Captured Memories

"Lena!"

The ravenette in question flinched as the sound of her CFO's voice rose above the general din of the crowded ballroom. Smoothing the non-existent wrinkles out of the one shoulder midnight green dress she was wearing, Lena put on her patented 'work smile' and approached her friend.

"Sam," she greeted coolly, eyes flicking towards the glass of champagne she was being offered before dismissing it with a flick of her hand.

"I can't believe you actually came! You never come to these things."

Barely with-holding the urge to roll her eyes, Lena allowed a small smirk to flirt across her red painted lips.

"I could hardly not show up when my favourite CFO threatens to fill my office with unmentionable things now could I?"

Sam let out a loud laugh and carelessly shrugged her shoulders, almost successfully dislodging the strap of the red dress she was wearing. Grabbing onto Lena's hand, Sam carolled her towards the bar and ordered her a whisky neat.

"Is this your version of an apology?" Lena laughed lightly as she smelled the smokey Auchentoshan liquid.

"Maybe,' Sam shrugged again. 'Or I just wanna get you drunk."

Shaking her head at her friends antics, Lena sipped her drink and observed her staff in varying stages of alcohol induced happiness. One worker in particular caught her attention.

Kara Zor-El; LCorp photographer extraordinaire and probably the nicest person on the entire planet. The tall blonde was laughing with one of the small tech guys, towering over him with her six foot frame. Bedecked in an obviously tailored midnight purple suit with a black dress shirt and tie, Kara struck a stunning figure with her blonde princess curls flowing down her back.

The two of them shared an interesting relationship. Kara never acted like everyone else towards Lena; instead of fearful politeness towards the Luthor Heiress, Kara always had a friendly quip waiting for the CEO that bordered on flirtatious. Never one to back down from the challenge Kara playfully offered up, Lena would respond in kind; much to the never-ending amusement of her best friend.

"I see Miss Danvers has caught your attention," Sam intoned innocently from atop the rim of her glass.

"I've no idea what you're talking about."

Lena turned her back on the dance floor as if to prove her point.

"So if I were to say Ms. Muscles-for-days was coming this way you wouldn't react?"

Much to her own frustration, Lena couldn't help but spin on her five inch heels; a real smile already blossoming on her features as her verdant eyes lit up. Subtly throwing an elbow in Sam's direction, Lena watched Kara's progress until the blonde stopped in front of her.

"Ms. Zor-El."

"Miss Luthor, is it a personal prerogative of yours to always make us underlings look like we're little children playing dress up? Because you look like a Goddess who's gracing us with her presence."

Lena allowed Kara's formal whiskey smooth voice to wash over her as the blonde bowed at the waist and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand.

"Hello to you too Kara," Sam huffed sarcastically before Lena could answer.

"My apologies Miss Arias, looking beautiful as always,' Kara smirked, offering Sam a sharp bow. 'I just came to wish you both a Merry Christmas and to give you these."

Kara pulled two envelopes out of the jacket pocket and handed them to the two women.

"Oh Kara, I can't accept this. I didn't get you anything," Lena worried.

"Nonsense, I'm actually your Secret Santa but you weren't here for the exchanging earlier."

Lena whipped her head around and gave Sam her best death glare, watching the brunette flounder for an appropriate response.

"I'm guessing you weren't aware of this, but I wish for you to have it nonetheless. Merry Christmas Lena."

With one last bow, Kara turned on her heel and quickly rejoined her friend.

"What the Hell Sam?' Lena rounded on her friend. 'You put my name in that didn't you?"

"If you want to get really technical, yes I did. But it's okay, there was an odd number so you didn't have to get anyone anything."

"Oh that makes me feel so much better,' Lena hissed, offering Sam her letter. 'Take it before I burn it."

Sam quickly snatched the letter from Lena and ripped it open.

"What the... HOLY CRAP BALLS!!!

Looking over her shoulder, Lena saw the phone number scrawled across the piece of paper with a note attached to the bottom.

"I really enjoyed helping Kara watch Ruby a few weeks ago. If you want, we can hang out sometime - Alex Danvers"

"Alex... That's Kara's sister isn't it?"

"Yup, and now I have her number!!"

Losing Sam to the letter, Lena slowly opened hers and was greeted only by two lines of writing.

"[email protected]
IrishPrincess4ever"

After gracefully bowing out of the party a few hours later, Lena shed her CEO Persona and put on her comfiest tartan pyjama trousers and favourite royal blue Supergirl hoodie that was perfectly worn from use. Ungracefully dropping onto her large couch, she pulled her laptop towards her and logged onto the email address Kara had written down.

She was confronted by what seemed to be hundreds of emails, all of them tagged with a date ranging from months ago to tonight. Scrolling down, she clicked on the first one and settled into read.

