They say repetition can form habits. So maybe it's a habit, the way Kara feels about Lena. But maybe, all she really needs is a few tries for the feelings to sink in.
Kara's hurrying along the street, styrofoam cup in hand, having just stopped by Noonan's for a coffee for Snapper. Not that he had asked her for one, but she had thought that maybe, just maybe, she can get him to like her a little better if she plies him with a bit of caffeine. She puts a little zip in her step - not superspeed type zip, no, she would never - hoping to get it to him before the morning really starts.
Of course, at that moment her super-hearing picks up the sound of screaming coming from across the city.
With a last forlorn look at the coffee in her hand, she dumps it into a trashcan, then ducks into the nearest alleyway, emerging in a blur of blue and red as she takes to the air. In a matter of moments she has located the source of the screams - her heart lurching when she realizes they were coming from outside L-Corp - and touches down in the courtyard in front of Lena's building.
What she sees makes her stop in its tracks.
Here and there across the courtyard stand people frozen in place - literally. It looks like some perverse freeze-tag, where everyone has just become locked in mid-motion. Some are cowering, while others have their arms and legs bent like they are running - a few even hovering mid-step. But all are utterly motionless. One man even has his own cup of coffee, frozen as it tips from his hand, its arc of spilled contents creating a Rorschach blot against the air.
And just beyond the frozen individuals is the source of the screams - spread out across the middle of the courtyard are five men dressed all in black, four with pistols flanking one that is obviously the leader, who is wielding a huge, strange-looking gun. Its odd, angular shape and unfamiliar metal mark it as clearly alien.
Even as Kara starts forward to stop them, the man with the strange gun fires. Two lances of bluish light shoot from the weapon, hitting a pair of fleeing pedestrians and freezing them in place.
All five men let out harsh laughs, and the leader gives the gun an appreciative heft. "I love this thing!" he cheers.
He turns it towards the far end of the courtyard, his gaze becoming flinty. "How would you like your turn, sweetheart?"
Kara looks past him to find his target, and suddenly her worst fears are realized.
Crowded close to the glass walls of her building, square in the sights of the freeze gun, is Lena Luthor.
She is struggling against another man, trying to free herself from his grip around her bicep. Kara thinks for a second it's a sixth thug, until she sees that he is stiff as a board. Finally recognizing the uniform he wears, she places him as one of Lena's security team, frozen in place as he tried to remove Lena from danger, instead trapping her there.
"Hey!" Kara calls out, immediately taking up her most intimidating pose, fists firm on her hips. "Stop right there!"
The attackers immediately spin to face her, surprise melting into scorn when they see who is speaking.
"Oh, well if it isn't Supergirl!" the leader jeers, sharing derisive looks with his companions.
Without warning, he fires on her, hitting her straight in the chest with a blue-white bolt. The blast throws her backwards, hurling her to the ground with enough force to crack the cement.
Though the gun doesn't have its intended affect on her, it knocks the breath straight from her lungs, and by the time she has hauled herself back to her feet the gunmen have closed in around her.
Even as they opened fire on her, Kara finds her attention drawn away, back towards the opposite end of the courtyard. Instead of focussing on her, as she had hoped, the man with the freeze gun has turned back towards Lena. Kara sees her begin to struggle even harder against her involuntary captor as he advances on her with slow, taunting steps.
Springing into action, Kara quickly dispatches one gunman and then another, sending the other two scrambling towards safety. Not bothering to watch them go, she whirls back around and leans forward, sending a flash of her laser vision towards the leader. It hits the gun straight in what she guesses is its power source, causing a shower of sparks to rain from the weapon.
It gives a few coughing clicks as the attacker tries futilely to pull the trigger, and he gives it a desperate shake as Kara approaches, ready to take him down. But even as she steps towards him, the sound of gunshots ring out again, and she feels bullets bounce off of her shoulder and back.
Spinning back around, she sees that one of the other thugs has come back and is firing wildly at her. Leaping into the air to keep the frenzied spray of bullets away from Lena, Kara holds out her hand, carefully angling it to deflect one of his shots and send it straight back into his leg.
