Chapter 2

It was almost another week before Lena managed to catch another glimpse of the angel who had graced the squalor of her gym.

Silently, Lena had been hoping that James would have run late for another round of tutoring thanks to one of their sparring sessions, but for the first time since she had known him James Olsen had been unfailingly punctual. If she was a less trusting woman (and Lena most certainly was), she would have suspected that James was doing it on purpose to screw with her after he had witnessed her embarrassing crush on the kryptonian woman. Since that first day, James hadn't so much as mentioned his tutor to her, and damned if Lena was going to subject herself to more embarrassment by being the one it bring it up. That alone seemed unlike James, he never missed an opportunity to try and needle her, or one to wingman her, so missing out on the chance to do both at once was remarkably unlike him.

Trying to solve that particular mystery had been forced onto the backburner though.

Back on Earth, fresh out of her zero-g certification on Jump Zero, Lena had been given leave to transfer to the reserves and undergo additional education to improve her skills as an engineer. The Alliance brass had clocked her genius pretty early on in her training, and she had made it clear that once her contract was up she would be more than willing to move into R&D instead. That had given her a pretty unique set of circumstances. The Alliance were always willing to cover educational costs for their recruits, in exchange for some extra time on their contract, but Lena had been a unique situation. She had breezed through a duel masters qualification in electrical engineering and dark energy transference at one of Earth's most prestigious universities, and when the Alliance had offered her a shot at a doctoral qualification in xenotechnology she had fought tooth and nail to get them to send her to Argo.

If she had thought trying to lock down a double masters at an Earth university was hard, nothing short of N-School would have prepared her for the intensity of her studies at Argo. What little free time Lena could afford herself when not studying was dedicated to the gym. No matter how reluctant she had first been to sign up with the Alliance Navy, once the training was in, it was in for good, and her body craved physical exertion in the same way that her mind craved the scientific pursuits of her studies. As loathe as Lena was to have to leave the mystery of why James was avoiding any mention of his tutor, she did not have the time to dedicate to tracking him down outside of their usual training to beat a confession out of him. Something suspicious was going on, and she would figure it out sooner or later.

For once however, fate seemed to be working with her.

Thanks to a combination of her Alliance clearance and her talent for impressing her professors, Lena had been allowed latitudes of freedom when it came to using the labs at the university. Working after hours, when the main bustle of students were gone from the facilities improved her ability to work endlessly. Without distractions, without the noise of the day-to-day, Lena could get thorough double her usual workload. As a result, she often found herself hiding out in the labs late at night, once the place was abandoned and her only companions were the automated cleaning drones that idled up and down the silent halls.

Lena glanced down at her wrist, flexing her fingers in the pre-programmed pattern that would flare her omni-tool to life. The orange holo-display appeared over her forearm, digital clock pulsing in one corner. A little past midnight. At first, Krypton's twenty-eight hour day had been a little off putting to Lena. Military drills hammered into her a routine of waking and sleeping at very much pre-set times, and no matter where they were in space Alliance warships ran to GMT. Once she had adapted to it though, she found that the extra hours in her day were more than welcome. Three extra to work in, and one extra to sleep in. Not the healthiest outlook, that she knew, but it worked for her.

A muffled thump somewhere out in the building snapped Lena's attention up from her omni-tool. Muscles acting on instinct, Lena reached out to her hip and faltered.

Right, no gun.

The holster that had been ever-present on her hip during basic training had been sorely missed after her arrival on Krypton. While most planets in Citadel Space had no problems with open carry, Krypton was a little more strict on their rules. As a serving member of a military organisation, Lena was technically allowed to have her sidearm with her at all times, but something about carrying a pistol around a university campus had just seemed a little off to her.

