Chapter 1: Company

It wasn't that the buzz of her phone didn't register, the first six times it chimed - how could it not register? she had super-hearing - rather, it took six notifications, each one progressively louder than the last, to tug Kara out of her own mind. She blinked, bleary-eyed, the brightness of her screen spotting her vision as she glanced away from her computer. How long had it been since she had looked up from her research? Kara groaned softly as she heard her phone buzz again, and cast her gaze around her flat, searching for it.

There - on the counter, by the fridge. She stood up slowly from where she had been effectively entangled in a nest of blankets on her couch. Her feet recoiled as they touched down on the floor; it was cold. A muted rushing sound filled Kara's ears, and she turned back to the window that overlooked the city. When had the rain turned to sleet? she wondered as the phone buzzed again, reminding her why she had risen from her position in the first place. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you," she grumbled to herself.

Kara stumbled on the way to the kitchen. Her right foot was numb, with the beginnings of a tingling sensation tickling the side of it. "How is it that Kryptonians are impervious to bullets, but not to your foot falling asleep?" she mused aloud, aware of how tired her own voice sounded. Maybe it's Alex, she thought, rubbing her eyes. How late is it? Shouldn't she have been here awhile ago with the pizza?

Picking up her phone, the device informed her that it was… Rao, only 8:15pm? It felt like midnight. Kara opened her messages and found an unread text from Alex. Almost on cue, her stomach grumbled its disapproval at its empty status. Please have this be a text saying you're outside and you want me ready by the door so you can escape the weather faster, she thought as she opened the message.

- Hey sis, I'm really sorry, but I can't come over tonight. Something's come up at work.

Kara checked when the message had come in. Eleven minutes ago? How deep had she been in her concentration on article research, if she'd missed this? In a heartbeat - two, damn, slower than usual - Kara had changed into her Supergirl uniform. She texted back quickly:

Is everything okay? Do you need me to come in?

It was only a few seconds before Alex replied.

- The DEO can handle this one on its own, please don't worry! It's not the end of the world, but it does require my attention. Trust me, I'd rather be having pizza night!

Kara sighed and leaned her back against the refrigerator as she texted Alex.

What's going on? Can't you read me in?

- Not a chance! As your doctor, I cannot allow you to come back into the field until after you've recovered from the mission on Tuesday night.

Kara rolled her eyes, then winced. One of the refrigerator's handles had brushed against her back, momentarily putting pressure on a bruise that, frustratingly, hadn't healed yet. She shifted her position as she replied.

I'm fine, really!

She had barely pressed send when Alex got back to her.

- It's been three days, and you aren't fully healed! You think I don't know how rare that is? You can stop bullets! You can turn back time! And yet here we are.

Kara sighed. Alex was on a roll now; she waited for her sister to finish. The next messages came quickly, rapid-fire.

- That fight pushed you too hard, Kara.

- You made the right call, calling in sick to CatCo for the rest of the week, and I'm enforcing that trend. I'm pulling the sister card, Kara. No work until you're better!

There was a pause. Kara shook her head, frustrated - yes, that she was being benched, but more so because she knew that Alex had a point. It wasn't often that a fight left lasting injuries. Tuesday's mission had taken more out of her than she'd wanted to admit.

"Aaaaanndd that's a rabbit hole of thoughts to dive down another time," Kara muttered pointedly to herself.

All right, she texted back to Alex, but you owe me a pizza night. She looked around her flat, which - aside from the mountain of blankets and pillows she'd made for herself on the couch - was cleaner than it had been in weeks. Alex had laughed at the phenomenon when she'd come to check on her the day before.

"Who knew, all we needed to get you to clean your apartment was to put you on medical leave," she'd joked, grinning. Kara had rolled her eyes.

"Well what else am I going to do, cooped up in here? I needed a break from article research."

"You needed a break from being productive… so you relaxed by being even more productive?" Alex had raised her eyebrows at the immaculate countertops, and even Kara couldn't contain a snort at the absurdity of her sister's expression.

"Hey, it's not usually that bad in here! I just don't typically have much time for housekeeping, what with all the saving the world and such."

"Mm-hmm," Alex had replied, before insisting she check on the progress of Kara's injuries.

Kara snapped her mind back to the present, where - what with the cleanliness of the flat - she was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her evening. She'd been planning on her sister's company, and though of course DEO responsibilities took priority, she felt a little twang at the loss of time to spend with her sister. Alex's appointment as new head of the DEO had shifted their working dynamic, and they had both made extra efforts to stay as close as ever throughout the transition, but both admitted feeling some strain. It was one of the reasons Kara had been looking forward to tonight. That, and she'd been working on her CatCo project for about… she did some quick mental math.

Ten hours? That long? Kara turned to check the time on her phone again, and was suddenly hit by a dizzy spell. She shook her head and poured a glass of water. What had she been thinking about? Alex. Pizza night. Food. Her stomach growled again, and Kara tried to recall the last time she'd eaten. It took her a few moments to realize that she hadn't, not since breakfast. No wonder I'm feeling so out of it.

Kara's phone buzzed once more as she was staring into her rather desolate refrigerator. Another downside of being stuck at home - kind of hard to go grocery shopping. She had the basics, but not much else. Sighing, she glanced down at her phone. It was Alex again.

- I owe you a hangout, for sure, Alex had said, but don't write off pizza night tonight just yet!

? Kara texted back.

- I already ordered it! Should be getting to you any minute now :)

OMG YOU ARE THE BEST, Kara replied, and just as she hit send, there came a triple-knock on her door. Kara started towards the front of the flat and made it all the way so her hand was on the knob before she realized that she was still clad in her Supergirl uniform. With pizza on her mind, she elected to super-speed her cape safely to the dregs of her closet and don her most comfortable sweatpants and fuzzy sweater over the rest of the attire.

It's freezing outside, she rationalized once it was done. No more than a few seconds had passed, and she again reached for the doorknob. She made a point of not thinking about how her left arm had protested earlier when she'd changed into the Supergirl suit, a deep bruise in her shoulder making its presence known with shooting pains that radiated all the way to her fingertips as she'd over faster than the human eye could see. I'll take the rest of the uniform off later, slowly, at human-speed, she resolved, effectively shelving the issue.
"I have a delivery for one Kara Danvers?" said a familiar voice as the door swung open, and Kara looked up from the pizza and into the face of a sideways-grinning, eyebrow-raised, hair-soaked-down-with-icy-rain Lena Luthor.