Hi everyone, I'm really sorry it took me a while to update again, had a lot going on here but that's no excuse. I hope this update makes up for it. Thank you to everyone who is reading and leaving me reviews, please keep doing so it really is amazing to hear from you all.

Massive thank you and shout out to my beta Sinca, who has edited this chapter for me and is a great help and friend :)


Trigger Warnings: References of past physical and emotional child abuse. Signs of PTSD. Reference and scenes of homelessness

Chapter Seven- The Runaway

"Mom?" Alex called out as she entered the house, Maggie trailing behind her, "Kara? You home?"

They had called Eliza before leaving school to check it was alright for Maggie to come to dinner and had received an enthusiastic yes since Eliza still wanted to thank the new girl for all she had done for Kara. Eliza had told Alex that she would need to go shopping to get some food in order to make dinner for the four of them, but that Kara was currently sleeping. She didn't want to leave Kara asleep, so couldn't get groceries yet. Alex had offered that she and Maggie could run errands instead, but Eliza assured them it was fine and that she would pick up the food later.

During the car ride home Alex had explained to Maggie how Kara had a rough night and her ribs had been hurting her this morning, she had spoken about how the lack of sleep and pain from the injury had caused Kara to relive some nasty memories and made her upset in the morning. Alex didn't go into details, it wasn't her place, but she did provide a few basics to Maggie and explained how certain situations and actions can trigger panic attacks and how Alex was the only one who could calm her when Kara had one of her more severe episodes.

Maggie had been quiet the whole time Alex spoke, concentrating on driving and only asking questions occasionally, but Alex could tell Maggie was listening intently when she noticed the other girl's hands tighten on the steering wheel when they broached the subject of how people pointing out Kara's scars can cause panic attacks.

Whether that was from the mere mention of the scars or the fact that Maggie herself thought she may have made Kara's panic worse last night Alex didn't know, but she did find it incredible sweet that Maggie seemed to actually care. Even though Alex didn't know Maggie that well she was starting to see that Maggie did care, she didn't pity like others, she wasn't trying to find out information just to use it as mocking material later on, she cared about Alex and Kara- and honestly that was rare.

Upon calling for Eliza and Kara, Alex furrowed her brows after hearing what sounded like a 'shush' coming from the living room, slowly she made her way through with a frown on her face, her eyes widening as she entered the room to see Eliza sat on the couch with Kara asleep next to her, the young blonde's head resting on a cushion over Eliza's lap.

Eliza offered her a small smile before continuing to stroke Kara's hair, as Alex watched from a distance, finding herself unable to keep the small smile form gracing her face at the sight.

Kara had come a long way in the last few weeks especially.

When she had first moved in she struggled with Eliza being too close to her, and any sort of touch would frighten her- to see her so openly vulnerable and close to her mother now showed just how much improvement and how much more secure she was starting to feel in her surroundings.

Something which Alex was grateful for.

She loved having Kara with them, she loved having Kara as her little sister and would do what she could to protect her always, but she would be lying if she said it was not tiring being the only one that could calm her when she was frightened.

She knew it wasn't Kara's fault and she definitely did not blame her for it, but it gave her peace of mind to know that Kara was starting to feel more secure with her mother now as well.

She would feel less bad about taking time for herself on occasion and she no longer had to worry as much if she had to leave Kara at home while she went to school.

"Sorry," Alex apologised quickly for yelling as she had come in, realising now it probably was not a good idea as her mother had already told her that Kara might be asleep still. "How is she feeling now?" Alex asked dropping her school bag to the floor and ushering Maggie in to the living room with her.

Maggie waved a hello, smiling awkwardly as she leaned against the wall. Turning her head Alex offered her a friendly smile, feeling bad for making her new friend feel awkward.

Eliza smiled in greeting to Maggie, "Hi Maggie, its nice you could join us tonight," she said before turning her attention back to Alex, "better, I think. She's been more settled today, I think taking her to the beach helped this morning," Eliza theorised. "Will you be okay to keep an eye on her while I go and get some groceries?" Eliza asked, waiting until Alex nodded before carefully easing out from underneath her foster daughter, being mindful not to move her too quickly.

Kara whined in her a sleep a little bit at the movement as the cushion her head was on was lifted and carefully placed back down on the couch but otherwise did not make any indication that she had woken from the movements. Instead she only released a sleepy sigh before stretching out a little bit and cuddling further against the back of the couch.

Eliza smiled softly, pulling the blue blanket up further to cover Kara better before leaving for the kitchen as Alex turned to Maggie again.

