grant, and although she was proud of herself for that Kara found herself regretting it, especially when she walked into Ms Grant's office for her meeting with her new boss.
"Kara Danvers?" Lena beamed as she looked up from her laptop.
"Ye, yes." Kara stammered.
"Lena Luthor." Lena unnecessarily introduced herself, closing her laptop and leaning back in her chair, "Cat has told me so much about you."
"Oh." Kara blushed.
"Yes." Lena grinned widely, before insisting, "Please, closed the door and sit down."
"Am, am I being fired?" Kara stammered.
Lena raised an eyebrow, "Is there a reason I should fire you?"
"No, no, no... I, erm." Kara blushed.
"Wow, you are easy to tease." Lena grinned, "This is going to be fun."
With a deep calming breath Kara finally moved to close the door and then sit down in the chair in front of the desk before nervously asking, "So, what did Ms Grant say about me?"
"That you're smart, determined, and hard-working, although opinionated and too stubborn at times. Which trust me, for her, that's gushing. And she never gushes." Lena confessed, looking Kara up and down, before casually adding, "You must have really impressed her."
"Oh." Kara blushed again, "Really?"
"Best assistant she ever had." Lena admitted with another smile.
"Oh, erm... I'm not-" Kara began hesitantly.
"Not an assistant any more. I know." Lena soothed, "You're moving up in the world, following in your cousin's footsteps. I can relate."
"What?" Kara frowned.
"I'm not even thirty, and I'm already the CEO of a large company. No wonder Lex went insane." Lena laughed softly, and sadly, "Although he was a man. His father-son. Given every benefit of the doubt. I have to earn my way out of his shadow, even when most people have made up their minds about me."
For a moment Kara thought terrible at thinking the same way, before a particularly nasty thought came tumbling out of her mouth without her permission, "That's not why you bought the magazine, right?"
There was a brief and terrifying silence, and then Lena laughed, "Do you really think I'd try anything so transparent? Kara, what kind of fool do you take me for? No, I can't just buy a good name. I need to earn it. That's why I need honest journalists, who will stop at nothing to seek the truth, even if it's at my expense. Cat assures me that's you Kara. Is it?"
"Yes Mrs Luthor." Kara quickly replied, then when there was more silence she nervously added, "I, I know I'm new to all this, but I really think I've found my calling."
"I'm glad." Lena said, looking Kara up and down, "I expect great things from you Ms Danvers. And not just as a reporter."
Kara frowned, and nervously asked, "Wha, what do you mean?"
Lena smiled softly, slowly got up and poured herself a drink, "You know, I'd rather you didn't repeat this, and I'll deny it if you do, but... the main reason I bought the company? A favour to a friend. Well, more like favours, but the biggest one was to make sure her legacy wasn't destroyed or tarnished. As someone who's had their name dragged through the mud lately, I know how terrible that is, I really want to save Cat from that."
"You do?" Kara asked softly.
"Yes." Lena admitted, poured another drink, and then walking back over to her new employee, "This might be hard to believe, but I don't have many friends. Not real ones. Often I'm surrounded by too many people with their own agendas, just telling me what they think I want to hear. It was never like that with me and Cat."
"How was it like?" Kara asked curiously.
"A conversation for another time." Lena smiled, offering Kara the drink.
"Oh, I don't-" Kara began weakly.
"Worried that it's poisoned?" Lena joked, and then when Kara didn't laugh added, "Don't worry, I would never poison someone before I got to know them."
"It's not that..." Kara lied, "I'm... I'm just not really a Scotch kind of girl."
"Suit yourself." Lena shrugged, downing Kara's glass and then leaving it on the table before making her way back to her seat, "I find it really takes the edge off after a long day. Although with everything I've gone through with Lex I'd probably be an alcoholic by now if it wasn't for my family."
"Your Mom?" Kara guessed.
"God no." Lena laughed loudly, before turning her attention to a picture frame on her desk, which she smiled warmly at before turning it towards her new employee, "My real family."
"Oh." Kara blushed with embarrassment at having no gay-da, and then smiled warmly at the picture of Lena with a woman her age and a younger girl, who was presumably their daughter, "You're-"
"Married to the most wonderful woman ever, Sam Luthor." Lena beamed, "I'm surprise you don't know. It's not like I try to hide it."
"Yes, well, I've heard a lot of different things about you." Kara said in her defence, immediately hating herself for it, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean any offence."
"None taken." Lena reassured her gently.
There was a brief pause, then Kara quickly told the other woman, "You have a beautiful family."
"Thank you." Lena smiled.
"So, how did you meet?" Kara asked out of curiosity.
Another brief pause, then Lena smiled and confessed, "At L-Corp. Well, it was Luthorcorp then and I wasn't in charge, but I was still higher up the food chain and her boss, so it was awkward. I had only just joined the company and everybody thought I was only there out of pure nepotism, even though I was working twice as hard as everyone else, and had the exact same qualifications as everyone else. But Sam, she wasn't like that. She was nothing but respectful and helpful, to the point where I slowly started leaning on her. She was my rock those first few years. People called her teacher's pet, made all sorts of accusations before anything happened between us, which initially stopped me from pursuing anything with her. But it was like swimming against the current, and after she confessed to having feelings for me I just couldn't hold back any more. After that things moved pretty fast, and now I just couldn't imagine life without her. Or our daughter Ruby."
Yet another brief pause, and then Kara softly murmured, "Wow."
"I'm sorry." Lena blushed, "When I get talking about my family, I tend to ramble."
"No, no... I think it's sweet." Kara beamed, "Please, tell me more."
"I'm the one supposed to be finding out about you." Lena chuckled.
"We can do both." Kara smiled, desperately avoiding thinking about the scary thought of a Luthor finding out more about her, even if this one seemed nice, "Tell me about Ruby, and I'll tell you more about me."