Title: The story of Kara Zor-El

Chapter 21: Interview #2

/.\

The first thing I noticed today was that Lena was being distant, more distant than usual; not necessarily with affection or pulling away from me, but with the looks she gave me. She only spared me slight glances and they only lasted for a moment before she looks away again to occupy herself with something else entirely. Which, in turn, fed that horrible monster in my gut that was telling me not to trust what she was doing- especially since she was acting out of character. So far, I was speaking to Lena about something and the distant look in her eyes as she flicks through her phone tells me that she wasn't paying attention to me in the slightest.

"Lena?" I question, after my previous question landed on deaf ears. Lena hums in question, not even looking up away from her phone. I sigh and turn back to the closet, flicking through my clothes harder than I should and often breaking the hangers holding the clothes- which were promptly forgotten about and left to lie on the floor of the closet. I grab a pair of skinny beige khakis and a white button shirt, walking out of the closet and towards the bathroom. That apparently earnt Lena's attention, used to me changing in the bedroom with her after our morning shower that we took already.

"Hey… What's up?" Lena questions, standing from the bed as she places her phone just to the side of where she was sitting before, still in her robe with her hair damp. I sigh and place the clothes on the countertop beside the sink, going back to the door and holding the edge, just above the handle as I look at my girlfriend with slight annoyance.

"Why don't you ask yourself that." I reply sharply, before shutting the bathroom door to get ready for the day that was surely going to be a busy one, and definitely stressful.

/.\

When I tied my hair up and dressed, I opened the door to see Lena buttoning up her dark green blouse with a pair of black leather pants on the bed. I tried not to linger my eyes on her long milky legs, wanting to remain angry at her for the way she has acted all morning. Lena looks up at me, only having done half of her buttons and showing her black bra which does wonders for her breasts.

"Kara…" Lena starts, continuing her buttoning as she steps closer to me, her bare feet ploding on the carpet as she moves closer. I shake my head and move around her, going to my bag and packing the small amount of daily stuff that was in the bedroom; like my phone and tablet. "Kara, I'm sorry-" I scoff slightly and hoist my bag over my shoulder, of course she was sorry, and move towards the door that leads to the main part of the apartment, intending to finish packing my stuff that wasn't in the bedroom.

"Kara!" Lena yells as I get to the door, making me pause, she never raises her voice to me. I turn my head to look at her from the corner of my eye. Lena was frowning, her arms crossed over her chest as she steps up to me, she moves around me and stands in front of me, her hands coming out to hold the tops of my arms.

"I am sorry." Lena says gently, her right hand coming up to guide my face to look at her pleading eyes. Lena looks around the room quickly, obviously thinking about something before she looks back at me, stepping forward to place her forehead on my own in an affectionate manner, trying to plead her case with physical connection.

"Hey… I just… it's just work." Lena says, her tone gentle as she pries the bag off my shoulder but I hold it when it gets to my hand, letting out a long sigh.

"It's always work." I mumble stepping out of her hold and walking around her to finish packing my bag, I could feel Lena's eyes watch me as I do, I could almost feel her pain as she promptly turns around to continue getting dressed. I swallow the clog in my throat, not wanting to fight with Lena; but what had happened is making life difficult for myself.

We went to work separately, myself choosing to hop out of the balcony and take some alleys with my superspeed, the air gave me time to think, to let my body relax a little. I shouldn't be so angry with her, she was a CEO, but she has been acting off recently and I could only resent the fact that she was a busy woman because it was creating a rift between us. Though, my impulsive anger didn't help any matters.

When I walked through the front doors of L-Corp and flashed my security card, I could tell people noticed the absence of the CEO, their eyes flicking behind me to see if she was going to follow a moment later, but was promptly disappointed when I carried on to the elevator without a Lena Luthor behind me. That was going to be the news of L-Corp today, I might even hear people discussing why we didn't, maybe we broke up, maybe we had a fight, maybe I stayed at my own place that night. These people were so desperate for some drama.

/.\

I heard Lena come up the elevator 30 minutes after me, considering that she had to get dressed and ready and drive to work, she was okay. If she would have taken longer than she should, I would have gone to check on her; I'm angry but I don't wish for her to be in any form of trouble. I could tell that she was making her way to my office, her heeled shoes making their distinct click as she walks.

I look over the document, checking that I was in a reasonable place to stop; It was a new courier service that wanted to deliver to the company, this one was different to the one we had problems with previously and was asking permission first. Apparently, we were ordering large quantities of materials and they were the best service for it. I was still checking over the details of the arrangement, it seemed like a solid document, but it was my job to look over it to make sure it was positively better than having our usual courier do it.

The door handle was pushed down, opening enough for Lena to step inside quietly before she closes the door behind her; she probably didn't want Jess to hear. Her face looked completely guilt-ridden, her eyes downcast as she makes her way towards my desk with her hands folded in front of her in a respectful manner. It was almost comical that the CEO of L-Corp was grovelling at an employees feet, almost.

"I'm-" Lena starts, but before she can continue, I speak, cutting her off.

"I feel like you don't know why you're sorry, or why I'm so annoyed at you." I comment, making her raise her eyes to look at me, her green eyes clouded in a distressing matter. I wanted to get up and forgive her, hold her close and tell her that she was fine. But her work has overflowed into our personal life on several occasions and I wasn't going to take it anymore. Lena shakes her head in a negative, moving to take a seat across from me on the guest chair. I sigh and lean back into my chair, my elbow on the armrest as my hand comes up to rub my forehead softly.

"You have brought work home with you several times, you've been distant with me for weeks, ever since we had that interview with Cat. So tell me, Lena, what the fuck is going on?" I ask, the pent-up emotions finally coming out, I had been standing by for too long, hoping that it would blow over. I should have said something before it got this bad. Lena drops her head again, obviously in thought.

"If you can't leave work at work, then I think we shouldn't involve our relationship at work at all." I say, my voice stern enough to match off with Lena's when she was pissed. Lena looks up, slightly shocked, her mouth opens and closes a few times before she shuffles to the edge of the chair she was sat on, her eyes filled with the begging that she wanted to do at that moment.

"Kara, I am sorry, I really am. I'll make it up to you, I promise." Lena pleads, her hand reaching over the desk to grab the one that wasn't on my face. I look to the side, glancing out of the window to the bright morning outside. "Do you want to go away for the weekend? Just us?" Lena questions, her eyes not moving from me as she makes tight circles on the back of my hand.

I sigh, not knowing what to do. I've never been in a relationship like this before, I've never cared this much about anyone, and everything that goes mildly wrong hurts in ways I've never experienced with pain. I slowly look back at Lena, her green eyes looking into my own. I take a moment to take a breath before nodding softly, knowing that we couldn't move forward if we don't take a break from some things, leaning down to place my lips on the back of her hand gently and hold it to my face for a moment, just enjoying the softness of her skin for the small moment we allowed ourselves to be away from work.

/.\

Lena was in an interview with a reporter from the Daily Planet, the media branch probably wanting some of the publicity that CatCo got when they interviewed us, though, they didn't request for me to be present, so it could be based on another product that L-Corp was making. I was due to meet with the new courier service in five minutes and I had my stuff ready for meeting them; tablet and a camera to capture possible evidence to not trust them.

Something felt off though, I wasn't sure about what it was, but I've always trusted my gut. I pick up my stuff and decide to check on Lena before I go down to the loading bay of L-Corp, just to make sure that she was okay and to spend the extra 5 minutes that I have spare. I step out of my office and make my way down the short path towards the office that held my girlfriend.

"Does she know that I'm here?" a man asks, the voice coming from Lena's office, I couldn't recognise the voice, not having had a conversation to anyone at the Daily Planet. But he had a smooth and attractive voice, almost perfect with the right amount of masculinity and white privilege.

"... No." Lena says, slightly uneasy and sounding very guilty, that was strange, she was never this personal with any of her clients. "I'm sure she would instantly disapprove though, you know how much of a hot head she is." Lena continues, but as she finished, I get to the door and decide to open it, wondering who they must be speaking about. Though, it wouldn't surprise me if this man was an old friend of Lena's, since she didn't just hand interviews to anyone and maybe this other person was his ex that Lena was still friends with.

But as I look into the room, I quickly realise that they weren't speaking about anyone's ex, but myself- considering that I knew the man with the perfectly cut black hair and fake glasses over his eyes as he turns to look at me. Lena looks utterly mortified, obviously not expecting me, she stands up and goes to speak, probably wanting to explain why someone I made clear that I resented was in her office.

"Kal-El." I growl, my throat making a noise that I can't remember making before but it definitely earnt a startled look from my cousin, making him jump up out of his chair and hold his hands out in defence.

"Kara! Please, there's no need to be like this." Kal-El exclaims, trying to calm me down but only being as useful as flashing red in front of a bull. I growl and place the stuff in my hands on the couch, not wanting to break it as I scoff hard, bitterness from years of self-loathing and hate blinding me.

"No need? No need?!" I almost scream, taking a step towards him, Lena's heart rate was out of this world, probably more scared about this side of me and what I can do with the anger that was boiling in me.

"You…" I growl, having so much to say but with no way of saying it. "How dare you come here-"

"I invited him." Lena says, her tone strong besides the thundering of her heart. I turn my eyes to her, seeing her flinch slightly at the anger held there.

"Why- You know how I feel about-" I start, but Lena cuts me off again.

"Yes. I do. But he is your only family besides your aunt, you-"

"That isn't your call, Lena!" I yell, feeling completely compromised now that she had done this to me. "Is this what has distracted you for the past few weeks? Thinking about how you're keeping secrets that you know I wouldn't agree with? I am your girlfriend, you're supposed to speak to me about these kinds of things." I say, I vaguely tell that my eyes were watering, my chest was hammering with the feeling of betrayal and hurt, Lena looked at me with those big eyes, pleading me not to be angry.

"How do you expect me to trust you if you do things like this?" I ask, feeling my own heartbreak with the reality that she had broken my trust, she knew that I lothed my cousin for many reasons, yet she still went out of her way to invite him here. I could feel a hot trail make it's way down my right cheek and quickly bring my hand up to wipe it away. I turn quickly and pick up my stuff, turning back to the entrance of the office and making my way to it.

"I have a meeting." Was the last thing I said before I disappear behind the heavy wooden doors, leaving them both shocked in their own manner, Kal-El from the resent that hasn't lessened any since he left me and Lena for the broken trust between herself and me. At least this day couldn't get any worse, could it?

/.\

I was in the elevator going down to the loading bay of L-Corp, trying to rid my mind of what had happened to try and be as clear headed as possible for this meeting, What happened…- No, I wasn't going to think about it. I was almost to the floor that I needed to be, but just before I got to the floor, the whole elevator comes to a standstill, the cables groaning in protest above me as the box rocks precariously in its place in the elevator shaft.

My fear of small spaces heightens in an instant, making it difficult to breathe. I grip the wall of the elevator, holding it tight as I try to cool my breathing, inadvertently gorging a hole in the side where my fingers puncture the metal. I try to think back to Lena, but with what has just happened, I couldn't find it in me to feel comforted by her thought. The logical part of my brain told me to hit the yellow button on the wall, the one that alerts the maintenance crew that I am stuck and need help.

I decide to listen to that part of my brain, it probably being right, and stumble towards the console, but before I could lift my hand to hit the button, a hatch at the top of the elevator was opened, making me look up and see a canister drop into the room before the hatch was quickly re-closed, the canister starts dispelling a green gas that filled the small space quickly, making my throat and lungs burn as I feel my body topple to the ground, all of my energy leaving me as the sickly green of the room blurs and turns to darkness sooner than I thought it would.

/.\

All I knew was that the room was dark, not too dark, but dark enough to have to strain to see anything. My arms, legs and head were tied to a wall, making it so I could only move slightly and so my arms were above my head. The pain in my throat and chest was still there, confirming that whoever did this, knew their fair share about Kryptonians and hasn't exposed me to the yellow sun yet. My body still felt weak, but with my airways clear I could somewhat drift into consciousness.

I feel myself slip back into unconsciousness, but what felt like moments later, cold liquid is dropped over my head, making my body seize and shiver as my eyes snap over to look at a man that looks incredibly familiar to Jonn at the DEO but with metal body parts, confirming that he was not the same man. This man was holding a metal bucket in his hands though, also telling me that he was the one to wake me. He steps back and I look around the small room frantically before my eyes settle on the lanky figure of a woman with a pristine, stuck up look to her. She smiles coldly at me, stepping forward to look into my eyes.

"Good Morning, Kara Zor-El." She says, the warm line coming off as a cold laugh from the woman, she was mocking me. "A God reduced to being chained to a wall with no idea of who her captor is." She laughs again, the noise becoming my least favourite thing in the world.

"Let me help you. My name is Lillian Luthor. And you… you are the new pet of project CADMUS."