Lena feels as though she is having one of those out of body experiences as she follows Alex through her place of work. An underground government organization that deals specifically with aliens, posing as the FBI. Of course she knew about the DEO, her mother has been feuding with them for too many embarrassing years now. Yet, she's overwhelmed, her mind a little stunned and still in shock from witnessing Supergirl-no, Kara's, potential death and kidnapping. So, her feet move on autopilot, shuffling behind Alex but her eyes are alert, absorbing, memorizing this magnificent place.
There's a bitter chill in the air, slightly damp and seeping into her skin, settling into her bones and causing her to shiver. The place is immaculate, just as refined as L-Corp but at least her building has some modern décor and splashes of expensive art. This, well, this feels like a secret government, it feels like a prison, to be honest. Even the employees type against their computers robotically, they maybe even walk mechanically through the halls.
"Winn, please tell me you have some good news for us," Alex pleads, slightly hopeful yet every bit of emotionally exhausted. He slowly cranes his neck to meet her eyes, but his gaze catches Lena's presence and persuades his lips to remain sealed. Alex peeks over her shoulder and offers the best smile she can possibly muster up at a time like this. "She knows," is all she mutters before her glossy eyes flick back down to the computer screen in search of answers.
Winn doesn't bother with a pesky lie that he knows nobody will buy into, so he frowns at Lena and turns back to his job. "I'm sorry, but Reign bashed her head in with a cement block, she dropped her from-"
"We know what Reign did," Lena coldly interjects his rambling before her stomach involuntarily releases her dinner from those images already burned into her brain. "What we don't know, is if any piece of her tracking devices were left in contact?"
"No," he hesitantly reveals, "her earpiece was the first to be crushed and the tracking in her suit was the next to be damaged."
"I had a feeling," Alex murmurs mostly to herself, looking every bit of defeated but that only lights a fire under Lena's ass.
Her scarlet lips press firmly together as she crosses her arms over her chest. "Try not to appear so demoralized, Danvers. Weren't you the one promising me that we would find her? Get her back?" Alex's mouth pops open to argue, her eyes wide, expressing how taken aback she is by Lena's stern voice. "We don't have time for you to be the worried sister. No, right now we need the crafty special agent who thinks outside of the box," she snaps.
"What about you, Luthor? Any secret tech buried in that company of yours that might come in handy?"
"Ladies," J'onn sternly calls from behind them, every bit of the scolding father in his tone. "I understand that we are all on edge right now but we need to utilize that energy and redirect it into finding Supergirl."
Alex sighs heavily, her entire body deflating from the crushing worry about her sister's wellbeing. "What about you? Can't you search for her telepathically? Maybe with her so badly injured, her powers will be weak and allow you into her mind?"
Lena quirks up an eyebrow, amused and intrigued by this new piece of information, until she notices the man's face fall.
"I've tried already," he confesses with pure agitation, "I can't seem to reach her."
"Maybe if you try again-" Lena begins to plead but J'onn instantly cuts her off.
"She's Kryptonian, I usually can't enter their minds. But right now, her mind is completely blank, as if someone shut off all the lights and I'm stumbling through her brain in the dark."
XXXX
"Hey," Emma whispers as she sneaks into the dimly lit hospital room, careful not to make a sound.
"Hey," Regina's hoarse voice grumbles from the chair beside Supergirl's bed. She quietly places a bookmark in her novel and sets it upon the table beside her. "How is Henry?"
"Eager, curious, a ball of obnoxious energy," Emma scoffs, stepping right next to Regina's chair and ignoring the eye roll she receives. "He's mad I wouldn't let him come," she softly murmurs, nervous she may wake the sleeping hero.
"He would be even more rambunctious just sitting here."
"I know."
Regina's not entirely sure what else to say, so the room fills with an uncomfortable silence that she can't quite comprehend. She could have sworn they had finally found a balance in their friendship when Emma confessed that she wanted to be Regina's friend.
Honestly, she was a little taken aback by the notion. Of course, they had started off as enemies but eventually they co-parented together, and yes, they had saved each other too many times to count now and she will even admit that there was always some underlying tension that she could have sworn was strictly physical attraction, but friends? She never really had a true friend before and Emma was certainly one of a kind. The damn woman constantly pushes her to be a better human and truthfully, she likes who she is when Emma is around.
