Chapter Text
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It was no secret that Cat Grant, the Queen of all Media, was tough as nails. She married a Luthor after all, the last living Luthor. She's torn down celebrities with a few well placed words, torn down politicians with cold hard facts and some unflattering pictures. She's exposed government officials on live television. She had enemies on all corners of the planet, but she never faltered. Never backed down from the truth that needed to be exposed.
But there was one area of media that she did not control, could not ever control, which was what landed them in her and her wife, Lena, into the predicament they’ve currently found themselves in now. Sitting side by side in an ungodly space shuttle.
She and Lena had all the money in the world, the means to do whatever they wanted ( a fact they took advantage of every now and then. They loved their work too much to leave it behind for too long). But they grew bored, not with their work lives. Their work kept them on their toes enough to never become bored, but it was their personal lives that has become bland. Too routine and slow. They'd talked about this, extensively, the pros and the cons, but now that they were on their way to do this...thing they agreed to do together. Cat was nervous, and she knew Lena was too but just like Cat, the brunette was content to pretend that she wasn't.
There were others on the shuttle, unknown faces that Cat could care less about, but given the prices of their tickets, they had to have been wealthy enough to earn their spot on the shuttle. Cat shifted in her seat and pulled out her phone to check her emails, only to remember...they didn’t have signal in space. At least not on their phone plan...something she'd have to look into later on.
Cat jumped when her wife placed a hand on her thigh, and Lena squeezed the limb reassuringly, “We're almost there...are you ready, darling?”
The Media Queen nodded, “Of course, why wouldn't I be?”
“You've been playing with your necklace since we've taken off,” Lena leaned forward, to avoid being heard by the other passengers, “It's not too late to back out, Cat.”
Cat shook her head, exhaling deeply, “Let's just...see what our options are before we move to phase two. We're just window shopping, right?”
Lena nodded, eyes still roaming over her wife's face, “Cat-”
“ Alright, ladies and gentlemen. We are ten minutes away from Fort Rozz. Fasten your harnesses and we will be landing shortly.”
Lena squeezed Cat's thigh one more time before slowly removing her hand to buckle her harness and settle more comfortably in her seat as the carrier began to shake slightly on their descent.
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“ They may not be human's...well, not all of them, but it sounds a hell of a lot like slavery to me.” Cat argued as she stood at the kitchen sink rinsing off their dinner plates with her back to her wife who was sitting at the kitchen counter.
Lena continued to nurse her last glass of wine while scrolling through her phone on various search engines to counter her lovers protests, “Cat, it's not like we're going to be buying them and holding them against their will. It's physically impossible for us to do that.”
“ Then what is it then, Lena? Please, enlighten me.” Cat tossed aside the towel she used to dry her hands as she turned to lean back on the counter, arms folded across her chest.
Lena paused, eyes darting to Cat's unimpressed gaze. She knew that tone, and she knew the blonde had just become prickly and she would need to tread carefully with their conversation. The brunette set aside her phone and her downed the rest of her wine gracefully, “The laws against aliens permitted to residing on Earth are strict, and ...with my brothers alien detection device we both know that it's impossible for them to hide amongst humans without being discovered and killed. Right?”
Cat waved her hand carelessly, “Yes, honey, I know. I wrote the piece remember? Please, get to the point.”
Lena rolled her eyes at her wife's impatience but smiled anyway, “The aliens on the Fort Rozz market won't be held against their will, they'll be under contract.”
“ That makes everything so much better. It's still a form of slavery.”
“ Some of them don't have a home or a family to go back to, Cat. They're just looking for a home and a purpose. They are offering themselves up willingly. What's the harm in trying, baby?”
“ And what if they’re some sort of murderous criminal that's looking for a way in and kills us in our sleep?”
“ It's a risk, yes, but the DEO does a full background check on who get's placed on the market. I mean that and some other things that aren’t disclosed but it's been six years and not one incident has happened.”
“ Yet.” Cat countered, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Yet, and what if we're that 'yet'. What if we're the lucky couple that purchases the bad seed? Then what?”
Lena didn’t have an answer, it was a risk she was willingly to take but she knew that telling her wife that would be a horrible thing to do, and that would be the end to any conversation about this at all. Lena eased her way off the barstool and came around the counter to stand in front of the shorter woman, placing her hands on her hips. “How about this...how about we just go window shopping and play it by ear?”
Cat raised an eyebrow, “Play it by ear? Do I look like a woman who plays anything by ear?”
“ Cat...”
“ Fine. But if I say we stop, we stop. Got it?”
“ Mmm,” Lena leaned forward and down slightly to kiss Cat's pouty lips softly, “So bossy...deal.”
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Cat expected a grimy, unwashed space station (there were no online pictures of Fort Rozz's interior). It was anything but, it was spotless. The air was crisp and clean, not a stench could be detected and it was fascinating but pleasant. The walls were empty, but it had windows to see outside into space and it was quite simply breathtaking.
The space station was damn near empty except for a few DEO guards with large specialized weapons in their hands and strapped somewhere on their person. The seriousness of the situation came crashing down like a huge tidal wave, as if Cat didn’t already know but being in the reality of the situation and not in the safety of her kitchen of her ranch house. Made her heart pound harder than it was before.
Standing a few feet ahead of the group were two soldiers. One was a dark skinned male around six foot and wearing black military fatigues and the other was also a male with short cropped blonde hair. The taller man stepped forward, dark eyes cold as ice and his small smile even worse.
“My name is Hank Henshaw, Director of this space station and I would like to welcome you and assure you that you are safe as you can possibly be in my care.” he paused, waiting for his words to sink in for a few seconds before continuing, “Mrs. Grant-Luthor, and Mrs. Grant-Luthor will you two please come with me?”
Lena and Cat glanced at each other before stepping forward before another man came forward, a man they both recognized as the ever annoying Maxwell Lord, “Wait, why do they get special treatment?”
The man looked at the two women, then back to Maxwell and smiled once again, “Enjoy your trip sir. Ladies...” he stepped aside and allowed them to walk ahead of him, and they did not look back or speak until they were gently guided into an airlift that was guarded by two soldiers.
“Where are you taking us, Director Henshaw?” Lena asked, sounding confident and not all nervous as she was feeling.
“The questionnaire you filled out prior to buying your tickets, do you remember?”
“Yes.”
“We use that to profile the right candidates for you, they're prepared and ready for your arrival. Since you want to use your purchase in the Roulette games, so we picked the best top twenty prospects ranged from your lowest price to your highest.”
“Thank you, Director Henshaw. This experience is turning out far better than I had ever thought it would be,” Cat commented drily, not bothering to remove her sunglasses, “On paper. Please stop talking and show us your top ten. ”
Director Henshaw shut his mouth and nodded, stepping off as the doors opened. Fort Rozz has had some very rich clients through their halls before, but none of them were trillionaires. Of course, cat Grant and Lena Luthor were billionaires...separately, but together? With old money from their families adding to their finances. Hank Henshaw made sure he would close this deal, personally.
The sound of their high heels echoed on the bare black metallic walls as they followed him down an exceptionally large hallway until he stopped suddenly. To their right was a display with glass stretching from the floor to the ceiling and just beyond that glass was a creature that resembled a porcupine on two legs. Standing on a black platform with red velvet walls surrounding him...her... it. They immediately dismissed the creature and Henshaw was quick to move on. Confident that his next showcase would impress them but he was absolutely wrong in his assessment.
Cat and Lena were notoriously picky women, and any hope of seeing them as potential clients was dwindling as he neared his final vitrine. He had been hoping to avoid showing the young woman but seeing as he had no real choice, he stopped and opened the curtain anyway. And for the first time since he started his personal tour, Cat and Lena showed a hint of interest. More than a hint, Cat removed her sunglasses and edged closer to the glass.
Standing before them, half naked was a woman, well an alien that looked like a young (human) woman (more human than the others they’ve been showed). She had long blonde hair that almost looked golden and tad bit darker at the roots. Waves of hair that cascaded past her shoulders and over her small breasts that was covered by the generic gray sports bra. Her eyes were a pale blue, but they held so much knowledge and wisdom, it was as if she was much older than she looked. But Cat remembered what Lena told her...that some of the aliens were orphans of the galaxy, the last of their kind.
The alien stood around five foot eight or nine, neither CEO could be sure. But she had the physique of goddess. She was toned, but not overly so to be overwhelming. Her hidden strength coiled tight beneath her skin was subtle but it was the way she carried herself that gave her away. She was observing them just as much as they were her. And Cat forced away the blush when her eyes traveled down, and noticed why the woman's briefs were hanging low on her waist.
Hank cleared his throat, “This is Kara Zor-El, the last female Kryptonian in the galaxy.”
“Kryptonian? But I thought Lois had the last one?” Lena asked, confused while Cat just grunted and rolled her eyes at the mention of her nemesis, eyes still on the alien behind the glass who was still watching her.
Hank shook his head, “No ma’am, Ms. Lane may have the last male Kryptonian but I assure you that she did not purchase him from us. He landed on Earth and was hidden before we could find him. He's more human than Kryptonian, but Kara Zor-El? She's a true Kryptonian to the soul.”
“Can she hear us?”
Hank shook his head, “No, the room is lined with lead. She's deaf for now.”
Cat tore her eyes from the female Kryptonian, and met her wife's curious gaze. They both had a silent conversation, until Lena turned back to Hank, “Tell us more about this...Kara Zor-El. Is she dangerous?”
“Kara is mild-mannered, she did not require much instruction when she arrived. Her pod was nearly destroyed when we found her and she was in a coma for...who knows how long.” Hank cleared his throat, and continued on, “She woke up three months ago, and she speaks a number of languages English being one of them. From my understanding, she's highly intelligent. She has a mind for science, but she's tough.”
“How do you know how tough she is?” Cat asked, eyebrows furrowed, “And how do you know all of this about her?”
Hank shifted a bit uncomfortably under the tiny woman's scrutinizing gaze, “It's our job to know every and anything about the beings we're presenting.”
Lena nodded, but Cat wasn't satisfied, “How do you know how tough she is?”
“We challenge them against each other to keep them active and to ensure that we categorize them appropriately. Kara is our toughest, and smartest fighter that we have. There are others here that are stronger than her, older and wiser, but...she's proven herself time and time again.”
Cat hummed, but she was far from impressed. Lena reached out to take her hand, holding it tight, “If...and it's a big if, Director Henshaw, how will we be able to ensure total security with her? Just in case things go south.”
“We will provide you a small shipment of Kryptonite crystals to do with as you please to restrain her. We will also provide a specialized collar and a pair of handcuffs. It's her only weakness, and lead also dulls her senses. We will be able to provide two hundred pounds of lead or more if you want, ma’am.”
“Are her abilities the same as Lois' Kryptonian?”
“Yes, but better.” Hank shared Cat's smug smirk, “As I've said, he's not a true Kryptonian...she is.”
“How would we go about caring for her?” Cat inquired, eyes drawn to the blonde behind the glass who was now sitting Indian style and hovering in the air.
Hank clasped his hands behind his back, trying and failing to look casual, “On a normal day, she needs to consume around ten or fifteen thousand calories. A day, but if she's extremely active, she needs twenty-five to thirty thousand calories. It doesn’t matter what it is, so long as it is cooked.”
Lena scoffed, rolling her eyes, “Yes, because we would think serving raw meat was perfectly acceptable.”
Hank didn’t bother correcting the brunette that some aliens could only eat raw food, he just nodded curtly in apology, “Right, well-”
“How much?” Lena asked, then clarified, “If we were to purchase her today, how much?”
“As of right now, Kara Zor-El has a price of one point three billion.”
Cat raised an eyebrow, “That's a steep price, Director.”
“She's the last pure blood Kryptonian in the entire galaxy, she's the heir of the House of El.” he stated confidently, “She's the Champion of Champions that we have here. And we will be sending two of our best Agents for extra insurance and training purposes. That's the lowest we will go on the price, Mrs. Grant-Luthor.”
Lena squeezed Cat's hand, “Please excuse us a moment.”
Hank nodded and stayed near Kara as the two women moved away towards a window. Lena worried her bottom lip, trying and failing to keep the excitement at bay, “Well?”
Cat sighed loudly, “I'm still not a hundred percent on board with this but I am eager to see the look on Lois' face when she see's that we have the better Kryptonian.”
Lena rocked back on her heels, the equivalent of her bouncing for joy in public but Cat could see the nerd in her wife coming out—she saw it peeking through the cracks when Henshaw mentioned that the alien...that Kara had a knack for science. “Are you sure, Cat? I don't want to do this without you and-”
“I'm sure, sweetheart, I promise I am sure. I'm quite nervous about all of this, but I'm with you Lena.” Cat glanced back to Henshaw and the girl. She wanted to suggest that they wait, but she didn’t want someone else to come in and swoop Kara up from beneath them. Cat knew a goldmine when she saw one, and she was looking at one now. She could deal with her reservations on the fly if it would make her happy, and Cat would do anything to make Lena happy. And she wasn't lying about taking Lois Lane down a few notches...or completely. And it had nothing to do with the fact that she was disgusted with the DEO's treatment of their...guests. They couldn't exactly be called prisoners, since they were there voluntarily.
After one last check in, Lena caught Henshaw's eye and nodded curtly. The man genuinely smiled for the first time since he has introduced himself to them. Cat moved away from the window to go negotiate with Henshaw, to wrangle more details out of him while Lena looked out to the stars. Knowing that there was more life forms out there than she could possibly imagine, and knowing that she was about to possess one of, if not the most powerful one of them all. She edged back towards the glass and pressed her hand against it, curious to see what the Kryptonian would do.
Kara stared at the brunette's hand for a few seconds, then back to Lena's green eyes then to her hand once more before allowing her bare feet to touch the plush red carpet and held up her own hand to the glass. Right where Lena's was, the she smiled. It was so beautiful and radiant. So real and oh so curious, that Cat knew right then, that their lives were about to get more interesting.
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