The next morning, Eliza stood outside on the lawn, staring at what was her home. The fire had destroyed it. Yes, the home was an object, but what it meant, the memories and the life that was in there was now gone. The house was nothing but charcoal, burned wood, with a few windows and a roof that was still partially smoking.

The older woman wanted to cry, she really did. Her home was gone, and whatever she clung onto that reminded her of her late husband was now merely ash in the remains.

Lucy walked over to Eliza. She eyed the home and felt guilt creep up her spine. She wasn't there the moment the fire broke out, but she still partook in the drinks and what was supposed to be a night of chilling and drinking. She wasn't to know that things would get out of hand. As she stared at the building, she let out a silent sigh. Eliza must have known she was there though, as she spoke out loud what she was thinking.

"It's ruined." Her voice wobbled. Once again, she was on the brink of tears and nothing could stop it. Lucy swallowed the lump that resided in her throat as she looked in the same direction as Eliza.

A fireman walked over to them a few seconds later. He had a plastic bag in hand with an item in it. Lucy's eyes grew wider as she stared at the object in question. She saw how Eliza's posture tightened.

"A bottle of Vodka." The man confirmed as he waved the bag like some sort of prize, "Do you have any idea how it came to smash in the fireplace? That could have been the reason as to why the fire accelerated."

Eliza shrugged, a slight stammer came out of her mouth as she began to speak, "N-no, I do not have any idea at all..." She knew a bunch of teenagers had been drinking without her permission, but she didn't want to drop them in it, despite how angry she was. Then there was the matter of Mon-El. The police officer who knew well enough that most of them were not old enough in the first place to drink.

"Do you have any pets that could have accidentally knocked it over?" The fireman said with clear suspicion in his voice. He stared at the two women in front of him.

Lucy thought quickly on her feet before Eliza could answer, "Well, there was a cat, the stray. It got in and was sitting by the fire. Unless it was Streaky, Kara never really told me what Streaky looked like. That bottle is one of Non's, he could have knocked it over."

"It was merely a case of bad luck then?" The fireman replied, clearly not believing the story that Lucy was telling, judging by the slight sneer and sarcasm that laced his voice. He then looked at Eliza with a firm glare, "Next time Ma'am, if you have smoke detectors fitted never remove the batteries."

Eliza smiled slightly, thinking up a quick lie, "I kept burning the toast." The truth was, Kara hated them. They were faulty since before the fire and went off when they didn't need to. Even though Eliza told her not to remove the batteries, she still did anyway.

"It's better that than death by smoke inhalation." The man sneered before finally walking away.

Eliza let out a heavy sigh, "I kept telling her not to remove those damn batteries. Now, she is never going to remove any batteries...I'll get the system wired in instead." She said before her eyes locked on Lena.

Dressed in jeans, a black trench coat and a dark blue shirt, with her hair tied back, Lena walked over to Eliza and gave her a rather apologetic and sympathetic look. There was guilt in her eyes too, however when Eliza looked at her, she gave her a stone cold look. As far as she was concerned, Lena was responsible for putting Kara where she was.

"Hey Lena," Lucy said to her friend softly as she walked up to her. Lucy wrapped her arms around Lena and Lena squeezed her tightly, "Hey Luce." She greeted in a soft tone. She pulled away as Eliza glared at her. Her hands went back into the pockets of her coat, before she cleared her throat, "Mrs Danvers..." She began and now she had no idea where to take this.

"Is there any news on Kara?" Lena asked softly, not wanting to intimidate the elder Danvers even though it was quite the other way around.

"She's stable," Eliza said sternly, "For now, that's all I'm telling you."

Lena nodded slowly. She fully understood why Eliza was being like this. The rest of the time, both Danvers and Luthor remained quiet, while Lucy left having had enough of the tension. It was too exhausting to be around.


"That house..." Eliza said to Kara as she sat beside her bed that afternoon. Kara was sitting up, talking and back to her normal self but boy did she miss Lena. All that she wanted to see was Lena. She didn't want any more hospital food, she just wanted Lena, her Lena. Kara hadn't yet seen any of her friends. She thought that everyone stayed away because they were there last night.

Winn went off of the grid, James left well alone, Lucy tried talking to Eliza and Mon-El of course, he stayed out of it.

Alex on the other hand, in her life she had blamed Kara for many things but last night they almost lost each other and it terrified her. Her justification for not seeing Kara was that ironically, she was worried that she would get burned. Lucy tried telling her that Kara needed someone right now, but Alex just couldn't do it. It got too much last night and she wasn't ready for it. She'd faced the wrath of her mother, the blame gets passed onto her, all of it.

The argument was both Lena's and Kara's, not hers and yet it felt to Alex like she was getting it in the neck.

Kara drummed her fingers on the table in front of her, refusing to meet her mother's eyes. The blonde's hair was down, her curls touching her shoulders and the ugly gown. Before her mother arrived, she was reading a book and so she kept her glasses on. Kara didn't want to listen to the story that her mother had to tell her, she just wanted to see Lena. Kara stared at the clock on the wall and listened as it ticked away.

"That house..." Eliza began again, "It has been in the family for generations. The day that I leave in the trust that both you and Alex can be responsible adults, it spontaneously combusts?!" Eliza scoffed.

Kara had already had enough, snapping herself, "Mom! Alex and I could have died last night and it wasn't either of us that started that damn fire!"

Just as Eliza was about to scold her for her attitude, Kara's doctor walked in. She walked over to Kara's bed and removed the pulse oximeter from the tip of her right index finger, before wrapping the cable up.

"When can I get out of here?" Kara sighed heavily, speaking to her doctor.

