Starlight, Star Bright

Chapter 1

A big thank you to @jeeennifer30 for designing this fabulous cover.  Love you, Jenny!

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The people downstairs are fighting again.

That's how Lena thinks about Lionel and Lillian when they're fighting: the people downstairs. They aren't really her real parents anyway, she tells herself at moments like this. Her mother had died seven years ago, and her father... Lena likes to think of her father as someone mysterious, maybe an inventor and world traveler, who will return to Ireland, find out she's living with some family in the states, swoop in, and whisk her away to a life of adventure and learning. She knows it's a pipe dream, but why dream at all if you aren't going to dream big? She has the heart of a child with one of the greatest minds the world has ever seen. That can make for pretty big dreams.

One of Lena's favorite things to do when the arguing starts is to lie out on the roof next to her bedroom window. That has become more and more frequent, unfortunately. It seems like all Lionel and Lillian do is argue anymore, and all too often, Lena hears her name repeatedly brought up. A better option is to lie on her back looking up at the stars and dream of life on another planet where daddy's don't leave, and mommy's don't die.

Things were better before Lex left for college. He used to come home on weekends, then at least the long weekends when normal weekends had slipped away, there were holidays that have now come and gone, and now it's summer vacation. Summer vacation was the last promise to spend time together that he broke, and with it, another little piece of Lena broke off. Now he had gone off with his new friends and left her alone with the people downstairs.

She creeps out of the window, carefully and quietly closing it behind her although it would take artillery shell explosions to make more noise than Mr. and Mrs. Luthor are making at the moment. The tightly sealed, triple-pane window provides substantial insulation against the marital bliss within. Lena waits patiently through the final setting rays of the summer sun until the first star appears in the darkening sky.

Starlight, star bright

The first star I've seen tonight.

I wish I may, I wish I might

Have the wish I wish tonight.

"I wish I had a friend."

It's a child's wish to follow a child's nursery rhyme, but pre-teens should be allowed to be children for as long as possible. High above, the star blinks and seems to grow larger as the sky turns to navy blue. Brighter and brighter, closer and closer, the star grows with each moment. A shooting star? A meteor? A meteorite? It glows a bright white as it rips through Earth's atmosphere, seemingly insistent upon surviving its trek to the surface. Not just any surface either. Lena crawls backward, her back flush to the house as she stares with wonder at the rapidly growing and nearing object. It streaks overhead so close she could swear she feels heat, though it's still miles in the air. It's with a pounding heart and enthusiastically wide eyes that Lena stands, fumbles her way back through her window, and races downstairs past the people who live there.

Lena only wastes a few seconds watching the battle in the living room before deciding to leave World War 2.5 behind her and venture off on her own. She pulls her bicycle, yet another new one she got for Christmas, out of the garage, slaps her helmet on her head, and takes off in the direction of the falling object. Security guards watch her go but don't try to stop her. Perhaps they can hear her parents' nightly bouts and wish Lena speedy travels. She makes a several mile journey into the conservation land that abuts her estate in short order and out of breath, only slowing when the glow ahead of her comes into better view.

It's quite a glow, too. There's a swath of downed trees and a series of small fires that could be problematic if they don't get under control. Still, Lena advances gingerly, her curiosity and excitement growing as her view of the object improves. Sleek and metal, her child's heart sees a spaceship while her scientist's brain runs through every possibility and comes up with... a spaceship. Reason would tell her to be wary and retreat back to her parents, but reason is no more welcome than her parents. Instead, she continues closer to the ship, stepping carefully around forest debris and charred pieces of the forest.

The thing has no wings, more like stylized fins in the back, but its nose is partially buried in the forest floor, so Lena is able to get close enough to look through the glass (probably not glass, Lena) lid and into the cockpit. She's met with eyes as blue as the sky and wide as her own. Staring seems to take up several moments of first contact, and then with a woosh of air and hiss that sounds like something from the movies (at least they got that part right), the top unlatches and slowly opens. Lena takes several ranging steps back, caution yelling in her ear and trying to override her curiosity, but she doesn't go far. The person who emerges from the ship is a girl, young, blonde, scared, and not much older looking than Lena. It's the scared part that helps Lena to make up her mind, and she offers a gentle smile and advances on this... alien... damn.

"Hello? Do you understand me?"

The girl's brows scrunch together, creating a crinkle between them, and she peers closely at Lena but doesn't respond.

"You don't understand me, do you?"

That's ignored as this life form, who looks entirely human from what Lena can see, looks around at what is likely unfamiliar terrain. She finally stares up, a frown etching itself deeply into her face as she stares at the unfamiliar stars and single moon in the sky. When she looks at Lena again, sorrow, heart-wrenching sorrow, has been added to the emotions that paint her face.

Lena long ago learned to hide that emotion before her new mother saw it, but it's relatable. She takes a step forward, hand held out as she smiles. "It's okay, I can help you."

The alien shuffles away, but she quickly runs out of room as her back collides with her ship and makes her gasp.

Lena is patient, though, and she doesn't move. She stands still, her hand held out and a smile that she hopes looks friendly on her face. Eventually, the girl seems to calm a bit, perhaps seeing no other options, and takes her first tentative step closer and then another.

"That's it. I won't hurt you. That's the way."

It's painfully slow, but the alien comes to within grasping distance of Lena and does just that, she reaches out and takes Lena's hand in her own. Both of their hands are warm, though it's a warm night, but that initial action seems to calm them both. They're both touching an alien, yet there is nothing alien about the contact.

Gently, Lena coaxes the girl to a safer location away from the wreckage site, not far but far enough not to errantly slip into fire.

"You're going to be okay. I promise you that."

As Lena nods and smiles, the girls nods and smiles in response. It's a good smile, one that touches her eyes and Lena's heart.

"My name's Lena. What's your name?"

That crinkle appears again, and the girl shakes her head. It's their first bit of communication, a casual motion that expresses a mutual concept from another galaxy. It's a start. When sap in one of the trees pops angrily from the fire, the girl yelps and spins. Lena hushes her, making noises meant to be calming, and they seem to work.

"It's okay. It's okay. I won't let anything hurt you," Lena promises and means with all of her heart. "I'm your friend. Do you understand that, friend? Friend?"

Crinkle returns and fades again, and the girl's lips part as, with an odd (alien) accent, she struggles out, "Friend."

That one word holds the potential of two worlds and so much hope, and all Lena can do is nod, gently squeeze the girl's hand, and repeat, "Friend."

They have a long road ahead of them, and there will be perils and footfalls everywhere along the way, but it's amazing what a Luthor and a Super can do when they're friends working together.