Even without her sidearm, Lena couldn't fight the urge to investigate. In the months she had been studying afterhours in the campus labs, she had never once had company. The first few nights, she had been ill at ease with the silence in the unfamiliar building and had patrolled around the halls checking for any students who might have had the same ideas as her. There had never been any, and once she had stopped her nightly walk around she had still never so much as heard a noise louder than the soft whine of the mass effect fields that the cleaning robots produced.

Outside the lab she had made a home in for the night the corridor was pitch black, the only light that trickled in was a soft blue hue from the twin moons and stars outside the windows. One foot in front of the other, pressed as close to the wall as she could without compromising movement in approve stealth-ops fashion, Lena made her way forward down the corridor. The first rack of rooms were abandoned, doors closed and lights off. When she came to the corner, Lena pressed herself up against it and peaked around to glance out into the next corridor. She saw it, light spilling out from a room on the far end. There had been no more sound, and there was no one in sight, so she pressed forward.

Part of the conditions Lena had agreed to in order to use the lab after hours had been that she wouldn't investigate any of the other labs while she was there. According to the kryptonian scientist who oversaw them, there was a lot of classified research going on there. That while Argo University was an educational establishment they had some of the best equipped labs on the planet, so they would often be rented out to the government or private contractors. She was expressly forbidden from looking into them, on pain of expulsion from the university and criminal charges against her.

Well, surely they'll forgive a little trespassing if I catch whoever else is trespassing. Right?

Sure, Lena, sure. This isn't going to royally fuck you over.

Reaching the open door, Lena paused. She spread her weight between her feet, grounding herself as still as possible to listen in and hear what she could from the room. For a long stretch of time, there was nothing. Then, a soft crinkling, like a ration pack being torn into, and a few seconds later a small sigh of…pleasure?

Whatever it was, Lena was reasonably sure it wasn't a thief. Or, if it was, it was a thief who stopped for snacks while on a heist. Lena was sure she would be able to take them if that was the case.

The combat call that had sent her system into overdrive faded back slightly, and Lena could feel her posture unlocking with it. Even if it wasn't a thief breaking in, it was an anomaly in the usual routine of her nights, and Lena couldn't help but to need to know what that was. Coming away from the wall, she stepped out and around the doorway.

There, across the room, sat behind a desk, was a kryptonian.

The kryptonian.

Kara.

And suddenly Lena couldn't find it in her to move. An Alliance soldier didn't freeze, ever. Not for threats nor gunfire, and certainly not for a pretty face, but Lena found it happening anyway. There was a twisting somewhere inside her, at the pit of her stomach, and a wisp of memory crossing her mind. It was a memory of an archaic weapons system, of sparks that melted through her fatigues and laid burning traceries across her stomach. It was a familiar feeling that Lena got when she looked at the kryptonian, but remarkably pleasurable that time around.

She had clearly stood still a little too long without announcing her presence.

The kryptonian looked up, eyes landing on Lena, and bolted upright from the stool she had been lazing in before Lena's arrival. There was panic in her eyes at being discovered, a panic that made no sense at all to Lena until her eyes finally broke away from the figure across the room and landed on the table. Instead of research notes or some technology as she had expected to find, Lena was presented with a veritable mountain of Earth candy. Lena's eyes scanned back up to the kryptonian to find her hurriedly licking chocolate smudges from the fingers of one hand.

The scene was so absurd that Lena almost failed to fight the laugh that bubbled away in her chest.

"I…oh Rao, I'm so sorry," The kryptonian stammered, brushing down the front of her robe to smooth out some non-existent wrinkles. "I had no idea there was anyone else in the building…I…"

The voice that washed over Lena's ear was rich, and bright. Like silk being run over her skin. Like the first drops of a cool drink on a scorching day.

Oh I am so screwed.

The stammered apology was just even more endearing to her on top of all the rest.

That she even felt the need to apologise was endearing.

Goddamn it get yourself under control.

Of all the races that humanity had encountered since their discovery of the mass relays, the kryptonians stood on ceremony more than any of the others. Sure, the turians were militaristic hard-asses and the asari had that whole maternal guidance thing going on, but the kryptonians were something else entirely. For one, they were a well-established technocracy that dated back several thousand years. But they had their traditions, and nothing ever seemed to override them. Kryptonians were prim and proper at all times, back straight and chin high as they looked down at the other races they shared the galaxy with.

Despite that, humans found them fascinating. The odds of another alien species developing with looks identical to their own were astronomical enough that it was enamouring to most. It was certainly enamouring to Lena. While it had never come up in the extent of her studies, Lena had been unable to keep herself from looking into the science and biology behind both human and kryptonian evolution. Better informed scholars with more time on their hands than her hand been dedicating themselves to that particular issue since humans had first encountered kryptonians. None of them had been able to come up with a satisfactory answer, which was part of the reason Lena felt herself drawn to it.

Holding up one hand in a gesture that must have translated well enough that the kryptonian stopped rambling, Lena spoke.

"It's fine, really. I've never been one for propriety. Your secret is safe."

The tension notably deflated out of the kryptonian at that, her shoulders sagging a little before she caught the slump in her posture and corrected it. "Thank you. I…it wouldn't serve me well if people found out that I hid here after hours so I can eat human snacks in peace."

"I understand." Lena didn't, not really, but she wasn't sure what other words to offer.

For a long moment, a silence dragged out between them, Kara eyeing her a little curiously.

"I know you," She said softly after a while. "You were fighting with James."

She noticed me.

The thought raced over the forefront of Lena's mind before she could stop it and she felt that sparking in her stomach light up all over again. Between Kara jumping up out of her seat in shock at Lena's arrival and Lena drifting closer to attempt to defuse the situation, the two had ended up only a few strides apart. At that distance, Lena could make out the colour of her eyes, a blue that belonged somewhere in the hue of solar energy. The urge to give in and fall into those eyes was almost overwhelming.

"Um…yes," Lena managed, suddenly remembering that Kara had asked her a question. "He's a friend. We spar from time to time. I'm Lena, Lena Kieran."

"Kara Zor-El." The Kryptonian tipped her head in lieu of the handshake a human would have gone for in the same situation and Lena reciprocated the gesture. "I should be going," Kara gestured to her own omni-tool. "It is getting rather late and I have classes to attend in the morning."

If the disappointment that had rushed through her body at that was anything to go by, Lena was positive it must have shown on her face as well. She had gotten beyond lucky to just stumble onto the utter goddess of a woman like she had, there was no way she was going to let the opportunity get away from her just because Kara was still embarrassed about getting caught stuffing herself with human candy.

"Of course, you're right," She agreed, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice and failing miserably. "Maybe I could walk you home? Just to be safe? Like you said, it is late."

Kara looked back up at her then, pausing in her quest to gather up the remaining snacks and bury them in her bag. For a moment, the silence drew out, and Lena mentally prepared herself for rejection. She shouldn't have said it like that, she should have made an offer for drinks, or something less personal, maybe with James as a buffer or….

"I'd like that."

And there was a smile that could raze nations to the ground. Lena didn't stand a chance.

CODEX ENTRIES

Jump Zero: Formally known as Gagarin Station, a space station used for experimentation and training by the Alliance Navy.

N-School: The Interplanetary Combatives Academy, a brutal training school for soldiers who are capable of going above and beyond the call of duty.

Citadel Space: The unofficial term referring to any region of space controlled by a species that acknowledges the authority of the Citadel Council.

Mass Relay: A series of mass transit devices scattered across the Milky Way, capable of transporting starships instantaneously to another relay within the network, allowing journeys that would otherwise take years or even centuries with only FTL drives to occur in only a handful of days, or even hours.

Turian: A militaristic and disciplined culture of aliens, the first species that humanity encountered. One of the four council races.

Asari: The most influential and respected sentient species in the galaxy, and are known for their elegance, diplomacy, and biotic aptitude. The first of the four council races.