"So, how are you at video games?" Alex asked, moving over to tv unit to take out a Wii remote control, "Fancy practicing some Mario Kart for later, we usually play that at some point in the evening," she suggested, glancing back over her shoulder as she spoke.

Making her way over to the other couch in the room Maggie took a seat on the edge, "Sure, can't hurt to practice for destroying you later, Danvers," she replied confidently.

Alex let out a single loud laugh before she smirked, "You may end up eating your words Sawyer," she teased back confidently, emphasising Maggie's last name, "No one has beat me at Mario Kart in years."

"I-I did l-last w-w-eek," Kara spoke up quietly from the couch, her eyes now open and blinking around the room tiredly, Alex's loud burst of laughter having woken her.

Turning in surprise Alex chuckled at the state of Kara's bed hair, raising an eyebrow in response, "Maybe I let you win," Alex countered offering Kara a controller to see if she wanted to play as well.

Kara nodded lightly in response, running a hand through her messy hair as she yawned into her other hand tiredly. "You a-almost b-broke the c-c-ontroller, it h-has a s-scratch from hit-ting t-he w-wall," Kara pointed out, motioning to the controller Alex was holding.

Seeing the mark Kara was motioning towards Maggie burst out laughing loudly causing Alex to flush with embarrassment and for Kara to flinch at the sound, having not realised Maggie was in the room with them.

"S-sorry, w-was I n-n-ot m-meant to t-t-tell a-anyone" Kara apologised quickly, worry evident in her voice as she looked down at the ground. Kara's shoulders tensed slightly while she sat up carefully, pulling the blue blanket with her. "I-I d-didn't mean t-t-to," Kara stuttered quietly, keeping her eyes to the floor.

Alex frowned, she may be embarrassed but that wasn't Kara's fault and she certainly did not want Kara to be fearful of joining in conversations and joking with her like she had just been doing.

Kara hadn't done anything wrong.

Even though it was clear she thought that she had from the way she was acting now, Alex felt it was important that Kara knew that Alex wasn't angry. She desperately wanted Kara to know it was okay to join in with jokes, and it was okay to point things like that out.

Walking briskly, Alex made her way around to the couch with the three controllers they would need to play with. Quickly depositing the controllers on the coffee table, Alex sat down next to Kara and quickly pulled her sister in for a hug after making sure Kara had seen her.

She knew pulling Kara into a hug too quickly before she had time to process who was touching her would only frighten her little sister; it was always important to make eye contact with her first, so Kara knew what was going to happen. "Don't be sorry, you haven't done anything wrong," Alex whispered quietly into Kara's hair, trying to keep her voice reassuring as she rubbed a hand soothingly along Kara's back.

Alex smiled sadly as she felt Kara take a shuddery breath before relaxing against her and bringing one of her own arms up to wrap around Alex's waist, returning the embrace slowly.

Kara was still getting used to this kind of contact again.

When she had first moved in and Alex had gone to hug her after a nightmare it had only worsened Kara's fear and made her almost catatonic.

It had taken time and patience for Kara to get used to being touched in a way that didn't bring her pain and fear, and Alex knew she was still coming to terms with that.

Alex had learnt not be hurt by the fact her sister would sometimes flinch and tense at first when she tried to hold her, she had learnt the little tells that Kara had when she was not okay with being touched. The way her heart rate would noticeably increase, and she would stop breathing at first if she was unprepared for contact, but also the way she would slowly relax into and melt against Alex's side if she did want to be held but had just been startled at first.

Alex was proud of herself for being able to quickly learn how to read Kara's body language in a way that allowed her to give her sister what she needed without Kara having to speak. It had come in very handy, especially as at first Kara had been so afraid to speak that doing so would bring on the most terrifying of panic attacks for Alex to witness.

The type of fear she would see in Kara's eyes during those times was like nothing she had ever witnessed, nothing that had been portrayed in any TV show or movie, nothing she had seen described in any book.

It was primal.

As though the fear had been engrained into her so deeply it was the only response that she knew.

The first panic attack Alex had witnessed she truly thought Kara would not come back from. She had been so scared and shaking so hard that Alex thought she might snap herself in half with the force and toll it was taking upon her body. Her sobs had been shattering and the breaths she had been trying to take had sounding more like gasping wheezes for air.

All this was brought on purely by the fact Alex had asked Kara a question and she had answered it, talking for the first time since moving in with them and stuttering nervously through her reply before her eyes widened in fear and she began to panic. Alex couldn't even begin to imagine the fear that Kara must have felt and the pain she must have been through to bring on such a reaction to doing something that to Alex herself thought was as simple as breathing.

She doubted anyone could, unless they too had been in a similar situation.

