"There is a strong possibility that Lex will attack in the next 15 days," a young man spoke with an air of insight.
"And if anything systematically changes, please alert us immediately. Any confirmed sightings, any attacks. Silence, in this case, is worse than anything. The longer he plots, the more risk there is," Lena reminded Brainy for the umptenth time.
He simply nodded in agreement and turned his attention back onto a simplistic onyx watch that he was fiddling with. On the table inches away lay three identical watches, the only difference being their colors. One a creamy white, another a dark sapphire blue and the last a sleek ruby.
"Can I speak with you, for just a second?" A tall man dressed in checkered plaid shirt and simple black glasses had separated himself from the small crowd that gathered in the DEO's main hub.
"If you must," Lena was combing over the coding for a private link for the last time, ensuring that the connection between Brainy's mainframe link to her personal service was as secure as possible. There was no way in hell she was going to jeopardize Kara's safety because of some shoddy coding.
"Lena," his voice lowered with urgency.
"Fine," Lena and Clark stepped away to a quiet corridor, out of sight and out of mind from the D.E.O. agents.
"I just want to warn you," he said, averting his gaze to the floor.
"Trust me, Mr. Kent. We have enough rations for several months, the cabin has already been outfitted with the latest technologies. Brainy has a direct link to the system and is amplifying fourth emergency beacon as we speak. I have considered every possible situation and taken every precaution," Lena had to say the exact same thing to Alex and J'onn on multiple occasions throughout the past week,"Not to mention the infrared barriers I've installed on the planes. Whatever device Lex used to hunt Kara down won't work."
"This is not the speech you are anticipating, just merely advice," His gaze shifted behind Lena, focusing on the quaint party going on behind her.
"Advice?" That was the last thing she was expecting from the Man of Steel. Curiosity got the best of her, nodding to let him continue.
"I know you'll put yourself in between Kara and any danger, and that's exactly what I'm worried about. No matter how prepared you are to risk yourself, remember that Kara is just as prepared to sacrifice herself for you."
Lena listened in silence, waiting for Clark to get to a point that she had not already considered herself.
"I genuinely appreciate all that you are doing for Kara, she really needs a vacation, just as much as you do. Take advantage of this time, have fun. Distract her from this mess," Clark dipped his head down towards Lena,"I'm sure she'll do a fine job distracting you from business nonsense," Clark added with a smirk that hinted he was aware of something she was not.
Lena raised an eyebrow in response, skeptical at what he was hinting at,"This business nonsense is what is financing your cousin's little vacation."
"Ms. Luthor, I am merely suggesting that you embrace this unfortunate situation and turn it into something fun," his broad shoulders lifted slightly in a shrug before he walked away, heading towards the small crowd,"You are not hiding your exhaustion as well as you think you are."
Lena's crystal green-blue eyes followed the Kryptonian, her gaze drifting away in search of a different alien. Within seconds, she spotted the intoxicating smile of a laughing women with silky blond hair flowing over her shoulders. Her head turned ever so slightly, her own gaze being snagged against Lenas'. While Kara appeared her usual jolly self, there was still a suspicious murkiness hidden in her captivating depths that deeply concerned Lena Luthor.
She allowed a smile to slip and headed over to Kara, ignoring the bile that rose in her throat. Each step she took it became harder to retain her strict business demeanor until it melted away as Kara drew her in for a hug.
"It's been too long," the younger Danvers sister teased with an affectionate grin.
"It's been like three days Kara," Lena could not resist a slight huff of amusement,"I had some things to take care of, making sure L-Corp is safe and secure during my absence."
"Were you surprised? It was Alex's idea, as a thank you," Kara gestured to the table cluttered with various sweets.
"Uh- yes. This was a nice little surprise," She was, and still not, one for surprises however the gesture was nice. Lena anxiously wanted this party to end so that she and Kara could begin their travels to the Rocky Mountains. She feared every corner would hide Lex, ready and waiting to kill her,"I feel a tad underdressed."
Lena, expecting another hour long lecture from Alex and Clark, had worn a simple flamingo pink hoodie that had the 'CatCo Media' logo on the back with dusky gray sweatpants.
"Don't worry, we'll be heading out soon," Kara elbowed Lena lightly in the side,"Just savor these last moments with civilization, okay?"
"Okay," Lena gave a quick nod. The Girl of Steel blended back into the crowd of people, primarily consisting of DEO agents and Kara's family. Parties, corporate or not, were not particularly fun for the Luthor heiress, although there were no dirty looks or hideous rumors being whispered about here.
Lena slipped away from the mass with ease, darting through an empty hall. Her limbs roared with exhaustion, it becoming harder to keep her eyes open with each step.
The past week was unimaginably hectic as she spent the first three days at Kara's bedside as she recovered, making countless calls regarding LCorp. When the Kryptonian women finally recovered physically, had forced herself to leave and attend certain things personally. She proceeded with extreme caution while stocking up her private jet, making sure that each purchase was untraceable.
Apprehension pricked her skin as she slid out her phone, opening up her business email. She scanned through the subject lines for anything that screamed importance. It appeared that she had done an adequate job, as most of the emails could be dealt with by her stand in.
Footsteps approached from the direction of the party, provoking Lena to look away from her phone to see whom was approaching. She was startled to see that it was Alex, her walking had an exasperated quickness.
"Hey, slow down," Lena put an arm out to stop the irritated Director,"Everything okay?"
"Yeah," the vexed expression on her face only intensified.
"Obviously not," she said pointedly,"What happened?"
"It's just my mother," Alex reluctantly confessed, appearing rather crest-fallen,"She is nonstop about badgering me about finding a suitable wife to have kids with. Constantly questioning my ability to balance dating and being the Director because I allowed Kara to get captured."
"Ah, I see. Usual motherly pestering?" One of the advantages of her strained relationship with Lillian was that she did not have to have to discuss her personal life.
"I only escaped because she ambushed Kara, although she won't be getting anything useful out of her," Alex leaned against the opposing wall.
"How is the dating game, Ms. Director of the DEO?" Lena teased lightly, stomach churning as she desperately desired to ask about Kara. She was so tempted to ask some how casually her alien sister had mentioned any crushes or people she was attracted to. Preferably if any of these attractions were specifically female.
"It's not too shabby, how about you, Miss Luthor? Any decent people out there in the corporate world that have caught your eye?" Alex replied with a half hearted grin.
"Ha! No, greedy old white guys are not my style," A genuine laugh escaped Lena's lips,"There is someone… But I can't do anything about it."
"Why not?" There was authentic interest in Director Danvers voice that was not there before.
"I can't risk losing them," Lena almost said 'her' but caught herself last second,"They mean to much too me."
"Do you even know how they feel?" Alex questioned, head tilted slightly down in thought.
"No, but…" She sighed heavily, gaze dropping to the floor,"It's complicated."
"And not saying anything as your feelings grow will only make things worse. The longer you hold off of these feelings the worse they get, trust me, I know. You're going to wish you said something sooner," the elder sister advised carefully.
"Yeah, maybe," Lena mumbled reluctantly. Maybe Alex had a point, she had shoved the aggressively homosexual attraction towards Kara in to a billion tiny boxes until she had comfortably misplaced her desires out on James. She only managed to drive away a friend and intensifying her feelings for the Kryptonian in the process.
"Oh, perfect. Just the two women I was looking for," Brainiac 5 poked his head around the corner,"I have some… unfortunate news."
"Spill it Brainy," Alex ordered as an expression of worry caused creases at the bridge of her brow.
"It seems that someone has leaked that Miss Luthor is going on vacation with a mysterious guest. Paparazzi are lining up outside the runway as we speak."
"What? Why?" The Director pondered for a split second before ordering,"It's time to go now. Have everyone in the trucks ready to roll out in ten minutes."
"I bet Lex has a bounty on our heads, having the public on the lookout for us to know where we are," Lena presented as she hurriedly followed Alex.
"Alright Agents, we're cutting this a little short. Someone got careless, we're going to have some unwarranted attention down at the strip. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get Supergirl and Lena out without more news crews showing up. Nothing changes, just keep your faces hidden," Alex spoke with confident authority.
Within a blink of an eye, the D.E.O. agents snapped into action. Nearly half of them hustled off to the garage to get the trucks ready, while a select handful dashed to the Agent's Quarters.
She grabbed the watches and shoved them in to her pant pockets, hoping the fourth worked enough so she could adjust it manually from the cabin.
Lena scanned the room until she spotted Kara, whom was struggling to fasten a thick coat while balancing two large duffle bags.
She navigated her way around the agents left monitoring the hub,"Need a hand?" Lena offered with an extended hand.
"Uh, yeah, um. Thanks," Kara passed off a surprisingly hefty duffle bag. She adjusted her glasses ever so slightly, resulting in an unwarranted flutter in Lena's chest, before finishing buttoning up the jacket.
"Are you ready?" Her tongue seemed unnaturally heavy as the inoculant feeling of panic set in once more.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Kara chuckled half-heartedly,"I just hope you have enough food stocked."
"I made sure of it," Lena reassured her with a quick smile. She grabbed a hold of her wrist, leading Kara towards the exit. The two women traveled down a brightly lit hallway for a short minute until they pushed through heavy steel door. The doorway opened to five large SUVs lined up along the side of the street.
"Are you sure there isn't a quieter way to sneak us off?" Kara asked quietly as they were basically shoved in to the fourth car by Alex. Their bags were taken by an agent on stand by who set down the bags in the trunk. Lena slid in first, followed closely by Kara and Alex.
"Four planes are harder to track than just one. These paparazzi assholes could just be a cover for Lex so he can attack during the chaos," It was Alex that explained the plan, passing two terribly large sunglasses to Kara and Lena.
"Right..." Kara grumbled as the engine started to rumble louder, carefully putting the large pair of glasses over her lead-infused frame. Simultaneously, all five cars jutted into action, slowly making their way out of the parking garage.
"Don't go getting engaged while I'm gone" Kara baited her sister,"I want detailed descriptions of every girl and every date when I get back."
"Of course not," Alex placed a hand over Kara's,"Don't get too comfortable with your civilian life, I'm not sure how long National City can handle itself without Supergirl." Her chestnut eyes shifted towards Lena's direction,"Or without its resident Luthor."
She looked away, biting gently down on her tongue to deter the blooming smile from broadening further. Lena slid on the sunglasses, the world around becoming several shades darker just as the SUV slid on to the crowded city road.
"Have either of you heard anything from Lex?" Kara inquired, masking a faint waver in her soft voice.
"No. Mother refuses to talk to me about Him. I've spent the past week focused on preparing for my leave of absence," Lena drew in a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm. Every turn she expected Lex to be looming with some sort of armada preparing to kill them.
"A couple scattered reports south of Smallville, only one of which was confirmed," Alex muttered, clearly stressed,"Every agent across the nation is looking out for him, I will have Brainy let you know for every confirmed sighting."
"Okay…" Her discomfort was promotine in the way she shifted in the seat, flinching when her elbow brushed against Lena's.
A familiar ache jabbed her heart, just as it had done the second she laid eyes on the broken body of Kara in that horrid cage. In this particular case, she hated to be right. Kara tried to hide it, but Lex had damaged more than her body, he had crushed her spirit.
"This will be good for you Kara, you've been working so hard these past few years as Supergirl. The only sort of time off you took was for Barry and Iris' wedding, and that wasn't particularly relaxing," Alex feigned a cheerful tune.
"Ah, yes, the very relaxing experience of watching a Nazi version of myself dying," The Girl of Steel shuddered.
Lena glanced at Kara at the mention of Nazis, eyes wide,,"What on earth are you talking about?" She would have remembered hearing about Supergirl fighting Nazis.
Kara, with the occasional help from Alex, launched into strange story involving multiple earths, an evil Supergirl, and a confusing amount of other superheroes with equally confusing names. As Kara described what happened to her and how close she became to death, nauseous swamped over Lena. She knew there were countless of stories she would hear, but hearing the women she loved recount horrors from just a year ago was downright alarming.
Kara was relentlessly taunting her sister about a women named Sara as the SUV train rolled into a private airfield. Dozens of people lined the streets holding cameras as they were held back by a scores of policemen. Five small sleek raven jets stood tall in their respective lanes.
The car slowed to a stop alongside the others. Alex was the first to hop out of the SUV, slamming the door shut behind her. Lena could see her carefully examine their surroundings, eyes narrowed as she diligently assessed the gathered assembly yards away.
The next forty seconds ticked by excruciatingly slow as Lena awaited for Director Danvers' signal. An agent wordlessly retrieved Kara's luggage from the trunk, forcing the trunk door shut so hard the car shook. Alex said something inaudible, the message being relayed by their driver with a single word,"Go."
"Here we go…" Kara muttered under her breath as the leather creaked under their weight shifting off of the seat.
Lena gently pulled the handle of the door, opening it slowly, still skeptical that it was completely safe. She did not realize she was holding her breath until she set both of her feet down against the hard pavement, allowing herself to feel a smidgen of relief.
Kara slid out behind her, staying extremely close to Lena's right side. Far off in the distance police sirens sounded, resulting in a heart crushing squeak of fear from the alien next to her. People were shouting from across the line of police, waving around cameras with aggressive flashing lights.
Lena felt a hand grasping for hers, heart quickening to a concerningly high rate as Kara laced her fingers together with Lena's. The Luthor heiress gave a faint squeeze, hoping that the simple gesture would give the alien women some comfort.
In rhythm with the four other sets of body doubles, Kara and Lena sauntered with a shared sense of false confidence. Their strides were stagnated, incidentally taking extended strides to arrive in the safety of the plane seconds quicker.
Lena lifted her free hand, placing it on a biometrics scanner where a handle usually would be. A single beep was followed by a flashing green light that allowed for the airplanes door to slide open.
Dramatically, Lena leaned down with her left hand gesturing towards the entrance,"Ladies first."
A sweet smile crawled on to Kara's face as she stepped in to the plane, keeping her tight grip entrapping Lena's hand. Briefly forgetting her own strength, Kara tugged Lena after her. The exhausted business women was not expecting this and stumbled in to the jet. The only thing that kept her from crashing in to the hard metal floor of the plane was that her hand was still intertwined with Kara's.
Overhead, a plain automatic voice spoke, jolting Kara and Lena apart,"Departing in twenty seconds. Please buckle up."
The plane was so crowded with hefty boxes, seating was limited. Lena may have gone overboard with stocking up food and had made sure she had a large collection of movies and television shows to entertain them both. Limited as in the only seats that were left were where the typical pilot and copilot seats in the front of the jet.
Kara plopped down in the copilot seat as she shook her head once with amusement,"I think this will last us maybe a week tops."
"You're one expensive friend, you know that?" Lena laughed as she settled into the pleasantly soft seat,"I may have to sell some of L-Corp's holdings if you keep this up."
The jet engine purred softly as it's engines fired in to action. All five of the planes rose steadily into the air by order of the preprogrammed system provided by Lena and Brainiac 5. Four zeros flashed in green as the voice came back on,"Destination arrival in two hours and fifty one minutes."
"Only three hours away?" Kara asked, turning on her side so she could talk directly to Lena,"Where is this little cabin of yours?" She grabbed the sunglasses between her thumb and index finger, folding it up before tossing over her shoulder.
"Ever heard of the Rocky Mountains?" Lena asked, shuffling her position enough so she could see Kara. The captivating Kryptonian had drawn her hands underneath her chin, sky blue eyes that pierced her heart.
"I was honestly expecting it to be somewhere obscure, like Mount Everest," Kara adjusted her glasses so they fit properly on the bridge of her nose.
"Don't tempt me, I'm at my limits with humanity," she said with an exaggerated frown.
"You wouldn't leave me, your only friend?" Kara backed away a couple of inches, hand resting over her heart in a painfully obvious at appearing pained.
"It depends on how crazy you make me in our time of isolation," Lena taunted with a warm smirk.
Not that Kara could ever drive me away.
"Need I remind you this was your idea?" Something behind her smothering sapphire iris stirred as several clouds seemed to clear. Kara covered her mouth in pursuit of hiding a yawn.
"Need I remind you this is for your safety?" Lena reminded her with a softened voice,"Now, relax. You need to sleep."
"And you don't?" Kara shot back, attempting to stifle another yawn,"I'm not blind Lena. I know you were running L-Corp on my bedside for those first couple days. You're going to work yourself do death someday."
Her jaw tightened in consternation as Lena sincerely believed that in Kara's medically induced coma she would not have been aware of her presence,"Damn it Alex."
"It wasn't actually her, I could hear your ramblings when I slipped in and out of consciousness," Kara confessed, meeting Lena's surprised stare.
Lena froze in thought as she hazily recalled those first couple of days. Kara had remained conscious for a couple of hours riding on adrenaline after their arrival at the D.E.O. only to crash for nearly seventy-two hours straight. The first day was downright terrifying, Kara's heart rate fluctuated greatly. Slowly, under the highly concentrated Red sunlight, her internal wounds healed.
During those dreadfully long days, Lena was an absolute wreck. Unapologetically so emotional she hadn't eaten, hardly slept and only speaking to Alex or Brainy. Alex had been kind enough to bring in a small desk and a cott, only one of which she used to do some half-ass some L-Corp paperwork. What exactly had Kara heard? Annoyed ramblings out some moron lawyers or her confessing to Brainy why she was so emotional.
"Lena…" The way her voice faltered with contemplation as Kara adjusted her position once more as she burrowed into the soft chair. She drew the coat closer around her face to keep out the chilling air.
"Yeah?" Her heart almost jumped out of her throat, pushing aside the overwhelming side of herself that desperately wanted Kara to confess first.
"Take a nap," Kara mumbled through the thick cotton folds of her sleeves. Her entire body relaxed with a single breath as she settled down to sleep.
'How is it humanly possible for someone to look so adorable?' Lena thought to herself, hopelessly yearning to take this girl into a tight embrace and never let her go. The lowering sun against the horizon cast a pale shade of lavender light against the pale Kryptonians body. Kara, for the first time in weeks, appeared at peace.
A sly sigh escaped her lips as her eyes carefully scanned every centimeter of the face that deceived her for so long. Lena should have recognized that little scar just above her left eyebrow, her entrancing smile. The laugh that would catch her heart off guard. The kind sky blue eyes that always left Lena wanting more.
As the saying goes, love truly is blind. She pushed aside all of those coincidences and close calls and chalked them up as luck. Perhaps somewhere, deep down Lena knew the truth but just did not want to admit it. Her best friend had been lying to her since the day they met, and while she knew Kara had her reasons, it still stung.