It's getting late.
Lena is on the brink of giving up since obviously Kara has gotten cold feet and isn't coming, not anymore.
They had finally taken the leap, Lena being the one to finally ask Kara out on a date after months of them tiptoeing around their feelings for each other and yet Kara hasn't shown up for the date she so readily agreed to go on.
She has no idea what to do from here, she's just sat alone inside at a table for two with nobody sitting opposite her except a glass of wine that Lena had ordered for the absent blonde when she first arrived but it's looking like she's going to be the one drinking it at this rate.
It feels like everyone is looking at her, pitying her for being the sad woman that got stood up and Lena is pissed about that, Kara better have a damn good reason for being this late, but then again, if she was to show up right now, she would probably forget all about it as soon as she sees Kara's pretty smile.
Lena pulls out her phone for what feels like the hundredth time, calling Kara once again just for it to go to voicemail. She debates leaving another one but leaving someone more than three voicemails feels a lot like stalking.
Her phone is just about to be tucked back into her purse when it starts ringing and her heart finally loses the dark sinking feeling that has been growing ever since she got here. Her fingers scramble to answer the call, not taking the time to look at the screen because that would mean that she would be wasting one precious second in which she could be getting what she hopes to be a damn good explanation.
"Kara, where are you? I've been waiting here for almost an hour." Lena rushes out into the phone, trying to keep her voice quiet so she doesn't let everyone in the restaurant aware of her conversation.
There's a brief pause and then, "Lena, it's Alex. I need you to come to the DEO, it's Kara."
As much as Lena wishes there was, there is no time to think or to ask questions, she just has to act. The wine glasses on the table are forgotten and her feet are moving and she's running as fast as she can out of the restaurant and down the sidewalk in her fancy heels all while panting down the phone. "I'm on my way."
Then it's tossed into her purse, thudding against her side with each step as she runs, heading directly for the parking lot, not bothering to wait for the valet to pull it around for her.
She tosses her things inside the car, throwing herself in after it and screeching out of the place, set to make it to the DEO at a record speed.
In all honesty, Lena doesn't remember the journey to the DEO, too focused on trying to think of anything other than what could have possibly happened to Kara to focus on anything except what could have happened to Kara.
She pulls into the parking garage of the inconspicuous building, parking between two spaces and not caring a single bit, just how she doesn't care that she got here way too fast to avoid getting speeding tickets. There's going to be a few of them, she's certain.
A DEO agent meets her at her car door just as she gets out, but he doesn't get a single word out before she's demanding to be taken to Supergirl. He tries his best to stutter out an argument but a sharp glare and a turned back as she walks towards the elevator is enough for him to be hot on her heels, diving into the little death box with her and informing her that she has to wait for approval.
As the button to the main level is hit, Lena pulls her phone back out and calls Alex back. "Alex, I'm in the elevator on my way up, can you get me clearance?"
"I've got you, come right to the med bay."
The agent looks outraged and a little impressed, even more so when he gets radioed less than twenty seconds later telling him to escort Ms Luthor right in and not to dawdle.
When the doors open Lena doesn't wait for her escort, she knows where she is going and the guy is nothing but a liability. She has one goal here and that is to get to Kara as quickly as possible.
By the time to makes it into the hallway of the med bay, Alex is standing there waiting for her and the agent she left behind is rushing around the corner after her. "Tell me everything."
Alex turns her attention to the red faced, out of breath agent. "Agent Jones, you're dismissed, go back to your post."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Lena doesn't waste another second. "Where is she, Alex?"
"Come with me." Alex leads her down the hall to the room with the sunlamps.
There in the centre of the room lies the woman she loves, eyes closed and dried blood across her face from an obvious cut just above her eyebrow. There's also numerous bruises and smaller cuts and grazes across her face, collarbones and hands. She doesn't even want to see the damage that must be hiding beneath the torn and bloodied suit.
Alex pushes her forward into the room so she isn't just lingering in the doorway and so she can close the door after them to prevent any nosy agents peering at her injured sister.
"How could this have happened, Alex? Is she going to be ok?" Lena shakes her head unconsciously, not wanting to believe that this is Kara, her Kara, lying on the bed with the harsh lights illuminating every little injury she has.
A chair is pulled up to Kara's bedside and Alex points at it, silently instructing Lena to sit. "She had asked for today off, so I tried to hold off on calling her in to help when we had a group of aliens escaping and attacking the DEO desert base. Things were getting out of hand, and we lost a couple of agents in the process, so I called her in.
"She went to deal with some of the higher risk aliens and I believed her when she told me she had it handled. I should have known that she was only saying that to keep me out of the line of fire, so to speak. She got them contained but got beat up pretty badly in the process. As far as we know it's just bad bruising and a few scrapes, nothing that won't fix itself with a bit of time under the lamps."
Lena doesn't know how to respond or react, so she just fixated on the dried blood on Kara's face. "She could have died today."
Alex hesitates but confirms that she's right. "Yes. She could have."
"And I wouldn't have known. I would have been completely oblivious and had no clue that she was dead, and I wouldn't get a proper chance to say goodbye." Lena covers Kara's bruised hand with her own, rubbing her thumb over the bloodied knuckles.
Alex pulls up another seat next to hers. "Lena, whatever you do, don't bring that up once Kara's awake."
"Why not?"
"Because I have spent the last six months convincing her to ask you out with her main reason for not doing it being that she doesn't want you to be put in that position. It's only because you asked her out that she agreed to do it, no matter how much she has been wanting to date you." Alex places a soothing hand on Lena's shoulder.
That's all news to Lena. She had no idea that Kara has had feelings for her for months, hell she had no idea that she had feelings for her at all. When she asked her out yesterday it was on a whim, and she thought she just got lucky that the feelings must be somewhat reciprocated.
"Do you have something I can use to wipe off the dried blood. I don't think she would appreciate waking up all mucky." Lena asks, attempting to direct the conversation away from that topic.
Alex gets up, but not before giving Lena a squeeze on the shoulder. "I'm not saying that you can never talk to her about it, I just think that now isn't the best time."
"I hear you." Lena clears her throat, watching out the corner of her eye as Alex gets her a bowl of warm water and a towel to clean Kara off with. Alex brings it right over to her and laces the bowl down next to the bed. "Do you mind if I have some time alone with her?"
"Of course not, just give me a shout if you find any cuts are worse than we initially thought. The doctor gave her the all clear for major injuries but he's new so I haven't been able to properly scope out his work yet." Alex states with a serious demeanour.
Lena nods her approval, nobody gets a free pass when it comes to caring for Kara, she doesn't care if this guy has years of experience, Kara is the priority, and everyone knows that not every doctor is the best at their jobs.
As soon as the door clicks shut behind Alex, Lena's attention is drawn right back to Kara, and she gets started on her task of cleaning her up. She can't help but feel guilty for being mad at Kara for not showing up now that she knows the truth, even if she knows that logically she didn't do anything wrong.
Still, she's going to take care of Kara to the best of her abilities from now on, mostly because Lena loves her but a tiny part of her knows it's also because she feels a bit guilty.
There's one thing she does know will change now that she's seen this. She lost hope in Supergirl for that brief moment in time when she was waiting alone at that table and now she knows that Kara had tried to schedule the entire day off because of their date. She knows now that if Kara doesn't show up, it's because she physically can't, and Lena is going to do everything in her power to make sure that nothing like this will happen again any time soon.
The damp towel gently scrapes across Kara's face, taking away the grime a little bit at a time. "I'm here, Kara. I'll always be here."