While most people did try and be understanding, a lot were more patronising and pitying than necessary and some would only make Kara's fears worse with their ways of trying to 'help'.

Like one of Kara's teachers who thought the best way to make Kara comfortable with speaking was to ask the whole class to be quiet as she attempted to speak. Placing Kara directly in the spotlight and making her even more nervous as she noticed the entire class watching her waiting to hear what she had to say. Needless to say, it did not help- and did not end well when this had happened to Kara on her second day back to school after the incident that had happened in the hallways resulting in Kara being taken to hospital once more.

Kara had a panic attack in the middle of her French class, the teacher had no idea what to do and, in the end, it was one of the students in the class, a kind boy named Winn Schott that had taken it upon himself to leave the classroom and head to Ms. Grant's office to alert her of the situation. Ms. Grant had collected Alex from her own class and escorted her to the room, promptly clearing the room out after seeing the severity of the panic attack Kara was suffering from, leaving only herself and Alex to calm her.

It had been the first time that Alex had been able to engulf Kara in a hug without the younger girl flinching, at the time Alex thought it may have been because her little sister was far too gone in her panic to realise that Alex was holding her. However, she later realised it wasn't. Kara hadn't flinched because she was slowly beginning to trust that with Alex being touched did not equal pain.

And that was something that couldn't have made Alex happier.

Since that day the two sisters had become a lot closer, Alex had trusted her instincts with how to comfort Kara a lot more and in return Kara had slowly began to trust her a lot more, even asking to be held at times when she became fearful- something, which for Kara, was a big deal.

Being willing and able to accept physical contact and comfort from another person was one thing, but seeking it out, was a different thing entirely.

"Little Danvers just ratted you out big style there," Maggie joked with a small laugh, "so, you're not the big tough Mario Kart player you were trying to take out, hmm?" Maggie continued, trying to remove some on the unease from the room after noticing how Alex seemed worried and Kara seemed almost nervous.

Alex dropped a soft kiss to Kara's hairline, before looking over her shoulder and smirking, "I'm still good enough to beat you, but Kara may be better than even I am which I swear is just luck on her part," Alex responded, winking at Kara as she pulled back from the embrace.

Maggie laughed, "Or maybe she is really just better than you are?" she joked, earning a scoff from Alex and a tiny smile from Kara, who looked over in Maggie's direction briefly before looking away to adjust her glasses.

"Get over here Sawyer," Alex emphasised, "the controllers work better from this side of the room, we have a wheel if you want it but me and Kara tend to use the controllers and nunchuks," Alex explained while moving around on the couch to sit in the middle beside Kara to make room for Maggie to join them.

Noticing Kara moving in the corner of her eye, Alex reached a hand out and gently took her little sisters hand, pulling her carefully to lean back into the couch and against her side.

She knew what Kara had been trying to do without having to ask.

Kara would at times get nervous when guests game over, she would resort to going back to what she believed to be her place which was on the floor.

It had taken both Alex and Eliza a long time to convince Kara she was allowed to sit on the couch and sleep in her bed. She had gone a long way and was mostly comfortable enough to do so now, but still at times when they had company over she would resort back to what she was used to and attempt to sit on the floor again thinking it was where she belonged.

Turning her head to the side Alex searched for Kara's eyes with her own only to find that Kara was still looking to the floor and fidgeting with a scrap of cotton in her jeans in her free hand.

Carefully Alex reached out, taking Kara's hand in her own to stop her fidgeting, "It's okay Kar," she assured, "you can stay here, there's room for all of us."

Kara took a deep breath, exhaling slowly before relaxing her tense shoulders and shuffling slightly to lean into her sister's side.

Alex couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face as Kara leaned her head gently against her arm, cuddling up close to her side. Hearing an 'aw' like sound she looked up for a moment to see Maggie making her way over the couch with a big smile on her face. Rolling her eyes Alex rested her head against Kara's, taking the controllers that Maggie passed to her as she sat on the couch beside her before passing one over to Kara.

"Let's see what you got then, Danvers, little Danvers."


Lena smiled as she folded over the torn-out pages from her notebook, this was by far the longest short story she had written for her artist- for Kara.

She hoped that Kara enjoyed the story as much as she had enjoyed writing it, the sketch Kara had given her this morning had been an interesting one. It was beautiful like always, but it showed a darkness to it that Lena had only seen glimpses of in other sketches.

The darkness in the sketches held a story of its own she was sure of it- but she didn't want to ask, it wasn't her place to push for answers when she had only just met her artist.

Meeting Kara had been an interesting and enlightening experience.

