Kara's POV
Kara woke up and immediately knew something was wrong. Her bones ached, her mind felt fuzzy, and she couldn't hear the incessant noise of the city coming to life around her.
"Crap. Not today." This was the second time this had happened to Kara. The loss of her powers for a whole 24 hours left everyone vulnerable.
She reached for her phone sat charging on her bedside table and reluctantly called Alex. Kara only had to wait a second before her sister picked up.
"Hey Kara. What's up? Something wrong?"
"Heeey Alex. Funny story. I, uh, I'm human for the day again." Kara had to hold the phone away from her ear as her sister shouted an expletive impossibly loud.
"Of course this has to happen now, right when we get a fix on a possible hideout for Reign." Kara stood sharply.
"You know where Reign is?"
"Ooooh no. There is absolutely no way you are going. She was an inch away from killing you with your powers. She'd practically tear you apart limb from limb without them. Plus it's not a verified fix. We can check it out tomorrow."
"But Alex-"
"Stay. Home." Kara couldn't prevent a heavy sigh from escaping her lips.
"Fiiinnee. Don't do anything important without me, alright? You're not Supergirl." She heard a chuckle on the end of the line.
"Right now you aren't Supergirl either."
"True. Love you, sis."
"Love you too, Kara. Don't get into any trouble, promise?"
"I promise," Kara resigned with a roll of her eyes.
"Don't roll your eyes at me, missy."
"I wasn't!"
"Mmmhmm. Bye, Kara."
"Bye." Kara placed her phone on the counter as her sister ended the call. "Now what am I supposed to do all day?"
She continued to stare at the phone when an idea wriggled into her head. She picked up her phone again and swiped through her contacts. "Alex said not to get into trouble, but she never said I couldn't find trouble. I'm still a reporter."
Kara stopped scrolling when she found who she was looking for and called the phone number. She had to wait a few rings this time until the person on the other end finally picked up. "Hello?"
"Hey Lena, it's Kara. Want to check out one of Edge's facilities?"
Lena's POV
This was a bad idea. Definitely one of the worse things she had done along with almost killing Morgan Edge and kissing James Olsen, though no one needed to know her thoughts on the second one.
Kara had called her earlier to check out one of Edge's facilities, for a potential CatCo story she'd claimed. Lena was cautiously optimistic it had simply been an excuse to see her, but had been sorely disappointed when Kara showed up with an address in her head and a notebook in her hand.
Now the two of them were driving in Lena's car to a factory on the outskirts of town which advertised itself as a clothing manufacturer.
"Explain to me again why a clothing factory is so suspicious," Lena said as her eyes darted between the road and Kara. She looked nice today in a sky blue button down and grey pants.
"Because clothing isn't Edge's thing. He doesn't market shorts, he deals with land and people."
"He deals in money. As much as I hate him, I wouldn't be surprised if he dabbled in clothing." Kara groaned.
"Come on. Have a sense of adventure. We could catch him without him even knowing we suspect the factory!"
"Alright, alright. We have to be careful. Edge is bound to have top of the line security."
"I can be stealthy." Lena's eyebrow raised slightly and she fought to conceal the smile threatening to upturn her mouth. Fortunately, they had arrived at their destination.
Lena parked down the street from the factory and stepped lightly out of the car. Kara did the same and the two proceeded onto the sidewalk, making their way towards their target. The closer they got, the more something nagged at her.
"Kara?"
"Hmm?"
"Why are we doing this in broad daylight?" Lena noticed Kara's eyes widen and a slight blush creep onto her cheeks.
"Well, uh, it seemed like the, um, best course... course of action?" Lena looked over and stared at Kara. The blonde had the most blatantly guilty look on her face, even as she attempted to hide it with a smile. Lena shook her head.
"Kara please tell me we aren't doing this simply because you're bored."
"What? Noooo. I wouldn't do that. That's absurd!"
"I come from a family of liars, Kara, and you are a horrible one." Kara grimaced and was about to respond when she was cut off by a security guard at the entrance of the factory.
"Entry pass please." Both Lena and Kara swiveled their attention to the man before them. He was quite large and visibly muscled. His close shaven head caused the sun to reflect somewhat off of his pale skin. Not a person someone would want to mess with. Unless that someone is Kara Danvers apparently. Lena was tempted to immediately drag her friend back to the car when she took a step closer to the guard.
"Hello, sir. I'm Kara Danvers. I work as a reporter for CatCo magazine. This is Lena Luthor. We're doing a piece on National City textiles and industry in partnership with L-Corp and I was wondering if we could get a tour of this facility." The guard assessed the two of them with a blank expression before replying.