He drops with a cry of pain, and Kara reels to confront the man with the freeze gun - only to find that he's gone.
She swivels her head, catching sight of his back just as it disappears into a dark van, which immediately peels away from the curb and around the corner.
As the van vanishes from sight, the figures around her unfreeze, stumbling as they unlock from their positions, a few finally releasing cut-off cries. The security guard holding Lena jerks into motion, dragging her a few steps before coming to a halt to look around him in confusion.
Kara slowly drifts down to land in front of Lena, first turning to address the unfrozen citizens.
"Don't worry, you're all safe!" Kara calls out across the courtyard, trying to calm the alarmed looks of the people as they tried to figure out had happened. "The freeze gun's effects have worn off, and the gunmen are gone."
Satisfied that no one is going to start panicking again, she turns back to Lena, who is surreptitiously rubbing her arm from her security guard's grip.
"Are you alright?" she asks, stepping up next to her.
Lena lifts her chin slightly, her professional mask slipping into place, even though Kara can see her hands still trembling. "Yes, thank you, Supergirl."
Kara nods, gesturing slightly towards the entrance to L-Corp. "Will you let me escort you to your office?"
"Of course." Lena looks to her bodyguard, who is still hovering uncertainly. "You may go, Leo. Thank you."
The man nods at her in appreciation, touches his fingers to his forehead in a semi-salute towards Kara, then makes off into the lobby.
Kara hovers her hand over the small of Lena's back as she walks her inside, using her super-senses to watch out for any lingering danger. Only when the door to Lena's office is safely closed behind them after one last sweep of the room with her x-ray vision does she let herself relax.
"Some agents will be here in a moment to debrief you," she tells Lena as the other woman walks across the room.
Lena nods as she makes her way behind her desk, crossing her arms as she gazes out the window. Kara watches her, thinking how she always hated the distance that sprung up between them when she was Supergirl instead of plain old Kara. It makes her chest hurt in a way she can't quite place.
After a moment, Lena speaks up. "I supposed I owe you my life thrice over now." She turns to Kara with a rueful smile.
Kara shakes her head, quickly denying, "Oh, no, I mean, you don't owe me any debts. It's what I do."
As soon as the words were out of her mouth she regrets them - they sound so dismissive, like she had saved Lena's life only because it was her job. Lena glances away, her smile fading as she presses her lips together.
Just as Kara is opening her mouth to try to explain, there's a knock at the door. Lena flinches, and Kara quickly uses her x-ray vision to peek through it.
"It's just the agents," she reassures her, opening the door to let Alex and the two agents accompanying her in.
"Hello Supergirl, Miss Luthor," Alex greets as she stepped inside. Lena gives her a nod, but makes no effort to move away from her desk. "Supergirl, have you already done a sweep of the building?"
"Nothing thorough, just checking on things as we came up," Kara reports.
Alex nods to the other two agents, signaling for them conduct the sweep themselves. She waits until the door had closed behind them, then pulls out a tiny field notebook. "Mind if I ask you some questions about what happened this morning?" she asks.
"No, please, have a seat," Lena replies, gesturing to the chairs in front of her desk before sitting in her own.
As the two women move to sit, Kara crosses to the other side of the office, pretending to study the painting hung there. But instead of looking at the art, she stands peering out of the corner of her eye, watching Lena as she speaks. She takes in the way Lena sits with such excellent posture, her legs crossed neatly at her ankles; the way her dark hair falls elegantly across her shoulders; the way her dark red lips forms answers to Alex's questions…
She's pulled from her reverie when Alex and Lena stood, shaking hands over Lena's desk.
"Thank you for your time, Miss Luthor, this information will be helpful in tracking down the men that attacked you."
"Of course. I hope you're able to catch them soon."
Kara strides over to join them as Alex tucks her notebook in one of the pockets on her pants.
"Your best course of action," Alex advises, "would be to lay low for the day, cancel any plans you have -"
"I can't."
The sisters glance at each other, stunned.
"I have a charity auction tonight," Lena continues. "Perhaps you've caught word of it? I've been planning it for weeks. I can't just cancel last minute."