Kara was not what she would have imagined her artist would have been like. When she looked at the sketches she had imagined someone much older, wiser with life knowledge. Yet Kara was young, though at the same time seemed a lot more mature and older than most her age.

Kara was younger than even Lena herself, she had found that out during their game of twenty questions. The game was quite telling actually, it gave Lena a good insight into who Kara was as a person. Kara was kind, she was smarter than most would think, she was intuitive yet also respectful, and she was also quiet.

Very quiet.

That much was obvious from when they first met, and Lena thought that even if Kara didn't have a speech impediment she may have still been quiet.

She seemed like the type of person who preferred to sit back and view the scene rather than take part in it herself. Whether that was due to past experiences making her feel it was safer to do so Lena didn't know, but she found herself wanting to know, which in itself was not something she was used to.

Lena had given up on getting to know the people around her a long time ago.

For too long now she had been forgotten and ignored, seen as an inconvenience rather than a person. After time, it just became easier to not care anymore.

It hurt less that way.

She could not be made to feel irrelevant if the people trying to make her feel that way were no longer relevant to her. Or at least, that was what she told herself

Honestly, even though she tried not to care, deep down she did.

She wanted what others had, she wanted a family, friendship, love. She wanted to feel needed. She wanted someone she could count on and trust, and she wanted to be that for someone else too.

She wanted to matter.

Writing these stories, as small a thing as they were, made her feel as though she mattered. Mattered enough that her artist wanted to keep sketching for her. Mattered enough that someone out there was happy to listen to what she was saying and not just dismiss her as a mere child.

A nuisance.

The bastard daughter created through infidelity.

That's how her mother saw her. Not that she was her real mother. Lillian saw her as a pawn to get what she had wanted from her late husband. Her late husband who had Lena through an affair with one of the house maids. The problem was, now that her father was gone, Lillian had no use for her.

She had her money, she had her power, and she had her son. Her golden boy, Lex- who in Lena's opinion was turning crazier by the day.

Lena loved her brother, but she could see how he was changing.

He was becoming mad with power, with money, just like Lillian. And why wouldn't he? She had been grooming him to be like her his whole life, she had tried to do the same with Lena at first but when Lena questioned her too often she instead became angry.

Lillian's anger was something that caused Lena to shudder even at the mere thought of it. Lillian wasn't violent when she was angry- that's one thing Lena was thankful for.

She had never had a hand raised against her in anger.

No, Lillian was more passive aggressive with her anger, she went for the emotional wounds instead.

She constantly pulled and poked at Lena's desire for a loving family, teased her with finally having the acceptance she had wished for since moving in with the Luthor's at the age of four- then she would rip it all away and leave a giant black hole in Lena's heart.

She would throw insults at Lena for anything and everything she could. The way she dressed, the way she held her knife and fork, the way she sat in her chair.

Lena wasn't Luthor enough for her.

The funny thing is though, Lena was more Luthor than she would ever be. Maybe not by heart and by the cruelty that the name has come to be associated with- but by blood, Lena was a Luthor, or at least a half Luthor.

That was something that Lillian hated. She hated that Lena had more of a claim to the Luthor name, the Luthor estate and money than what she did, she had been trying for months to get Lena to sign everything over to her like she had already done so with Lex- who was too gone with madness to realise he had just signed over his inheritance.

Lena had refused, and Lillian had made her life a living hell for it.

Until one day Lena had enough.

After leaving school she had gone to the bank and withdrawn the last of the allowance money that had been going into her account for weeks, which she had also slowly been withdrawing. She had been taking enough to lower the amount of money in the account but not enough to draw suspicion- and with the money in hand, a small bag of clothes over her shoulder Lena had left.

Yes, Lillian had money, and she had power, but she only had that power while Lena was under control, and if Lena wasn't there she couldn't control her, and she certainly couldn't get her to sign over the rest of her inheritance.

As she walked out from the cove and onto the beach Lena shivered in the cool ocean air, tugging her coat tighter around her shoulders as she looked up at the houses before her with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Kara had told her she lived near the beach, she wondered if right now Kara was in one of the houses before her.

Safe and warm.

She hoped she was, Kara seemed like a sweet girl, a kind girl- one that shouldn't be out in the cold on a night like this. Lena knew she shouldn't be either, but she had chosen this, and until she was sixteen and she could legally make herself independent from Lillian, she would have to live this way.

She couldn't and wouldn't go back there.

She wasn't naive enough to believe that Lillian wouldn't be looking for her, after all she had something Lillian wanted. She did however hope that this small town could hide her for long enough until she was able to get herself completely out of Lillian's clutches.

For all intents and purposes, Lena Luthor was a runaway.


AN: Please leave me a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter :)