"She just won't stop," Kara sighed, bouncing and rocking Sabine in her arms in an effort to get her to stop crying. She continued.
Eliza inspected the infant lovingly. She was almost six weeks old now. Her face was red as she cried, and her tiny hands were balled into fists, from which Kara had received no less than nine bruises.
Eliza nodded, "It's colic," she said, as though that solved everything. Kara looked scared for her life.
"What's that?! Is it contagious, is she alright?!"
Eliza laughed at her daughter's fretting, but this did nothing to ease Kara's worry, so she placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled gently at her. "Colic is the short name for 'excessive crying'. It happens to most babies, there's nothing wrong with her. It's just... one of those things. She'll grow out of it by at least... say, six months?"
"You're sure?" Kara said, as Sabine fell asleep mid-cry (it's pretty stressful and tiring to scream at your mothers all day).
Eliza just nodded. "She's fine, Kara. Go put her to bed, and then get some rest yourself, okay? I'll watch over her."
Usually, Kara and Lena would share baby duty – their system was 'whoever is closest'. Luckily for Lena, and for Lena's sleep cycle, this was usually Kara. The superhero was absolutely smitten with their little one, and she was always closest to her just in case.
Even when Kara was out being Supergirl, and she picked up on Sabine's cry, she always made sure to at least call or text Lena to make sure everything was alright.
For today, though, there had been an emergency at L Corp, and Lena had needed to head into the office to fix the issue personally.
Despite the Kryptonian DNA she'd had in her, her body hadn't snapped back to where it used to be. The effects of carrying an alien baby were now starting to fade, but until they were fully gone she remained wearing the lead-lined specs.
Sabine had been crying almost non-stop for almost a week now, their only reprieve being when she was feeding, and when she was sleeping.
For Lena, this meant a lot of soreness, as Sabine's hunger was not easily abated.
Kara thanked Eliza with a tired smile, handed the baby over gently, and plodded off to hers and Lena's bedroom. Since Sabine was born, they'd moved solely into Lena's apartment, as it was a lot roomier. Kara didn't know how to bring up the idea of moving to a little house in the suburbs, with a white picket fence surrounding the front yard... She'd definitely watched Desperate Housewives too often.
"Veronica, what exactly seems to be the problem?" Lena asked as she entered the conference room, taking a seat next to Miss Johnson, her Vice President.
Veronica steeled herself. "We uh... We had a break-in in the early hours of this morning." Lena narrowed her eyes.
"That's impossible."
"They used your credentials,"
"That's also impossible."
"And all they took was the plans for the alien detection device."
"That's even impossibler. How did they get past security?"
Veronica grimaced, and gestured to the four screens on the wall. Each displayed a different image. The first, a woman entering the LCorp building, breezing past the security guard as though he hadn't even seen her. The second, the woman in the vaults deep below the tower, where Lena had personally stored the device's plans and told only one other person where she had chosen (that person was Veronica). The third, a shot of the woman from behind, and the fourth was a clear photo of her stood in the elevator, clutching the plans triumphantly.
Lena tensed, her hands balled into fists at her side.
The woman was looking directly into the camera in the last picture, and there was no mistaking her – Lillian Luthor.
Lena wasted no time in taking out her phone and calling Alex (she was on speed dial at number 3, with Kara being 1 and Eliza being 2).
She relayed the information, and passed her phone off to Veronica so she could explain further.
Vasquez turned up not ten minutes later with another team member, ready to analyse each and every moment of footage and to find out which direction Lillian went, by way of viewing other feeds in the area.
"It's like she just... disappears," Vasquez commented half an hour later, with Lena stood behind her, also looking at the screens.
Lena watches intently as they replay footage again and again and again – she uses a trick she learnt in college, staring at a fixed point just above the screens and relying on her peripheral vision to 'see' all four images.
"There, bottom left," she says suddenly, making Vasquez jump. She rewinds the footage a little, and Lena points to someone moving across the corner of the screen – it's only a pair of legs. "I'd know her gait anywhere."
"You're sure?" Lena just nods.
They move onto other cameras, consistently getting further and further from L Corp. Lena consistently points out Lillian's walk in each one, no more than her waist and below actually visible in the frame, as though she knew exactly where each camera was.
Finally, she disappeared into a building, and Vasquez gets Alex on the line to assemble a team and meet her at the address.
"We should get you into protective custody," she warns Lena, who shakes her head.
"I can handle my mother. Besides, I have another meeting to attend while I'm out."
Lena had been experiencing a little bit of post-natal depression, and today was the first time she had really left her apartment since Sabine was born – the roof counted, right? She found that was the best way to calm Sabine when she wouldn't sleep, taking her up to the top of the building to see the stars.
Now that she was out, she felt a lot better, and she shot off a quick text to make sure her companion was free.
Herself and Kara had become quite good friend's with Qua-ruug, and Lena had offered him a security position at LCorp. Luckily it wasn't he who had let her mother in the night before, but now he offered to escort her to the meeting.
Lena truly felt she didn't need protection, but she appreciated his gesture and agreed – he may actually prove useful at her meeting.
It was just under half an hour later that she, Qua-ruug and Eleanor were sitting outside a little bistro in the middle of the city.
Once their drinks came, Lena decided it was time to broach the topic.
"Have you given any more thought to my proposal?" She asked, looking at Eleanor.
The midwife nodded. "I have. I actually spoke to J'onn about it, just after you'd had the baby. He said that the DEO would be happy to collaborate if we went ahead with it."
Lena smiled gently. "That's wonderful, I didn't even think to ask him. I'll take that as a yes from you?"
Eleanor smiled and nodded. Lena grinned excitably and took her tablet from her purse.
"Sorry, what are we talking about?" Qua-ruug asked interestedly.
"During my check-ups with Eleanor while I was pregnant, I broached the idea of setting up a hospital that caters specifically to aliens. National City General is wonderfully equipped, of course, but what about ailments that can't be treated in a human way? I proposed that myself, Eleanor, and the LCorp medical division work towards filling that niche.
"I had intended to have a team do all the necessary medical research themselves, I never considered asking the DEO for their assistance – but it would certainly make the whole process a lot easier."
Eleanor nodded in agreement as Lena tapped away on her screen. "When things start becoming more concrete, you could help to spread the word!" She smiled at Qua-ruug, and he seemed interested by the idea, nodding.
"Perhaps you could assemble a security team for the premises?" Lena asked. "A location that caters primarily to a marginilised group will always come under scrutiny from bigots, it would be good to have a head of security I can trust."
He seemed quite touched at this, and set his hand on Lena's. "I'd love to. Please, let me know when you're ready for my help, and I'll put my best to the task."
The building Lillian had gone into was empty, no exit other than the way she'd come in. Alex was there with Maggie and a crack team – she considered this to be personal, as Lena was family now, and she wanted only the best with her.
They were about to leave when Maggie took a few steps forward, then turned her head curiously.
"Did you hear that?"
"What?" Alex frowned.
Maggie hushed everyone, and took a few steps backward when all was silent. There was a miniscule creak as she did so.
The team stepped back as she started to roll the rug up. It was heavy, and Alex helped her while another agent pulled furniture out of their way.
Underneath, they found a trap door.
Alex and the team started to open it and do a sweep, while Maggie turned and looked through the windows.
"Doesn't like there's anyone down there," Alex told her. "Watcha lookin' at?"
Maggie pulled the dusty curtains open (the place hadn't been lived in for nearly ten years), and gestured across the street. "That place over there? It used to be a speakeasy. My great grandpa went there all the time, there's pictures of him in front of it. They would have used this tunnel to smuggle booze in, and customers out whenever the cops came calling."
Alex looked at her with wonder in her eyes.
Maggie almost blushed under her girlfriend's gaze. "What? I know stuff," she shrugged, then turned back to the team. Half of them had gone to follow the tunnel. "I doubt Lillian will still be in that building, she'll have used it as a diversion. I bet she didn't think we'd find her passage." (Alex stifled a childish snort). "Vasquez, get back to LCorp and start looking at cameras across the street."
Agent Vasquez gave Maggie a look, then looked at Alex.
"You heard her," Alex said, a little warning in her tone.
Once they were back in the SUV, Maggie took Alex's hand. "What was her problem?"
Alex shook her head. "You're NCPD, Vasquez doesn't see you as authority over her."
Maggie smiled slightly. "Maybe you should poach me." Alex frowned at her. "You know, scoop me up. Steal me away from the NCPD and into the DEO?"
Alex thought for a moment. "I don't know if J'onn would allow that – our relationship and all. I could put your safety above others', because of it.
"We work together all the time..." Maggie said, squeezing Alex's hand.
"Yeah, and sometimes I let myself be distracted by checking you're okay... Besides, if we worked in the same place, our relationship would take a toll. I knew a couple, they owned their own business and they worked together all day, then they'd go home together and have nothing to talk about, because they had the exact same day. They split up for a while, but when she got a different job they got back together. Working with your spouse can ruin a relationship, and I don't want that for us."
Alex had gotten quiet, focusing mainly on her driving, but also on Maggie's hand in hers. Maggie squeezed it. "Okay, spouse."
Alex laughed at this, and chanced a glance sideways at Maggie, who was grinning playfully.
Lena ran a few more errands while she was out – picking up some shopping and checking in on other subdivisions of her company. When she finally returned home, she found Kara in the kitchen, with Sabine in her chair bouncer, batting at the colourful toys dangling above her.
"Something smells good," she smiled softly, putting her bags down and giving Kara a kiss on the cheek.
Kara shrugged, a shy smile on her face. "I wanted to do something nice. Sabine has been quiet ever since Eliza left, she must have done something right, so I figured why not."
"And you're actually using the oven, instead of your eyes?" Lena questioned, putting the shopping away.
Kara laughed as she looked through the oven door to check on the food. "Yeah, I figured I don't wanna give the little one any ideas. If I use heat vision in front of her, I'm worried she'll think 'can I do that?' and then try it. Not something we need right now," she said, pulling Lena in for a proper kiss. "What was the emergency?"
Lena sighed heavily and scooped Sabine up into her arms. Kara knew this meant bad news.
"My dear mother, she's stolen the plans for the detection device."
Kara stared at her almost disbelievingly. "How on earth did she manage that?"
Lena shook her head. "The guard on duty last night, he claimed he didn't remember a thing. I yelled at him for almost five minutes before he started to cry and admitted she'd paid him off to turn a blind eye. He's in custody now."
The seriousness of this breach was almost lost on Kara, seeing as Lena was looking lovingly at Sabine and using her baby voice as she spoke, which made Sabine giggle happily.
"Wow..." Kara sighed, getting the cutlery out and plates down. "What's being done?"
"Alex and Maggie are leading a team. Qua-ruug is outside, he's insistent we aren't left alone."
"He remembers who I am, right?"
Lena smiled slightly. "Yes, but we don't know if CADMUS has any more Kryptonite, it's better to have him here seeing as all three of us are vulnerable to it."
"Why don't you invite him in?" Kara asked, opening the oven and taking out a huge and perfect lasagne with her bare hands (luckily, Sabine wasn't looking). "There's enough to go around."