Curing More than Cancer

Chapter 4

The women settle further into the space. Lena calls down to have a pizza sent up for them. It doesn't take long. As they dish up and start to dig in, Lena clears her throat. "How about we start off easy... What made you want to be a reporter?"

Kara looks flustered. "That- I- I thought you would ask... something else..."

"I know," Lena smiles softly. "But let's work up to that. I want to get to know you. All of you."

Kara blushes as she takes another sip of her drink. "Well, I didn't know I wanted to be a reporter for a while. I was actually Cat Grant's assistant first. She gave me the opportunity to choose whatever I wanted to do. I shadowed a bunch of different departments. I tried photography, editing, layouts. I finally felt something click when I shadowed a journalist. To try it out, they let me take the lead on a story. My very first article was about a small but influential company: Dóchas."

Lena's jaw drops. She barely hears what Kara is saying and interrupts, "D-did you say Dóchas?"

Kara stops and cocks her head to the side. "Yeah? Why?"

"Th-that's my company."

Kara's face drops with her jaw open. "What?! I wrote my first article about your company?!"

"How did I not see it in my search?" Lena mumbles more to herself than Kara.

"I wrote it years ago. It was my first ever article, and I shared the byline. When I heard about the mission, I wanted to shed light on all the good that the - your - company was doing. I interviewed people who benefitted from the foundation. Even though it wasn't a great article, your marketing department told me that they had more funders to help more people. I saw how much written word can make a positive impact. Ultimately, that article made me choose to be a reporter. Cat let me, and here I am."

"That's beautiful." Lena looks at her with pure admiration.

"What's beautiful is you founding that company."

Lena blushes under the attention. "Well, clearly your article helped it keep going."

Kara smiles shyly. "I have my question ready." Lena nods that she is ready. "Why do you do all this in secret?"

Lena lets out a sigh and takes a long pull of her drink. "Because the moment people hear the name 'Luthor,' they shut out anything that comes after it. Everything tied to the name Luthor is automatically evil."

Kara takes Lena's hands in her own. "Lee, that can't be true. Your last name is Luthor, and you are absolutely not evil. You've done so much good in the world."

Lena feels a tear run down her face. "Lena Kieran has done those good things. Lena Luthor is... less than perfect."

Kara squeezes her hands tighter. "You are the same person, Lena. And no one is perfect. Dr. Lena Kieran Luthor is a good person, and people will see that if you let them."

Lena smiles sadly. "Unfortunately, they won't. Plus, I'd rather keep the two separate."

Kara opens her mouth to argue more, but she shuts it. Ultimately, she knows that its the doctor's decision. It's not her place to tell Lena what to do. Instead, she whispers, "Your turn."

"Do you want another?" Lena asks as she slips her hands free to point to the near empty glasses.

Kara nods. "Also, that doesn't count as your question."

Lena gets up and takes their glasses. She hums to herself and purses her lips. She can see the blonde tense as she is grabbing more pizza for herself. She looks as if she is waiting for a fatal blow to come. "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"