Her doctor replied in a stern tone, "When I believe that you can. You've been a very lucky young lady."

"Sure," Kara muttered sarcastically as her doctor left the room.

Eliza gave Kara a firm glare as Kara looked back at her. Kara swallowed hard, looking down at her bed.


"I thought you were going to die." Was the first thing Lena said to Kara as she sat on the end of her bed in the hospital later that evening. Her smile was cynical, yet broken. She couldn't be near Kara or at least hold her the way she wanted to, not when Eliza could come around the corner any second. She wasn't sure if Eliza knew that she was even there.

Lena couldn't look at Kara properly and so she settled for just fidgeting with her fingers nervously.

"I tried to get out when I realized that I couldn't find you anywhere. I got to the kitchen..and I just-" Kara stopped speaking as tears formed in her eyes. Kara felt just as guilty for all of this as Lena did.

She couldn't fight the urge any more. Lena couldn't just sit there as the woman she loved was in pain, so she leapt forward, wrapping her arms around Kara's shoulders. She held her tightly and breathed her in. She sniffed heavily as she felt Kara grip her just as tightly. This is what they both had wanted all day, just to see each other.

Just to hold each other, and let each other know that it would be okay.

Kara cried on Lena's shoulder, while Lena sobbed on hers.

"The fireman said that it started with the Vodka but we both knew that anyway." Lena chuckled as she wiped her eyes, pulling away from Kara. "The bottle that I threw." Lena shrugged, "I could have killed both us and Alex."

There was a moment of silence before Lena spoke again. She locked eyes with Kara, "I said awful things. What a mess hey?"

"Yeah." Kara nodded slowly.

"But they don't believe Eliza's story and if they work out that it was me who started the fire...I could go to jail." Lena continued, "Another Luthor behind bars."

Kara put her hands in front of her, taking Lena's in hers. She rubbed them softly with her thumbs. Lena looked into Kara's eyes and Lena looked into hers. They were back on good terms with each other and it felt better than it ever did before.

That was when Eliza walked in, tearing back the curtain. She glared angrily and Lena, "Get your hands off of my daughter!" She growled.

Lena tore back her hands from Kara's and once again, there was a black pit between them. Distance. Kara wasn't sure she could carry on like this.

"I did this Eliza!" Lena snapped, "Stop putting the blame on Kara and Alex, please! You know it was me that destroyed your home, no one else. I threw that bottle because I was jealous! I had no idea where the damn bottle would end up. I wasn't thinking about where to aim it, I just did!"

Eliza crouched ever so slightly, "Forgive me if I can't offer you absolution." She sneered. Lena clamped her jaw shut, aware that Kara was staring at her.

Eliza's glare turned to Kara, "You can come home. Get dressed and then you're coming with me." She then looked at Lena, "As for you, if I see you near my daughter again, I will make your life hell." The woman then glared at the two. Kara looked down at her lap, unable to handle the unease that Eliza sent her way.

"Now go." Eliza said to Lena, hissing ever so slightly.

Lena didn't have to be told twice. She got up, not looking back at Kara and she left.

Kara thought this was the worst birthday ever, now Lena was gone, she didn't see any point in anything.

"Now get dressed." Eliza said to Kara, before leaving.

Kara sat there for a moment in silence. A tear fell down her cheek, as she was trying to fight the stream of tears and the scream that was building up in the back of her throat.


A few days later while out on the street, Lena was walking around aimlessly as she was on her break. She found herself at Metropolis park, just reading a book. She missed Kara, but she didn't bother texting or calling her in the fear that if Eliza found out, she would take Kara out of the university and she didn't want that, not when she was doing so well.

She'd just finished eating a cookie, with her book in the other hand. She glanced up, thinking she saw Kara, but then brushed it off. She didn't think Kara would come here, not after everything that had gone on. She didn't think that Kara would risk a near encounter in the fear of being spotted.

"Lena?!" An excited voice called from a few metres away.

Or not. Lena thought as she knew that voice from anywhere.

A smile lit up Lena's face. She stood up as Kara ran over to her. Lena held Kara tightly in her arms as they met, "Rao Lena, I have missed you."

"You are a sight for sore eyes! I thought you'd stay away." Lena said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she pulled away from Kara.

"To be honest, I thought you'd do the same. Turns out, we're as risky as each other." Kara smiled, "Although...Sorry for missing lunches."

"Don't sweat it," Lena said casually. Although, she did miss it, the chats and the laughs that got her through her work day.

"So what are we going to do?" Kara sighed, she had to ask. Lena was still in the firing line and as unfair as it was, they couldn't do anything about it.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid if that's what you mean. I'm going to hang around, just not as much with you...I need to focus on work anyway." She saw the hope in Kara's face fade. She had to let her down, as much as she hated doing it, "Business is drying up and I need to focus on rebranding the company." She then pointed at the books in Kara's hand, "And you need to focus on study."

Kara nodded slowly, swallowing the lump in her throat. A sad smile then spread across her face, "I suppose...I'll still come and see you though."

Lena smiled, "Of course, just not as often, I mean, until the dust has settled anyway."

"Anyway...I'd better go." Kara said. She couldn't do this right now. Her heart was aching too much. She didn't get how Lena was coping. Or maybe she wasn't, she just didn't know, "I have rehearsal with Winn, you should come to the show when we have a date."

"I wouldn't miss it." Lena said with a smile. She walked forward, and kissed Kara on the cheek, before stepping away, "I'll catch you later."

"Yeah, bye." Kara said sadly, before walking away.

Lena kicked herself mentally. She could have handled that better.