Hey Miss Luthor, Kara here.
You're probably wondering what all of this is, apart from the whole Secret Santa thing I hope. I honestly had no idea what to get the woman who seemingly has everything, but then I realised I could give you something you needed.
When people speak about you I listened, and I quickly figured out that people have a certain perception of you because of your brother. You never negate any of it, possibly because you don't care, but I think it's because on some level you agree with that whole notion.
Let me be the first to say that you are not your brother and you have every right to be who you want to be. Because of this, I decided to make a kind of electronic journal as it were, full of pictures and stories that I believe showcase the real Lena that not everyone gets to see.

Be your own Hero,
Kara

Lena re-read the email at least five times, valiantly attempting to ignore the tell-tale prickle in the corner of her eyes as she did so. In one little email, Kara had successfully shattered all the walls Lena had spent years cultivating, because she could see right through Lena’s facade. Chewing on the wrist of her hoodie, Lena tentatively clicked out of the email and clicked on the next one.

Immediately, she was assaulted with a picture of herself sitting behind her desk. Even though the picture was obviously taken through glass and in black and white, Lena could almost feel the waves of fatigue rolling off her slumped shoulders. Her head was resting in her hands with her elbows propped on her desk and her glasses - that she never wore in front of her employees - were dangling from her hand. She had her Supergirl hoodie on over her dress, the Sigil peeking through her arms, and her black hair was tumbling around her shoulders and flirting with her arms. Papers were scattered haphazardly across her desk and she was illuminated by the glow of her computer screen.

It was a stunning picture; the details that Kara was able to capture with one little click tricked you into thinking you were actually looking at the moment in real time and not through a computer screen.

Lena had to take a few minutes to control herself as a few tears escaped down her face. She always tried so hard to hide any hint of weakness and was Kara turning it into something beautiful.

“Dammit Kara, you’re going to ruin me,” she stressed to her empty apartment, haphazardly wiping the tears away with her sleeve before returning to the email.

Miss Luthor,
I swear I wasn’t deliberately creeping on you when I took this one. Eve hadn’t grabbed my proofs for your article before she left so I decided to drop them off at her desk so she could sort them out in the morning. I was surprised to see you still in the office considering it was nearly three in the morning, I was only there because James had monumentally screwed up and I had to fix his mistake.
You looked like a statue worthy of Michelangelo; a sort of Weeping Angel as it were (excuse the Doctor Who reference). Frozen in time in such a way that I honestly don’t remember making a conscious choice to take the picture, I just knew that I had to capture the moment. I found out the next day from Winn that you had made a breakthrough in your Nano-technology research; it made me glad that I stayed late.

Be your own Hero
Kara

Lena laughed wetly as she finished reading. It was good to know that Kara was as much a dork as she was. How Kara managed to capture her perfectly in mere seconds was beyond her, but she knew that she was going to be an emotional wreck by the time she finished going through the emails.

Picking up her phone she shot a text to Eve to say that she wasn’t going to be at work the next day, finally making good use of the perks that came with being the boss. Deciding to get comfortable for the night, the ravenette moved into the kitchen to make herself some hot chocolate. She’d not even been there for two minutes before her phone was going off with Sam’s distinctive Dalek text tone repeatedly.

Shaking her head at her friends’ antics, Lena opened their text thread.

> Eve just messaged me to say you’re not coming to work tomorrow…
> Who are you and what have you done with Lena Luthor??
> What’s going on?
> Are you ill?
> Do I need to stage an intervention?
> Lena!!
> Answer your phone!!
> LENA KIERNA LUTHOR I KNOW YOU’RE AWAKE
> YOU’RE READING MY WORDS
> ANSWER ME
> LENA!

Letting out a loud belly laugh, Lena quickly typed out a response.

< I’m perfectly fine Sam, just taking the day to pursue some personal things. Now, I’m turning my phone off, goodnight.

Quickly shutting her phone off, Lena finished making her drink before returning to her spot on the couch. The next one that Lena clicked immediately had her in tears.

She wasn’t the only one in this photograph. There was a little blond boy laid out on a hospital bed, hooked up to multiple machines that they almost swallowed his small five-year-old frame, as Lena knelt beside him. The walls were covered with Space, not a single glimpse of white-washed hospital walls in sight. The boy was looking at Lena with awe written all over the lines of his exhausted face as she was gesturing wildly towards the ceiling as his small hands tightly gripped the brand new Supergirl blanket that Lena had just gifted him with as the CEO amazed him with stories of the times she met his favourite hero.

“Kaedyn…” Lena whispered, her mind perfectly recalling that day at the Children’s hospital and how she attended his funeral not a week later.