Kara touches a hand to her forehead and takes a step forward. "Miss Luthor, I'm sorry, but this event can't be important enough to risk putting yourself in danger for. Not after everything..."
Lena's eyes grow steely. "My brother is jail. Now so is my mother. I'm the only Luthor left, and I plan to start using that name for good. This event is going to benefit charities all across the city. I won't cancel it just because I'm at risk again."
"Miss Luthor…"
"I'm sorry, Supergirl, that's my decision." Lena crosses her arms, lifting her chin as she holds Kara's gaze.
Alex lays her hand on Kara's arms as she opens her mouth to argue further. "Well if we can't convince you to cancel, will you at least allow Supergirl to go and keep an eye on things?"
Lena's gaze immediately softens. "Of course. I'd be glad to have her."
Kara fights down a blush, instead giving her a stoic nod. "I'll be there."
There's a moment of silence, then Alex clears her throat. "I'm sure you're a busy woman," she says to Lena. "If there's nothing else?"
"No, no, thank you," Lena says, coming out from behind her desk and walking them to the door. "And I'm sure you'd like to start looking for those men."
Opening the door, she looks at Kara once more, her gaze coming from beneath her lashes. "And thank you, Supergirl. I don't think I expressed my gratitude before. I look forward to seeing you tonight."
"Oh, yes, I, um…" Kara stutters. She reaches for glasses that aren't there, instead tucking a curl behind her ear.
She can almost hear Alex's eyes rolling behind her as she puts an arm around her shoulders. "Right. C'mon, Supergirl."
Kara allows herself to be guided from the room, giving one last little wave from her hip as the door swings closed behind them. She gazes through it for a minute, watching as Lena reseated herself at her desk, then turns back to a very exasperated-looking Alex.
"What?" she demands.
Alex just shakes her head and makes her way down the hall towards the elevator.
Kara scampers after her. "Alex, what?"
Back at the DEO, Kara's eyes are starting to cross as blueprint after blueprint for alien weaponry flash on the wall of screens in front of her.
"None of these look familiar to you?" Winn asks, checking over his shoulder for her lack of recognition before scrolling to the next image.
Kara sighs in annoyance and crosses her arms. "Still nothing."
"And you've never seen a gun like that before?" When Kara shoots him a glare, he holds up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, sorry, I've already asked that a bunch of times, I know. It's just that this is taking forever. Maybe if we narrowed the specs a little more…?"
Kara lets out a huff as she drops into a chair. "I've already told you everything I remember. It was big, like, the guy had to hold it with two hands. It had a big blocky end where the power source must have been and a long, skinny nose."
"Barrel," Alex corrects.
Kara waves a hand at her. "That. That's the best description I can give you."
Winn nods, tapping absentmindedly at a key on his keyboard. "What about the power source?"
Kara tilts her head.
"I mean, you said you thought you hit it, right?" Kara nods. "What'd it look like? What made you aim there?"
"Oh." She thinks for a minute. "Well, that was where the light was coming from."
Alex perks up off of the desk she had slouched against. "Light?"
"Yeah," Kara says, her eyes growing animated as she began to remember. "Yeah, there were these, these little rectangular boxes on either side that glowed. They were the same color as the bolts it shot out so I thought that must be what was was powering them."
Winn spins back to his computer, typing rapidly. Within moments he brings up a new spread of blueprints across the wall of screens. "Any of these look -"
"That one!" Kara jabs a finger at the image excitedly.
"Yes!" Winn cheers, pumping a fist in the air. He enlarges the picture and brings up the gun's specs. "And it looks like our winner is… a Malorian temporal rifle." He leans close to his screen to read the information. "Holy crap, these guys had some crazy advanced theories on time energy. It looks like this thing literally freezes time within its target. Or maybe not so much freezes it as sends the target to an alternate temporal plane where time is slowed to an infinitesimal crawl..."
"This has Cadmus written all over it. Mrs. Luthor must not be taking her move to maximum security well," Alex interrupts, her face dark. "I'll go let J'onn know we found the type of weapon. You try to find a way we can track it," she tells Winn.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," he says, his brow pulled in fake seriousness as he salutes her, then spins back to his computer, immediately hunching over to type.