"I assume you don't have permission from Mr. Edge." Kara anxiously rubbed at the back of her neck and laughed nervously. "Thought so. Unfortunately for your article, I can't let anyone come through without either a pass or written permission from Morgan Edge. Now please leave."
"It will only take a sec-"
"Leave." Lena gently grabbed Kara's arm and pulled her back towards the car.
"We're trying to make sure Edge doesn't know we're investigating the factory, remember?" Kara sighed.
"I know. I really wanted to finally nab the-" Kara's sentence cut off with a small shriek as she tripped and fell to the ground.
"Kara!" Lena knelt down and hoisted her friend up to her feet. "Are you ok? They really need to fix the sidewalk around here."
"I'm fine. Not a, ow!" Lena looked down at the foot Kara had tried to walk on and found it bruised and slightly swollen.
"It's sprained. You're not going to be able to walk on it for the rest of the day."
"Oh come on. It's fine! I can just," Kara attempted to place her weight on the injured ligament and winced. "Okay maybe not."
Lena wrapped an arm around Kara's shoulder and placed Kara's arm around her own. "I'll be your crutch until we get to the car." Lena prayed her cheeks weren't as red as they felt as she noticed exactly how close her face was to the blonde. "You shouldn't put any pressure on your foot so lean on me instead."
Lena felt as if walls were closing in around her as she waited for Kara to stop surveying her and actually respond, despite the fact they were outside in a relatively open area. Finally, Kara smiled and Lena felt the shift as the woman allowed her weight to rest on Lena.
"Alright, crutch," she said with a wink, "Time to see how steady you really are."
Kara's POV
It turns out Lena was very steady. She managed to get Kara to the car and up the stairs leading to the reporter's apartment. Kara was currently situated on the couch with ice on her ankle as Lena rummaged through her kitchen.
"You really don't have to make lunch. We can order something." The sound of Lena's laugh a few feet away caused goosebumps to form along Kara's skin, which were then studiously ignored by the Kryptonian.
"Kara, I love you, but if we ordered something you wanted, you'd be the only one who would get to eat anything." Kara could feel her face and neck heat at the affectionate words, as well as the ones which could be misconstrued in a manner she was sure Lena had not intended. She took a breath to steady herself and quietly hoped Lena hadn't noticed.
"You're probably right. What are you making instead?" She heard soft footsteps approach and was startled at the warmth seeping into her from the bowl placed in her hands.
"Chicken lemon rice soup for you and a salad for me. The soup will help counter how cold your ankle must be feeling with the ice on it." Lena smiled earnestly and Kara couldn't help but think the sight warmed her far more than any soup could.
"Thanks." A few minutes of silence and small talk passed as the two ate their meals. When they were finished, Lena brought the dishes to the sink before returning and sitting on the couch opposite Kara.
"I told Jess before we left that I was done for the day and James has CatCo under control so I have the day off. Do you want to watch something?" Kara looked over at Lena in surprise. She hadn't expected the CEO to stay after lunch.
"Sure, yeah. Did you have something in mind?" Lena flushed slightly and picked at her fingernails.
"This may be a bit childish but I've always loved The Princess Bride. Would you mind if we watched it?" Kara felt an extreme burst of affection towards the dark-haired woman who sat across from her. Here was this multimillionaire, CEO of not one but two companies, who loved a simple romantic comedy from years ago. She couldn't help the wide grin spreading across her face.
"I'd love to. Truth be told I haven't seen it in years. It'll be good to see it again." Kara felt Lena's gaze on her as she flipped through her television provider until she found the movie. She selected it and the opening title began to play. Kara looked over and noticed Lena still fidgeting on the other couch. She shifted her ankle onto her coffee table with a pillow before looking back towards Lena.
"Want to come over here and sit with me? I'm lonely." Lena's eyes widened in cautious delight and she moved from her seat to the now open spot next to Kara. Kara almost didn't know what to do with herself now that Lena was in the same space as her. She froze when Lena slowly rested her head on Kara's shoulder.
"Is this okay?" she whispered. Kara could barely take in oxygen and she prayed to Rao Lena couldn't hear her quickened heartbeat.
"Yeah, that's... that's fine. Whatever makes you comfortable. Is it okay if I... if I put my arm around your shoulders? It might go numb in the position it's in right now is all!" Kara felt Lena shake against her as she laughed softly.
"That's fine, Kara." Lena looked up at her and Kara's breath hitched. "Whatever makes you comfortable." Kara could have died from the wink Lena gave her before returning her eyes to the screen where the movie continued to play. The normally confident reporter gulped nervously as she repositioned her arm and settled into the couch. Maybe being vulnerable wasn't so bad from time to time.