Except, the night Robin left, she noticed right away how quickly Emma's demeanor had changed toward her. Maybe Emma felt slightly guilty that Regina's true love was being ripped from her future while she still had that rum-soaked lapdog. All Regina knows, is when Emma slid onto the stool beside her at Granny's, there was a kind of anxious, static electricity that was vibrating from the Savior that she hadn't felt since the first few months Emma showed up in Storybrooke.
It's been four days since then, taking shifts to sit with Supergirl, watching over her, making sure someone is there when she wakes up and that same unbearable tension still exists between them.
"So, um, I thought you might be hungry?" Emma sheepishly announces, holding up a takeout bag. "I got you a kale salad."
A small smile tugs at the corner of Regina's mouth as she peers up at the nervous sheriff. "I could eat," she quietly answers.
"If you want, you could take it home or-"
"How about we eat here," she kindly suggests. "This room can be quite lonely and I know I could use another human to speak to," she chuckles.
The goofy grin she receives causes her heart to trip while simultaneously stealing her breath away and if it weren't for a coma patient interrupting them, she would be forced to face that physical attraction she buried long ago.
"Ummmm..." Supergirl tiredly murmurs, provoking the sheriff and mayor to jump in their own skin and rush to the woman. "I-where..."
"Ssshhhh," Regina sweetly coos, bending down just a little closer, "you are at Storybrooke hospital."
"Hospital?" The broken hero repeats, shaking her head as she tries to comprehend the words floating around her. "I..."
"I'll page the nurse, let them know she's awake," Emma whispers, carefully taking control of the remote to press the call button.
Supergirl closes her eyes, briefly clenching like she's searching for more information. Or maybe she's in pain from the severe head trauma. Regina used magic to heal as much as she could on the woman, but she knew there was only so much she could do to heal the brain, the rest was up to Supergirl and nature.
"Should I...I don't know..."
"I'm Regina Mills, the mayor of this town and this is Emma Swan, our sheriff. We found you in the woods-"
"Woods...I don't remember...I can't...oh god," Supergirl babbles incoherently just as the monitor she's hooked up to starts to hysterically beep. She squeezes her eyes shut again, her fingers digging and rubbing to scrub away the pain or..."why do you look weird?"
"I beg your pardon," Regina stiffly replies, straightening her shoulders before lifting her chin regally.
"What do you mean by weird?" Emma investigates, hunching over to examine the woman more closely. "Are we blurry? Is it like tunnel vision? Oh! Is your x-ray vision-"
"What?" Supergirl shrieks, her eyes flinging open in a haste before Dr. Whale barges through the door.
"Ah, welcome back to the living," he jokes, earning himself two deadly glares that are colder than Supergirl's breath while his patient looks rather queasy. "I'm Dr. Whale, can you tell me your name?"
"Umm, no, that's why I'm freaking out here!" Supergirl bellows, clenching her fists and slamming them down so fiercely that the legs beneath the bed actually snap under the pressure and send her mattress crashing to the ground. "Oh my-what the heck-I don't know my name and I don't know these women, and I certainly don't know this crazy here, who thinks I have x-ray vision. I just know..." she trails off, furiously rubbing her eyes again before trying to scramble out of the broken bed upon the floor.
"Please, just-" Dr. Whale forcefully urges but Regina is already waving her hand in front of the frantic blonde and knocking her out cold.
"Regina!" Emma exclaims.
"We can't have her continue with this tantrum and destroy the entire building," she nonchalantly explains.
"She's going to wake up again and freak out even more that you knocked her out by the wave of your hand," Emma rebuttals while Dr. Whale examines his busted hospital bed.
"I'll erase those memories from her mind, she clearly doesn't have control over her powers right now."
"It doesn't help the fact that she has amnesia as well," the doctor chimes in with a sigh that seems to be more for his hospital and not the patient.
"So, we have a broken Supergirl who has amnesia and no control over her powers? Perfect," Emma sarcastically quips. "Just when I thought Storybrooke was safe."
"She's Supergirl, besides some damage to trivial things, she is not a real threat to our town," Regina argues with a type of annoyance Emma hasn't received from the mayor in quite a few weeks.
"Maybe we should call Henry, I know he's read some of her comics. Maybe there's some information in there that we can use. Like a name. I don't think we can tell her she's Supergirl right now while she's suffering from amnesia and freaking out. She might completely lose control and those lasers in her eyes might go off," Emma rambles while Regina ignores her.