Miss Luthor,
I know you probably recoil from thinking about Kaedyn, but you need to know how much of an impact you had on him. I’m sure you’re aware that you were his only visitor as he was abandoned at the hospital, but there was something that the nurses kept from you about him.
The day I took this picture, I went to show it to his personal nurse and she broke down; it was heartbreaking Lena. She knew Kaedyn wouldn’t survive the week, and she told me something she made me swear never to tell you in fear of causing you more pain. When you visited him, he would call you Miss Lena, but after you left… Lena, when he asked after you he would ask for his Mommy.
I know that you doubt yourself and the work you do because you couldn’t save him, but you need to know that that little boy worshipped the ground you walk on. As much as he loved Supergirl, you were his hero. Not Lena Luthor, the aloof CEO, but Miss Lena, the person who decorated his room with stars and planets and told him stories at night; the person who mothered him when no-one else could.

Be your own Hero
Kara

Lena reverently traced the outline of Kaedyn’s face on her screen, her eyes flicking over to the only photo to grace her walls that was actually personal. Taken by one of the nurses,, Kaedyn was almost molded to Supergirl in his sleep, the hero lying on his hospital bed with a small smile on her face while Lena was lying on the other side with a book open on her lap.

It was one of the ravenette’s fondest memories, where Kaedyn still had enough energy to get excited when Supergirl walked in and they stayed for hours with the Kryptonian spinning stories of Krypton and other planets she’d visited.

“My Kaedyn, my beautiful baby boy,’ Lena choked out, covering her mouth with her sleeve to stop the sobs trying to escape. ‘What is she doing to me?”

With a shaky breath, Lena saved the image into a new folder she titled ‘Kara’s Journal’ and exited the email. Going back and adding the first photo to the folder, Lena spent the entire night going from email to email, occasionally having to stop as Kara reduced her to tears. It was around five in the morning when she clicked on the email that landed on Halloween.

This picture made her burst out laughing as memories of that day rushed back to her. She had dressed as Morgana, as Sam had said she was the actress’ twin, and Ruby had wanted to copy her Auntie Lena. Kara was actually in this picture, having shown up to the office dressed as King Arthur, complete with golden circlet and Excalibur sheathed at her waist, with ten-year-old Ruby on her shoulders laughing at something Winn had said about Sam’s Merlin costume. Lena and Sam were either side of the laughing pair, resigned looks of amusement on their faces as they looked at the two children.

Lena,
Obviously I didn’t take this picture, that honour unfortunately goes to James, but I needed to include it nevertheless. Seeing you with Ruby and Sam is something I’ll never get tired of; it’s the happiest you ever let yourself be at the office. You stop being our boss and embrace being Ruby’s Aunt for the day.
Her face when she came trick-or-treating around the Photography floor and literally bumped into me was glorious, as was seeing the beaming smile you were sporting as you followed right behind her. How could I say no to her asking for a picture with the three of us? Seeing you with your real family, it was the most content I’d seen you since Kaedyn.
You’re going to make an amazing mother one day Lena, mark my words. Any child of yours will be the luckiest kid on earth.

Be your own Hero
Kara

Lena scoffed loudly at the words; if any kid was going to be lucky it was Kara’s. The woman was a literal ball of sunshine who had no qualms about dropping everything to play in the mud because a small child asked her too. Lena had witnessed the blonde with the children of her employees, on the days that laughter rang around all of the offices because Kara was flying them across the roof or helping them take embarrassing pictures of their parents. There was no hesitation in Kara’s actions around children and it was something so pure to witness that Sam would usually rib her about the smiling splitting her face.

Almost near the end of the emails, the last one caught her attention. All of the emails so far were marked with a date, whereas this one was marked ‘I’m Sorry…’ Deciding it would be okay to skip a few, she clicked on it, slamming her laptop shut in shock as she read the words before the picture.

This was when I fell in love with you…

In complete disbelief, Lena slowly opened her laptop and watched as the picture loaded onto her screen. Out of all the pictures, this was the only one that depicted Lena as a mere silhouette and not full detail. She was standing on a beach, heels in her hand as she allowed the waves to lap at her feet, staring out over the endless ocean brought to life by the setting sun.

Lena,
On some level, I think I always knew this was going to happen. Photography is expression at it’s finest, and I got lost in you. The best pictures I’ve taken in my entire life are all contained within this email address, and it’s because I finally found you. My muse. How could I not fall for you, seeing you in ways no-one else ever will?
It’s impossible for me to list all the things I love about you because I discover new ones every day and none of them capture your essence as much as my camera does However, I can tell you in all certainty, that it was this was when I fell in love for the first time; lowering my camera and just watching you shed all of the burdens and responsibilities that come with the Luthor name and being the 23 year-old people forget you are. You were just so beautiful in that moment, so free. It was impossible not to fall.
I’m sorry that I love you, you probably wouldn’t have a clue who I was if I wasn’t the Photography Director. I don’t expect anything from this, I genuinely just wanted you to see yourself the way I see you.

You’re my Hero
Kara