Between Kara Zor-El / Supergirl and Lena Luthor and Brainiac 5 as romantic.
The city of National City was abuzz with the rare phenomenon that graced its skies—the total solar eclipse. While most people prepared their viewing glasses and cameras to capture the celestial event, at the DEO headquarters, the atmosphere was thick with trepidation. With the eclipse predicted to temporarily disrupt solar energy, Supergirl was on high alert, knowing her powers would wane as the moon obscured the sun.
Kara Zor-El, in her guise as Supergirl, stood stoically beside her sister, Alex Danvers, on the DEO's watchtower. Together, they surveyed the city for any sign of trouble that might exploit her moment of vulnerability. "Don't worry, Kara," Alex reassured her. "We've doubled the patrols, and everyone's on standby. You won't be alone out there."
Kara offered a weak smile, the weight of the impending eclipse resting on her shoulders. "Being powerless, even for a little while, it just feels...wrong," she confessed, her azure eyes reflecting a flurry of emotions.
On the other side of the city, Lena Luthor stared out the window of her high-rise office at L-Corp, her gaze fixed on the darkening sky. She had prepared a different kind of project for this event—a specialized drone designed to collect data during the eclipse. It was a venture driven by her desire to level the playing field for humanity, to provide people with the means to be their own heroes, independent of alien aid.
The clock ticked closer to totality, and across town, Kara experienced a sensation she had not felt since she was a child on Krypton—fear. Fear of the ordinary, fear of being unable to protect her city. The DEO's comms crackled to life, a distress signal cutting through the static. A chemical plant on the city's outskirts reported rising instability in their containment units—critical systems were failing, and safety could not be guaranteed.
With no time to spare, Kara leaped into the sky. As the eclipse reached totality, her flight faltered, and she fell, just as Lena's drone soared above the cityscape. Lena, remotely piloting the device, noticed the figure plummeting from the sky. Without hesitation, she maneuvered the drone to Kara's location, where it broke her fall and delivered her safely to a nearby rooftop.
Dazed but unhurt, Kara lay there, looking up at Lena, who had rushed to ensure her drone's occupant was safe. "Are you alright?" Lena asked, extending a hand to the fallen hero, not recognizing the civilian garb that masked the girl of steel.
"I will be," Kara responded, her powers still crippled by the eclipse. "Thank you for the save...?"
"Lena," she replied, helping Kara to her feet. "Lena Luthor." The name carried weight, a lineage that foretold a history of contention with anything otherworldly, but Kara found no trace of malice in Lena's eyes—only concern.
Beneath the shadow of the eclipse, an unfamiliar vulnerability tethered them, a moment shared between two strangers unaware of how closely their lives were intertwined.
The chapter concluded with an abrupt switch to an unknown, dimly lit room where a figure stared at several timelines displayed across screens. "The eclipse has begun," Brainiac 5 murmured, adjusting his Legion ring. "It's time." With those fateful words, he vanished into thin air, intent on reaching National City in the past. His arrival would soon change everything for Kara and Lena—but for better or worse, only time would tell.