"We will tell her we found a work badge with her name on it but no wallet or phone. We will use her alternate identity until she's more stable and we can tell her she's Supergirl."
"That sounds like a plan," Emma agrees, reaching into her back pocket for her phone.
"What are you doing?" Regina interrogates with a pointed look.
"Calling Henry for background information on Supergirl."
"Her name is Kara Danvers."
Emma's brows pinch together suspiciously and it causes this stupid pout that always persuades Regina's heart to sprout wings and flutter. Robin's been gone barely a week and all these pesky little feelings that she buried so long ago, are crawling back to the surface again. She loathes how much Emma affects her.
A smug little smirk dances along Emma's pale complexion. "Kara Danvers...and how could you possibly know that?"
"How do you not?" Regina defensively snaps back but that bitter bark no longer holds its same power with the Savior. In fact, Emma's stupid grin appears to blossom as she folds her arms across her chest and holds Regina's gaze in a silent and all too familiar challenge. "What?"
"Have you been reading Henry's comics?" She practically sing-songs, provoking Regina's eyes to roll in annoyance.
"After everything that has been happening with Robin and Marian, Henry has been trying to show his support and express that he is there for me. So, we have been bonding over his comics, reading them together like when he was little and discussing them." Emma's smile instantly sags into a frown, even her shoulders seem to follow suit. "What?" She nervously blurts out.
"I'm-I'm just really happy to see you two bonding and rebuilding your relationship," the sheriff quietly reveals.
Regina has never been that great with compliments, rarely any have been tossed her way, so that's why she nervously tucks a chunk of hair behind her ear and drops her gaze to the ground. She can feel the tension, the heat blazing from Emma's sparkling green eyes as they watch her closely. And she wants so desperately to shake this woman and interrogate her about all these longing looks but she's never been that great with communication either. So, she avoids words like the plague.
"Ladies," Whale scoffs, rudely barging his way into the conversation, "what do you plan on doing about her vision?"
Regina waves her hand, a cocky little smirk on full display for the pompous doctor as a pair of glasses magically appears before them.
"Glasses?" Emma deadpans.
"Not just any glasses," she happily retorts. "Glasses with frames aligned with lead to counter her x-ray vision. Supergirl's adoptive father made her a similar pair before she could control her powers. Now, she simply uses them for disguise-"
"Which is really the most ridiculous-" Emma interrupts.
"I know," Regina scoffs before gently easing the glasses onto Kara's face.
When the glasses are perched perfectly upon Kara's nose, Regina pauses a moment, the woman's beauty suddenly captivating and stealing her attention. Maybe it's the familiar glow of golden sunshine curls or the pure innocence upon that beautiful face, either way, this woman seems to be even more attractive with those glasses on.
"Um Regina," Emma awkwardly mumbles over her shoulder, snapping her out of her trance. "Maybe you should flick a wrist and fix this bed before she wakes up and throws another fit."
"Right," she murmurs to herself, wondering why there is a sudden spark of agitation in Emma's tone.
XXXX
The next time Kara woke up, her glasses were safely nestled upon her face and thankfully, there was no immediate freak out. Emma convinced Regina that she was less intimidating to explain everything to Kara, which was after a heated discussion and multiple lip curls and death glares tossed her way. Proving her point exactly. So, when Supergirl woke up, Emma gently explained that they found her in the woods with some work tag that had her name and picture only. She thought the woman might lose her mind if she explained how some creepy, shadowy figure dropped her from hundreds of feet from the sky to land dead in the woods, so she told a little fib. Something along the lines of, maybe she was doing research and slipped and bumped her head.
After three days of endless tests and monitoring, Supergirl was released from the hospital. Regina insisted that the woman should stay at her house instead of Granny's. Even though Emma lives in a tiny apartment with her parents and sometimes Henry, she thought it was best if Supergirl stayed with her. It was that whole, keep your friends close and your enemies closer type of situation, despite every single person around her repeating like a damn parrot that Supergirl is no threat.
Okay, maybe she saw the way Supergirl kept eyeing Regina and it just didn't sit right with her. And Regina is just so damn oblivious when people stare at her or maybe she knows damn well that people are admiring her beauty and that smug woman just sits there and allows it to continue, feeding into her ego. It could be infatuation or maybe Kara is clinging to the first person her eyes landed on when she woke up, like some Florence Nightingale bullshit. That's all Emma needs right now, more crazy fairytales coming true.
