I don't even know how this happened. I guess I'm just a sucker for actresses with great chemistry.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1 - Not What I Had Planned

Kara groaned at the loud ringing that was coming from beside her head. Without thinking, she reached over and slammed her hand down on the clock, her eyes flying open when she heard the distinct sound of plastic breaking. Groaning, she lifted her head and looked at the now broken clock.

"Alex is going to kill me," Kara mumbled to herself and she buried her head in her pillow.

It was the third one she had broken that year and she knew her sister wasn't going to be happy about buying yet another new one. Kara was usually pretty good about not breaking things any more, but she was always more prone to accidents when she was still half asleep. Which she'd learned the hard way after smashing her phone to pieces. Which is why she had gone with an old fashioned alarm clock ever since. At least they weren't nearly as expensive.

"Kara! What are you still doing in bed?!"

Kara jolted at the loud sound and lifted her head up to find her sister standing over her. "I can explain."

"Yeah, we'll talk about the clock later; right now, you're late," Alex replied.

"What?" Kara said, picking up her phone, and looking at the time. "Oh, no!"

Kara hopped out of bed and sped into the shower. She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep. She had only planned on putting her head down for a minute, but now she only had eighteen minutes to get ready and get to school or she was going to be late. Again.

She was in and out of the shower in under two minutes. She quickly dried off and practically flew into her bedroom to get dressed before going to the kitchen to grab something to eat on the way. As she went from the refrigerator to the cabinet, though, she heard her sister behind her say, "Slow down."

Kara huffed in annoyance. "I'm going to be late."

"You know the rules," Alex replied.

"What good is having superpowers if I can't even use them in my own home to save myself from being in trouble with my first period teacher?" Kara asked.

"Kara—"

"No one else is here!" Kara interrupted. "It's just us! What is it going to hurt?"

Alex shoulders rose and fell as she sighed, looking away. It wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation and they both knew it wouldn't be the last. Kara didn't see any harm in using her powers when she was alone or with those who knew about them, but it had always been a big no-no in the Danvers house. Kara knew her adoptive family was just trying to look out for her and protect her, but sometimes it just felt like she was being punished when she could do all these things but wasn't allowed.

"You know I just want what's best for you," Alex said after a few moments.

"I know," Kara replied.

Alex nodded and her eyebrows rose slightly. "School!"

"Right," Kara said, grabbing a few more things from the kitchen before running—at a normal speed—to grab her bag.

"I may be a bit late this evening," Alex called out to her as she retrieved her books from her desk and tossed them into her bag. "We're working on a new project, so things are a little hectic right now. You may have to get your own dinner. I left some money on the counter in case you want to order out. And I know you will."

Kara laughed as she left her bedroom, putting her glasses on as she went. They both knew Kara didn't really cook and would most definitely be placing an order to the Chinese place down the street or one of the local pizza places.

"How late do you think you'll be?" Kara asked.

Alex sighed. "Late. Like—late late."

Kara nodded. it wouldn't be the first time her sister's job kept her out late, and it seemed to be happening more and more frequently. Kara didn't exactly mind since she usually just crashed in front of the television, but she was beginning to wonder if Alex wasn't telling her everything. Every time she asked, though, Alex would just tell her it was a normal part of the job and things would get back to normal soon. Except she'd been saying that for the past three or four months, and things didn't seem to be getting back to the way they were.

"Any chance you'll let me fly to school?" Kara asked when Alex picked up her keys from the counter top.

Alex looked over her shoulder, giving Kara the only answer she needed.

"I know, I know," Kara said, averting her eyes as she shouldered her bag. "I had to try."

Kara breathed a sigh of relief when she walked into school and saw there were still other students in the hallways. That meant the final bell hadn't rung and she wasn't going to be late for class. Though she was pretty sure Alex was breaking multiple laws to get her there on time. It wasn't really like her sister to do something like that, but they also didn't want the school looking too closely at their lives if tardiness became an issue.

"There you are," Winn said as he maneuvered his way over to her. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it. I would have hated to see you get chastised in front of the class yet again."

"I almost didn't make it on time thanks to Alex," Kara replied, thinking about how her sister wouldn't let her use her powers even if it had only been the two of them.

"Was she running late?" Winn asked.

"She delayed me," Kara said.

Winn nodded but then frowned slightly. He didn't say anything, however, which Kara was thankful for. Winn was an inquisitive person, but he tended to let things slide when it came to her. Maybe it was one too many evasive answers about odd occurrences, but Winn tended to just roll with things now, which Kara was thankful for. It was hard enough being different, but at least she had a best friend who accepted her quirks even if he didn't know what they were about.