Alex rolls her eyes then turns to Kara. "And you'd better get back to your day job."
Kara's eyes widen, and she muffles a groan in the hands that cover her face. "Snapper's gonna kill me for missing the meeting this morning."
Snapper's ire is tempered - slightly - when Kara tells him she had been at L-Corp during the attack and can write him a first-hand account of what had happened.
She manages to write up a decent draft and send it to him, a minor miracle considering how far away her thoughts are. Each time she tries to recall a detail of the attack, all she can think of was the way Lena had twisted as she tried to free herself from the stone grasp of her guard, the whites of her eyes clearly visible as she watched the man with the freeze gun stalk ever closer to her. Her worry for Lena makes the draft take twice as long as it should for her to write - and unfortunately the anxiety doesn't let up as the day goes on. Finally, she can't stand it any longer, and, during her lunch break, climbs to the roof.
She changes quickly in the alleyway across from L-Corp then crosses to the building, calling a greeting to Lena's secretary as she enters.
"Hi, Jess! Is Lena available?"
Jess gives her a guarded once-over, as if worried she'll bolt if she looks away. "She just went on lunch. She'll probably still be up in her office though, she usually just works through it."
Kara nods, feeling a weird mix of concern and fondness. Because constantly working through breaks is bad for you, but oh, if that isn't so Lena.
"Thanks. So I'll just… go up?" she says, pointing up towards Lena's office.
Jess cocks her hip and crosses her arms, frowning slightly. "According to Miss Luthor, I can't exactly stop you."
"O-oh. Okay. Well, um, it was nice seeing you." Kara jabs the elevator button, fidgeting from foot to foot while Jess continues to watch her. When the elevator doors finally ding open, she hurries inside, waving to Jess until they slide closed.
As the elevator hums upwards, Kara tries to craft a convincing argument against holding the charity auction tonight. But even as she wracks her brain for the right words, the elevator halts, depositing her on the top floor. She walks up to Lena's door, taking a few preparatory breaths before knocking.
"Come in," comes Lena's voice, and Kara pushes open the door to find Lena leaning casually against the front of her desk.
"Kara!" she greets warmly as she straightens up and approaches, and Kara's glad she hasn't figured out anything to say, because that grin would have chased it all from her head. "Jess called ahead to say you were coming up. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
As it is, it takes Kara a few tries to get started. "I – uh – there was – I wanted to make sure you were okay." She gestures out the window towards the courtyard. "I was… in the area when the attack happened. Are you okay?"
Lena's eyes soften, and she tilts her head towards her couch. The two women settle onto it before she finally answers, "Yes, I'm fine."
"Really?" Kara asks. "It's fine if you're not, you know, if you're just putting on a brave face. 'Cause you don't have to, with – with me." Her cheeks pink as the last part slips out.
A soft smile spreads across Lena's face, and her hand lands on the cushion just short of Kara's knee. "I know, Kara. So I hope you'll believe me when I say I really am all right."
At Kara's nod, her fingers twitch, and Kara thinks for a moment she might actually move them to her knee before she draws her hand back into her lap. Kara forlornly watches it go. "Good. Now there's something I'd like to ask you."
Kara looks up in surprise when she says, "Would you like to come to the charity auction tonight?" Before she can even answer, she continues, "I'm sorry for asking so last minute, I had just thought…"
Kara tilts her head, forgetting that she's supposed to be talking Lena out of the auction at the other woman's uncharacteristic hesitation. "Thought what?"
Lena glances down briefly and fidgets with her skirt. Bringing her eyes back to Kara's, she admits, "I, well, I was afraid that, with the way the last event I asked you to turned out, you might be… reluctant to accept an invitation from me again."
Though she keeps her voice light and her gaze on Kara's, Kara can see the sadness and uncertainty in her eyes. She blurts, "What? No!"
Blushing as she realizes how much like a rejection that sounds, she scrambles to clarify, "No, I mean, no, I would never think that. You're my friend, Lena. I'd love to spend more time with you."
Lena lets out a soft laugh, tucking a dark lock behind her ear, and Kara's heart gives a jump.
"Good," she says, her shoulders relaxing imperceptibly. "That's… I'm glad to hear. In that case, I'll see you there? It starts at 8 o'clock."
"Oh, um, yeah," Kara said, nodding a little dazedly. "8 o'clock it is."
The women smiled at each other for a moment, until Kara gave a little start. "Oh, I'm sorry, you probably want to get back to your work. I'll, um, I'll get going?"
Lena rose gracefully from the couch and accompanied Kara to the door. "I'm really glad you agreed to come tonight," she says softly. "It honestly does mean a lot to have a true friend at these kinds of events."
Kara just smiles at her, her stomach swooping pleasantly. "Yes, yeah, for sure. So um, you… and me… 8 o'clock?"
Lena laughs, her eyes twinkling. "Yes, and you better not be late."
Kara shakes her head vehemently. "Wouldn't dream of it. Cross my heart," she says, drawing an x over her chest with her finger.
Lena smiles warmly as she opened the door for Kara, leaning a little against its edge.
"Bye, Lena," Kara says, pressing a finger to the side of her glasses before giving a little wave.
"Goodbye, Kara," Lena returns, still smiling at her around the edge of the door as she begins to close it.
"Bye," Kara repeats as she backs away down the hall, keeping her eyes on Lena until the door swings fully closed in front of her. There's a floaty feeling in her chest, and she really wants to just take off through the window, but she manages to make herself wait for the elevator like a regular human.
It isn't until she's descending towards the ground floor that she realizes she had done the exact opposite of what she came there to do. The charity auction is still going on, and now she's expected to be there as both Kara and Supergirl.
Her forehead dents the aluminum wall of the elevator as she drops her head against it with a groan.
"Are you sure you don't need me to run Operation Doubtfire again?" Winn whispers as they wait for the briefing to begin. It's only a few hours before the charity auction begins, and they've been unable to find any leads on the location or identity of Lena's attackers. Now they have to focus their attention on protecting Lena and her guests at her event, and the collected agents wait for J'onn to give them the details of the operation.
"It's much more exclusive than last time," Kara tells him. "I'm not sure I could get you in."
"I could be your plus one?"
Kara crinkles her brow, unable to stop a light blush as she says, "I think I'm Lena's plus one."
Before Winn can respond to that, J'onn walks to the front of the room, causing a hush to fall throughout through the waiting agents.
"As you all know," he begins, "Lena Luthor is once again the target of attempts on her life. And once again, she's decided to hold a public event that will likely be the target of an attack. So here's how tonight is going to go."
The plan is simple. Kara will go as herself, making a fleeting appearance as Supergirl as she had at Lena's last gala, but for the most part surveilling the auction from inside the event. Because the auction is invite-only, none of the other agents will be able to get inside, but will set up a perimeter around the ballroom, keeping an eye out for suspicious activity.
After J'onn finishes with the brief, the agents all scatter to their various posts, and Kara makes her way to the locker room to get ready. She changes quickly, donning a plum purple calf-length dress with a daring scoop in the back, cinched at the waist with a lighter purple ribbon. For her hair she ties a loose braid at the side of her head, leading it back into a low bun.
Alex catches her as she's finishing her hair, a handful of bobby pins held between her lips as she tries to tame her flyaways.
"Shouldn't you just leave those?" she says, propping a hip against the counter next to Kara. "You'll just have to fix them again when you change back and forth, right? Besides," she reaches out for a curl in front of Kara's ear, "they're cute."
Kara takes the bobby pins from her mouth, touching the wispy hairs at her temples as she looks this way and that. "You think?"
Alex raises an eyebrow, barely holding back a smirk. "I think Lena will think so."
"What?" A flush spreads across Kara's cheeks. "I'm not... I mean, that's good, because it's her party, and she invited me, so -"
Taking pity on her, Alex leans over to bump her with her shoulder, Kara swaying obligingly. "Whatever you say, little sis." She pushes off from the counter, making her way back to the locker room door. Turning in the doorway, she says, "I meant it though."
She gestures to her temple, signifying Kara's flyaways, but Kara catches her implied meaning. About the other thing too.
Kara smiles at her in the mirror, tucking the bobby pins in her little makeup bag. The time will come when she'll have to examine how good it makes her feel that Lena might like how she looks, but for now... "Thanks, Alex."
A smile quirks the corner of Alex's mouth, and she gives Kara a nod before turning down the hall.
The auction is being held in a historic section of National City, in one of the city's oldest and largest ballrooms. Kara admires the towering stone archways above the doors as the bouncer checks her name against a list of approved guests, praying that they won't be riddled with bullet holes by the night's end. Although Kara knew this was the biggest ballroom in the city, she still isn't fully prepared for the sight of it. Warm, golden hardwood floors stretch across the expanse of the room, meeting creamy white walls. In between the floor and the filigreed ceilings high overhead, a balcony wraps around the room, connecting to a stone counterpart outside. The space is already filled with National City's socialites and elites, their voices creating a low din over the string quintet playing in the corner.
Many are already looking at the items up for auction settled on cloth-covered tables around the perimeter of the room. Though most tables hold displays of jewelry or tickets to events around National City, Kara spots a truly massive 4K TV in one corner, and even - are those Bravak quills?
Kara's distracted from her inspection when a hush falls over the crowd. She follows everyone's gazes to a small raised platform along the back wall, where Lena's now standing in front of a microphone. She's dressed in a deep emerald green dress, the color serving to bring out the green in her pale eyes. The form-fitting silk of the gown clings to her every curve, the high jeweled collar covering her throat but leaving her white shoulders bare.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lena begins, and Kara closes her mouth, hoping no one had caught her staring. "Welcome to L-Corp's first annual charity auction."
She holds for the polite applause, then continues, "Since our rebranding, L-Corp has worked to become a company focused on improving the lives of our neighbors and fellow citizens with innovation and emerging technologies. In thanks to National City for working with us towards this goal, we wanted to give back to the community. Please feel free to look around at the objects for auction tonight, all of which have been provided by generous donors. All funds raised tonight will go towards various charities across National City, which are detailed in your programs. Let the bidding begin!"
She smiles graciously as she applauds along with the crowd, flashbulbs going off around her. Then she climbs down from the platform, and Kara can see her eyes roaming the crowd.
Kara quickly makes her way over to her, ducking her shoulders and waving as Lena finally catches sight of her.
"Kara! I'm so glad you could make it. I'm sorry I couldn't meet you at the door, I had to make my introductory speech." Lena beams at her when they're finally face to face, her stiletto heels making her just barely taller than Kara.
Kara feels an echoing grin stretch across her cheeks, accompanied by that warm, fuzzy feeling she gets whenever she makes Lena smile for her like she will for no one else.
"That's all right," she says, waving her hand. "It was a very nice speech."
Lena dips her head. "Thank you. So, what do you think?" she asks, gesturing around the ballroom.
Kara lets out a short laugh. "I mean, wow, Lena, this is…"
"Hoity-toity, I know. But I have to give the upper escalons what they want," she says wryly.
"No, I was gonna say amazing," Kara corrects, gazing around her. "I've been to events with Cat, I mean, for CatCo before, but this feels… more grand."
Lena smiled at her and cupped the air near Kara's elbow, gesturing her further into the room. "In that case, I'll try to make it pleasurable for you."
They meandered through the crowd, stopping here or there to talk with a business investor or politician whom Lena recognized. Kara watched Lena as she switched from light banter to serious discussion with ease, playing each conversation to her advantage. Finally, they ended up at the refreshment table, where Lena orders them each a champagne and Kara devours at least half the tiny sandwiches on the display in front of her.
"I'm sorry for all of that," Lena says, her brows drawing contritely. "I said I was going to make this interesting for you, and instead you had to watch me schmooze a bunch of old white men."
Kara struggles to swallow her mouthful of sandwiches, finally getting out, "No, don't worry, it was interesting. You know so many people, it's kind of amazing."
Lena lets out a quiet chuckle, then sets her champagne glass onto the counter. She seems to hesitate for a moment, then holds her palm out towards Kara. "May I?"
Kara stares at it dumbly for a moment before it clicks. "Oh! I - you - You want to dance with me?"
"Yes, if… that's alright, of course." Lena falters, her fingers beginning to curl back on themselves.
Kara grabs her hand before they can. "Yes!" She coughs, tries again a little more calmly. "I mean, yes, that would be great. I'd love to."
Lena beams at her, then draws her out to the middle of the ballroom where couples have already paired off and are waltzing around the floor. She draws in a breath, then guides Kara's hand to her shoulder, slipping her own around Kara's back. Kara feels a frisson of excitement as her cool fingers settle below her shoulder blade, realizing Lena means to take the lead.
They're still for a moment as Lena catches the rhythm, then away they spin, merging into the flow of dancing couples. Kara finds she can hardly catch her breath, not with Lena's bright eyes so close, her shoulder soft under her hand. She lets out a peal of laughter as Lena spins her once, twice, ending the dance pink-cheeked and breathing hard.
Lena lets go of her as soon as the music ended, but Kara knows it isn't from regret when she drops an adorable curtsey to her, smiling widely. Kara mimics her with another giggle, and they slip off the dance floor and draw back to the fringes of the ballroom.
"You dance very well, for never having been to a fancy ball before," Lena compliments as they walk along the row of display tables.
Kara reaches out to fiddle with a necklace on display to keep Lena from seeing the way her cheeks darken. "Oh, well, thank you."
They amble in silence for a moment before Kara points upwards towards the balcony.
"Want to go outside? It's so nice tonight, we could get some air…" Kara offers, giving Lena a crooked smile.
Lena returns it, leading her up the spiral staircase at the corner of the room and out into the night air. As they lean against the high stone ledge, Lena props her chin on her hand, letting out a soft sigh.
"National City is beautiful at night," she says.
Kara hums, joining Lena in staring out at the twinkling lights of the city around them, its residents making their way here and there on the road below them. "I love the city at night. I love to listen to all of its sounds - or," she stutters, "the sounds from the street outside my apartment, because that's the only part I can hear."
"That's funny, I wouldn't have pegged you for a night owl." Lena pins her with a playful, appraising look.
"Oh, well, sometimes my um, job keeps me up late." Not a complete lie - superheroing does cause her to keep some odd hours.
"Staying up to keep those deadlines?" Lena teases.
Kara fidgets with one of the loose curls on her neck. "Ha. Yeah. That."
Speaking of superheroing - Kara suddenly realizes she has yet to make her appearance as Supergirl.
"Do you want something to drink?" she asks, already backing towards the door. "I'll go get some drinks. Is there punch?"
Lena turns to lean her back against the ledge, watching Kara retreat. She tilts her head apologetically. "Sorry, I don't think I ordered punch."
"Right, duh, this isn't high school prom. I'll get more champagne." Kara spins around, barely avoiding the door frame, and ducks into the ballroom.
Within moments, Supergirl floats gently down to hover on the opposite side of the ledge from Lena. She's still watching the door where Kara had disappeared, so Kara takes a second to get into her pose - hands on hips, one knee cocked - before clearing her throat lightly.
"Oh!" Lena whirls around, one hand going to her collarbone. "Supergirl, you startled me."
"I'm sorry," Kara apologizes. She drifts over the top of the ledge, touching down a few feet away from Lena. "I just wanted to check in with you."
Lena nods, straightening and clasping her hands in front of her. "Yes, I was beginning to wonder if you were actually coming or not." Her tone is playful, but with just an edge of chill that has Kara regretting her lack of attention.
"I've been here," Kara tells her, "just, keeping out of the way. It looked like you were having… fun. I didn't want to interrupt."
She could have sworn she sees a barely-there blush slide over Lena's cheeks as she responds, "Yes, it has been a nice evening."
The corners of Lena's lips turn up as a faraway look comes into her eyes, and Kara hates to ruin it by asking, but Supergirl's there for a reason, so… "Have you seen any sign of your attackers?"
Sure enough, Lena's smile falls away, her lips drawing into a thin line. "Not yet."
"My people haven't seen them yet, either. But I assure you, if they show their faces here, we will stop them," Kara says, conviction coloring her tone.
"You're so earnest," Lena says with a tilt of her head, and Kara can't entirely tell if her tone is scornful or fond.
There's a booming crash below them, the high-pitched whine of an energy discharge, and then the screaming starts.
Both women's heads whip towards the ballroom, where they can see the crowd below begin to scatter in panic. Somehow, it's Lena that moves before Kara, stepping towards the balcony door with her hand outstretched.
"Kara!"
She doesn't get farther than that one step before Kara zips in front of her, blocking the doorway. "Don't worry, I've got her," she promises, feeling odd about speaking about herself like this. "Stay here."
She lingers just long enough to catch Lena's small nod, then throws herself through the door and straight over the balcony, landing hard, knees bent, fist down, but holding herself back from cracking the historic floorboards.
Rising, she takes in the scene: frozen partygoers, in a thick cluster near the door, which was now flung wide, then thinning as the attackers made their way into the ballroom. There are only three of them this time, the leader flanked by two subordinates - manageable, Kara thinks, until her eyes land on the temporal rifle the leader still carried. Kara can't stop her eyes from widening as she takes in the curling wires protruding from the power cells, welded sporadically and looking about as stable as a child's homemade creation.
"What did you do to it?" she asks, unable to keep the apprehension from her voice.
The leader grins maliciously and hefts the weapon in his hands. "You like? I made some upgrades. Should be able to take even you on, now."
The grin fades, and he levels the gun at her. She just manages to spin out of the way, feeling the cold heat of the freeze ray as it flew past her. A rush of dismay and guilt floods through her as it hits a group of civilians clustered behind her, freezing them all. From what she had seen that morning, the gun had only affected the specific person it had hit. It looks like the leader has managed to boost the freeze gun's power, after all.
Kara looks at the guests cowering against the walls and behind the tables around her. "Run! Go!" she calls to them, and they flee along the edges of the ballroom. She fires two quick beams of her laser vision when the lackeys turned their guns to follow them, making them drop the white-hot weapons.
The leader fires his rifle at her, then again, and she ducks and weaves to avoid the boosted beams. Too wary to use her laser vision against the monstrosity he had made the weapon, she knows she has to disarm him somehow, and quickly. But that's easier said than done as he keeps up a constant barrage of fire.
"Where is she, Supergirlie?" the leader bellows as she throws herself into the air. "Where's the Luthor?"
Kara flies even further away from the balcony door, keeping his attention from it and praying Lena won't do anything stupid. "She's under my protection, and you're not getting to her!"
She swoops down at him, but he manages to get the rifle up just in time, firing a shot straight into her stomach. It slings her back, historic plaster crumbling around her shoulders as she slams into the wall.
She has a brief second to feel bad about it before there comes a stuttered whining sound, like a car battery trying to turn over, and Kara's eyes widen to saucers because oh Rao, it's coming from the mangled gun. She pushes off from the wall, flings herself towards the man, but she's too late - an orb of blue-white light explodes from the disintegrating gun, and she's hurled back, her back slamming into…
Concrete? For a second, Kara's mind blanks out with pain and confusion, the air punched from her lungs, unable to figure out where she is. She's outside, and it's day, and there are -
Gunshots pop nearby, bullets pinging off her prone body, and she rolls instinctively, bringing her cape up to shield herself. As she kneels there, cape pulled over her head, she looks frantically around, trying to figure out what's happened. It's then that she catches sight of a man frozen in mid-motion, coffee spilling in a motionless crescent from his hand.
The same man from that morning. With the same coffee. She looks around further - she's in L-Corp's courtyard, frozen figures surrounding her, lances of blue-white light flashing sporadically.
It hits her then. Whatever that man had done to bastardize the temporal rifle, it had caused it to malfunction, and malfunction spectacularly. Spectacularly enough to punch Kara straight back through time.