Either way, she's keeping a close eye on Supergirl.
"Kara, how about a tour later? I can take you to the guest bedroom now and you can rest," Regina kindly offers the moment they step into the grand foyer.
Emma shoves her hands into her back pockets because she doesn't know what to do with them and it's all because of the fiery heatwave that's curling around her gut right now. She's never really been upstairs in this mansion, the only time was when she first came to Storybrooke and Regina allowed her in Henry's room for all of five minutes to investigate his computer. She can't even remember what it looks like to be honest. And here's Supergirl, takes one damn step in the house and gets a personal invitation, probably written in fucking calligraphy too if Regina had the time to make it. She shouldn't feel so irritated by the thought but...Henry's her freaking kid and she doesn't even know what his room looks like.
"Umm..." Kara awkwardly mumbles, adjusting the glasses perched on her stupidly pretty face. "I'm not really tired..." she says, those piercing blue eyes darting to Emma in a flash.
"Well, it is lunch time," Regina notes, catching the clock upon the wall. "Are you hungry?"
"I think I'm always hungry," Kara giggles.
"Wonderful, you'll fit right in with Emma and Henry," Regina chuckles before sashaying toward the kitchen, expecting everyone to follow.
Henry obediently follows in her footsteps and Emma is about to do the same because Regina's right, she's always starving but Kara is quick to stop her by a gentle hand to her bicep.
"Hey, um, Emma," and the hero is obviously nervous and damn her for being so adorable and likable. Still, Emma holds her ground, meeting those anxious eyes. "I wanted to thank you for welcoming me into your home. I-I can tell you're...well...not really pleased with me being here but I promise you, this won't be for long. I promise, I'll try and stay out of the way...I just...I don't want to come between you and your wife."
Emma flinches. "My wife?"
"Yeah, I didn't mean to but I overheard you guys having a little quarrel at the hospital about where I should stay. But I promise, I won't come between you and your wife and I am no threat to your son, I swear," Kara vows, oblivious to Emma's confusion as she makes some Scout's honor sign.
For a split second, Emma's idiotic brain conjures an image of a life where she is married to Regina and they are happily raising their son under one roof, the mansion specifically. She quickly shakes those thoughts away, literally rocking her head back and forth until the connection is disrupted and the image blurs and no longer exists.
"I-I'm not married to Regina," she blurts out, provoking a frown to appear upon Supergirl's baffled face.
"Oh, I'm sorry...I just...well, you guys have said our son numerous times, I shouldn't have assumed," Kara winces, fixing her glasses that are already in place. Emma then realizes it must be a nervous tick. "Well, either way, I won't swoop in or make a move on your ex-"
"She's not my ex," Emma huffs, feeling slightly agitated by the conversation she has found herself drowning in. Maybe she's irritated that this stranger is assuming her sexuality. Maybe she's furious that these assumptions are nowhere near her reality. "We were never together. Look, I was a kid when I had Henry and Regina adopted him. When he turned ten, fate kinda stepped in and now we have been co-parenting ever since," she explains through a heavy sigh.
"Oh," and it's a tiny sound that is a few octaves too high. "Okay, well then, I guess we don't have a problem...unless that means you have a problem with me now?" Emma doesn't mean to, honestly, but her eyes squint just a brief second and reveal that Supergirl hit the nail right on the head. "Oh."
"Look," Emma lowers her voice, becoming very serious as she steps directly into the hero's face, "I'm the sheriff of this town and it's my job to protect everyone but crossing my family..."
"I may not know who I am but I know deep down that's not me. They're safe with me, I promise," Kara earnestly vows and Emma doesn't even need her superpower as the human lie detector to know this woman is telling the truth.
"Ma, Kara, what are you guys doing?" Henry breathlessly interjects their conversation. "Lunch is almost ready."
"We're coming right now, kid," Emma says through a bright smile that doesn't match the sourness churning around in her gut.
But she promises herself that she's not going to allow these pesky feelings to bother her anymore. They're irrational and just plain stupid but then she sees Regina make Kara a sandwich and dote all over her through lunch. And despite the blonde being made of steel, she thinks punching Supergirl's nose will be totally worth the broken fist.