"It was really my fault, though," Kara added. "My alarm clock must have broken somehow and I accidentally fell back asleep. I didn't wake up again until I already should have left."

"Why don't you just use your phone like the rest of the world?" Winn asked.

"Good question," Kara replied as she pushed her glasses up. "I guess I'm just old fashioned."

"Speaking of old fashioned," Winn said, turning around so he could look at her as he slowly walked backwards down the hallway. "There's this new ice cream place that's straight out of the 1950's. It just opened last week and I thought maybe we could go check it out sometime this week. What do you say?"

"What do I say?" Kara asked, her eyes lighting up. "Of course!"

"I thought you'd say that," Winn said with a smile.

"You know me and food," Kara commented as she smiled back.

"I d—" Winn stumbled but managed not to completely fall down. The person he had run into, however, hadn't fared quite so well. Kara heard whoever it was hit the floor, but Winn was blocking her view from seeing who the unlucky person was.

"I'm sorry," Winn said, offering his hand.

"Yes, well—"

As soon as Kara heard the voice she instantly winced. Winn withdrew his hand when it became clear she wasn't going to accept it, and Kara could hear his heart pounding in his chest. She wasn't sure if it was from fear or humiliation, but she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder in the hopes that he would relax.

"Lena Luthor," Winn said, closing his eyes, and shaking his head as the dark haired girl walked away. "Of all the people, why did I have to knock over Lena Luthor! Why is it always the most popular girl in school that I make a fool of myself in front of?"

"Was she okay?" Kara asked, looking after Lena.

"I don't know," Winn said, throwing his hands up. "I hope so. Her family will probably sue me or something if she isn't."

"I doubt that," Kara replied. "It was just an accident. Plus, her family has, like, billions of dollars. They don't need to sue a high school student."

"No, but I still just made a total fool of myself," Winn said.

"Are you—do you like Lena?" Kara asked.

"What?" Winn asked. "No! Of course not. I mean, she's pretty, but she's not really my type. But that doesn't mean I want to humiliate myself in front of the most popular girl in school. She probably already went to all of her friends and told them what a dork I am. They're probably all laughing at me right now."

"I doubt that," Kara said, grabbing Winn's arm, and pulling him down the hall.

Kara's shoulders relaxed a little as she led Winn down the hallway. It wasn't that she wouldn't understand if he did have a crush on Lena Luthor because she would understand better than anyone, but the idea still weirded her out. Winn was her best friend and it would feel weird to have a crush on the same girl. Not that Winn knew how she felt about Lena. That was something she had kept to herself. Even less people knew about her crush on Lena Luthor than knew Kara was an alien.

"Where did all these people come from?" Winn asked as he looked around the cafeteria.

"Come on," Kara said. "There's two empty seats over there."

"Over where?" Winn asked, craning his neck.

Instead of answering Winn, Kara began walking across the cafeteria. She didn't bother to look over her shoulder to see if he was following; she could hear Winn's footsteps behind her and knew he was just behind her.

"Are we going over there?" Winn asked, stopping in the middle of the cafeteria.

"Yes," Kara said, glancing over at him. "What's wrong with it?"

"They don't want us sitting with them," Winn said.

"They won't mind," Kara argued. "James is nice."

"And Lucy?" Winn asked.

"She's nice too," Kara replied.

Winn groaned and Kara grabbed him by the arm, pulling him toward the table. She knew he didn't dislike James and Lucy or she wouldn't drag him over. He just wasn't always comfortable around certain people.

"Are these seats taken?" Kara asked with a bright smile.

"No, go ahead," James said, motioning to the empty seats as he smiled back. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Kara replied. "Good."

"What about you?" James asked when Winn didn't answer. "I heard you had a little accident this morning."

"I told you she was going to laugh about it with everyone!" Winn hissed to Kara.

"Actually, Lucy saw it happen," James said, motioning to his girlfriend, who was sitting beside of him.

"And, for the record, I wasn't laughing about it," Lucy replied. "I just mentioned it to James."

"I told you the whole school wouldn't be talking about it," Kara said, giving Winn a friendly smile.

Kara was glad to know Lena wasn't the type to go around school talking about others. Because if it had been a lot of the other popular girls, most of the school would be laughing about Winn by now. From what Kara had observed, Lena had never seemed like the type who liked to gossip, and it seemed like Kara's observations were correct.

She snuck a glance over where Lena was sitting and furrowed her brows slightly. Lena often looked sad, which was a stark contrast to the people around her who were laughing and looked as if they didn't have a care in the world. Lena, on the other hand, usually looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Kara couldn't actually remember if she had ever seen Lena smile, and she always wondered if the other girl had always been so serious or if it was something that had started in the past few years.

"Hey," Winn said, waving his hand in front of her face.

"What?" Kara asked, jumping slightly. "Sorry I was—"

"Completely zoned out," Winn finished for her.

"Yeah, sorry," Kara said, trying to smile as if she hadn't been staring at Lena. "What were you saying?"

"I was asking what you're doing tonight," Winn replying. "I thought maybe I could come over and hang out if you don't have plans."

"Actually, Alex sent me a text a little bit ago and told me she's surprisingly not going to be late tonight like she thought," Kara explained. "She thought we could have a girl's night in. She's been working so much lately and feels bad that we haven't had much quality time together.

"You still liking living with your sister?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, Alex is great," Kara replied.

"I think I'd go nuts if I had to live with mine," Lucy commented.

"How's your mom doing?" James asked. "Do you talk to her much?"

"Eliza's fine," Kara answered. "She's still working on some top secret project."

"Where's she at, again?" Lucy asked.

"Somewhere in Europe," Kara replied. "I think. It's classified."

"So you have no idea what she's doing over there?" James asked.

Kara shrugged. "All I know is she's developing some product. She's probably trying to save the world like the rest of my family."

Kara gave him a tight smile. She was happy that her family was doing so much to help people, but she hated that she wasn't doing the same. She was sent to Earth to protect her cousin, but then there was the accident and he got there years before her. When she arrived, Clark no longer needed her to take care of him. He'd found a purpose and she no longer had one. And as if that wasn't enough, her adoptive family, two regular people, were doing more than she was.

She was proud of her family—all of her family—but it made her wish she could do more. It made her wish she could be out there saving lives instead of hiding. And she knew the people in her life were just trying to protect her, but at what point did she get to become the one who did the protecting?

"Can you slice these?" Alex asked, handing Kara some mushrooms.

Kara scrunched her nose up. "Do we really have to put them in?"

"You won't even taste them," Alex replied.

"I bet I will," Kara said.

"I bet you won't," Alex replied.

Kara quickly sliced up the mushrooms, receiving a suspicious look from Alex. Kara just shrugged, though, and said, "I don't understand why we need salad. We've ordered pizza."

"Because it's good for you," Alex replied. "Because some of us don't have a superhuman metabolism. And because some of us gain weight when our sister wants to order pizza every other day."

"So I guess that means you can eat the salad and I can eat the pizza!" Kara said.

Alex smiled. "Fine, but you better save some of that pizza for me."

Kara tilted her head slightly when she heard footsteps making their way down the hallway. Before the doorbell had even rung, Kara had swung the door open, money in hand. She took the two boxes of pizza from the man with a friendly smile and handed him the money. After thanking her when she told him to keep the change, Kara closed the door and bounded over to the couch.

"At least grab some napkins!" Alex called over to her.

Kara gave her a smile and Alex rolled her eyes, picking up a stack of napkins herself. As Kara began flipping through the channels, Alex brought of the two salads and set one in front of her sister with a pointed look. Sighing, Kara set down the slice of pizza that was already halfway to her mouth and picked up the salad.

"You may be Kryptonian, but one day your terrible heating habits could catch up to you," Alex remarked.

"What do you want to watch," Kara asked before humoring Alex by taking a bite of the salad.

Alex hummed. "How about Castle?"

"Not again," Kara whined.

"And what would you choose?" Alex asked.

"How about 3rd Rock from the Sun?" Kara suggested.

"We watch that all the time," Alex replied.

"Not as much as Castle," Kara stated. "Fine. How about Friends? We both like that."

"Fine," Alex said, grabbing her phone from the coffee table when it began vibrating. "Actually, hold that thought." Alex sighed. "Crap."

"You have to go?" Kara asked, already knowing the answer.

"There's an emergency at work," Alex said, standing up, and running her hand through her hair. "I have to go. Hopefully I'll be able to come home tonight, but if not—"

"Then I'll be fine," Kara replied. "It's fine. Go."

"I'm sorry," Alex said.

"Your work is important," Kara replied with a shrug.

"I'll make it up to you," Alex said, giving Kara a hug. "I promise. My next night off, we'll binge watch whatever you want."

"Here." Kara grabbed a slice of pizza and wrapped it up in a napkin. "You should at least eat, and I don't think your salad is going to travel so well."

"Thanks," Alex said. "I promise I'll make this up to you."

Kara walked her sister over to the door, where Alex grabbed her jacket. With another hug, Alex grabbed her keys and was out the door, leaving Kara with the apartment all to herself.

As she walked back to the couch and flopped down, she had every intention of starting Netflix, but she soon found herself flipping through the channels once more. She was going through them a third time when 'breaking news' flashed across the screen, and she quickly went back to see what was going on.

"We are receiving reports that Lena Luthor, heiress to the Luthor fortune and sister of criminal Lex Luthor, has been taken from Luthor Corp by armed men—"

Everything the new anchor said after that was like static in her ears. She'd heard all she needed to, though. Lena was in serious danger, and Kara grabbed her phone to text Clark to see if he was doing anything about it. But after several messages and calls went unanswered, the fear really began to set in. What if Clark wasn't around? What if he was off in his fortress and by the time he came back it was too late?

Kara paced back and forth, glancing at her phone every few moments even though she knew Clark hadn't answered her. She even tried calling his girlfriend, Lois, but she wasn't answering, either. Finally, after about twenty minutes—though it felt much longer—Kara squared her shoulders and mumbled, "Alex is going to kill me."

Kara closed her eyes for a moment, allowing herself to enjoy the feeling of soaring high above the city. She hadn't flown in nearly five years, and she had forgotten what it felt like. That weightlessness and freedom she felt as she zoomed through the air.

She didn't focus on the feeling long. Instead, she concentrated all her sense on finding Lena. She flew around the city and listened for any sound that would tell her where Lena could be. A few times she heard a voice she thought could be hers, but when she used her x-ray vision to look through the walls only to find that it was someone else.

With a sigh, Kara would take off again, circling the city as she wondered if Lena was even still there. If the kidnappers had taken her out of the city, she knew she may never find Lena. She could only hope the kidnappers would release her if they got what they wanted if that was the case. Because she may have x-ray vision and super hearing, but the world was a huge place, and she wouldn't have much better luck at finding her than anyone else if Lena had been taken out of National City.

As she was passing by the docks for the third time, though, Kara heard something that made her freeze. A threat coming from a man with a deep voice. A threat that said to stop moving if the person wanted to live and made Kara's heart pound in her chest.

Kara flew up until she was just above the building and looked down. As she looked through the walls, she saw there were about a dozen people inside. Most of them were men with large guns, but one was a smaller figure that was tied to a chair. A figure she instantly recognized as the one she had been searching for.

Kara flew down, landing on the roof without so much as a sound. She crept along the roof to the large skylight that was positioned just above Lena. There was only one other person in the room with her, a man with a very large, very sophisticated looking gun. While Kara knew she could easily take him out before he even knew what hit him, she knew it would be better if she remained unseen entirely. If even one person saw her, she knew her secret would be out there for all the world to know.

She had done her best to obscure her identity before leaving the apartment. She'd grabbed one of Alex's black jackets from her closet, removed the glasses she always wore, and took her hair out of its usual ponytail. She knew it was inevitable that Lena would see her, but at least she didn't think the other girl would recognize her. And she hoped she wouldn't tell the whole world that she was saved by an alien.

As Kara tried to figure out the best course of action to get the guard out of the room, he began walking away, leaving no one in the room but Lena. Kara took it as her cue to make a move and quickly opened the skylight, jumping down to the floor just behind Lena with a soft thud.

"Don't be alarmed," Kara whispered as she walked forward and easily undid Lena's restraints with her heat vision. "I'm here to get you out of here."

Lena looked over her shoulders at Kara with a stunned look on her face. After a few moments, though, she seemed to regain her senses and said, "He'll be back any moment. He only leaves for about a minute at a time."

"In that case, let's get you out of here quickly, Miss. Luthor," Kara said, stepping toward Lena, and easily picking her up. "I hope you don't mind."

Lena shook her head. "Just get me out of here."

Kara smiled. "I can do that."

Kara flew up and heard a gasp leave Lena's lips. She couldn't help smiling at the reaction as well as the look of wonder on her face as Kara flew her away from the docks.

"I'm going to take you home, Miss Luthor," Kara said over the sound of the wind.

Kara was careful not to fly too fast since she figured Lena had already had enough excitement for one evening. She still touched down at the Luthor penthouse in under five minutes, though, gently setting Lena down and keeping a hand on her waist until Lena seemed to steady herself.

"You're safe now, Miss Luthor," Kara said. "I'll inform the police of your kidnappers' whereabouts."

"Wait," Lena said, putting her hand on Kara's arm as she turned away. "Who are you?"

"Just a concerned citizen," Kara answered. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about what happened."

Lena nodded. "Your secret is safe with me."

Kara smiled at Lena. "Goodnight, Miss Luthor."