Lena didn't move for a while even after Kara's breath slowed down as she fell asleep. She couldn't call the blonde Elle in her mind; she was a different Kara but she was still Kara. Elle.
She could hear some voices. The Danvers sisters were still in her flat. It irritated her a bit.
Lena sighed before she slowly untangled herself from the other woman.
She found the sisters on her couch watching something on her television, she could see the top of their heads above the back of the couch. She made sure she was presentable, her hair, her clothes, she crossed her arms before clearing her throat. "Would one of you tell me how long do you plan on staying?"
Both women turned on the couch to be able to see her.
"Hmm…" Started Supergirl.
"Without being invited might I add." Said Lena.
"…Hmm." Finished a still woozy Alex.
Lena felt the urge to roll her eyes at such a level of eloquence. "I think you should go. It's been an overwhelming couple of days for us all. Alex I'll give you the plan for the red sunlamp so you can start making one at the DEO, I trust you won't give these blue prints to anyone else." The agent nodded. "And Kara, the city needs Supergirl, and as you've seen Elle is completely harmless, when it comes to me."
There was a pause while the sisters looked at each other, having a silent conversation of their own. "Snap out of it!" Exclaimed Lena.
Kara got up before helping her sister off the couch. Alex walked up to the table to get the NDA. "I guess that's my cue. I'll get back to you with what you'll need from our legal department for this cooperation. I'll try to get all the materials we need to build that sunlamp ASAP." The DEO agent nodded; she gave one last look at her sister before making her way out.
Kara cleared her throat. "If, that's really what you want, I'll go."
"I really need some time alone."
Kara nodded as she started to walk towards the balcony. "Okay, just…you can call me anytime, via phone or you know." She made a motion towards the S on her chest.
"Scream your name?" Lena raised an eyebrow while a small smile tugged on her lips.
Kara disappeared before she was too flushed.
The next morning, Lena was making her way to the kitchen with so much on her mind, ready to get to work, yet she felt strangely lighter.
"Morning Elle." She wondered how fast that kind of domestic situation could become a habit. She grabbed her coffee before she sat down, her temporary roommate took a seat right next to her.
"Hey Lena." Elle was seemed to be even more serious than usual. She still took part of a waffle and handed it to the CEO.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Inquired Lena.
"I want…no, I need to get out of this place, it's starting to feel like I'm locked in and I…" She sighed, small steps, it wasn't easy to admit. "It's getting to me."
Lena stared at the blonde, watched her squirm a bit as she pondered it. She dipped the waffle into her coffee. "Very well. Once we've finished breakfast, would you'd like to join me at LCorp, then I'll need to make a stop at the DEO?"
Overgirl wasn't sure what to expect of the other woman, she was glad to get such a response. She looked down at plate for a second before starting to eat faster.
Lena put her hand on the Kryptonian's arm. "Slow down. I guess I should have been more precise, once we've finished eating breakfast, not inhaling it." She didn't know if it was possible for her to choke.
The blonde looked sheepish as she slowed down. Lena smiled as she watched Elle. "I'll be right back. " She suddenly stated as she got up, coffee mug in hand.
She came back a minute later with some bright pink cloth resting across her forearm and a pair of glasses in her hand. She put the glasses next to Elle's plate, before making the pink cardigan slip down her arm until she was handing it to the blonde.
Overgirl grimaced. She had opted for beige pants, small black shoes and a white button-down shirt. Simple. She couldn't see herself wear something like that. "Is it really necessary?" She asked as she reluctantly took it.
"We'll interact with people familiar to Kara. The pink cardigan is something she would wear." She didn't mention the glasses, they both knew it wasn't an option.
"But come one! Pink?"
"The flashier the better, it might distract people from the little differences between you and… Supergirl." Explained Lena.
Elle put it on her knees. "Fine." But she wasn't putting it on until she had to.
"We have to do your hair too."
Elle sighed.
She would like to think that she had somewhat changed since she appeared on this earth, maybe it was the lack of drugs, her interactions with Lena, the fact that she was thinking for herself again… It was most likely why she wasn't seeing this world like she used to.
This was a very cosmopolitan society, she could see people of all shapes and colors, go about their business peacefully. This world seemed peaceful; the people looked so much happier than what she was used to.
She caught a few looks in Lena's direction, the Luthor was being recognized, it got so much worse when they walked into L-corp. The employees greeted Lena with a respectful attitude, nods, smiles, a few handshakes. Overgirl tended to trail behind so she could have a better viewpoint of these interactions. That and Lena Luthor was something to see, standing very straight in her high heels. The pencil skirt suit she was wearing highlighted her silhouette; Overgirl's eyes kept on lowering to her butt. At one point she felt something in the back of her head like someone was watching her, she looked around and saw a bald man with a paper cup in his hand, staring at his boss. Overgirl crossed her arms and glared, when he looked up, he gave her a look. Elle knew she had been doing the same thing, enjoying Lena's beauty from afar but she didn't like anyone else doing it. It felt different.
She joined Lena while she was speaking to tall woman about some kind of account. Elle stepped closer than formal acquaintances would. She looked over her shoulder and glared until the stranger looked somewhat sheepish and the man by his side laughed at him.
Lena had finished her conversation; she raised an eyebrow at the blonde but didn't comment.
Overgirl expected to see Lena's office, instead she followed her into lab.
"So…this is where you work?" Asked Elle.
"Not necessarily. This is my private lab. I want to make that red sunlamp as soon as possible. I thought with your help we might do it in no time."
"Didn't you say you were going to make it at…" Elle's crinkle appeared. "Alex's organization?"
"The DEO." Added Lena. "And I said Alex could make one at the DEO, not that I would. I'll make one right here."
"You don't trust them?"
"To a certain degree I do, but you know what they say: hope for the best, prepare for the worst. I need to be sure."
On that note they got to work, they put on white coats and removed anything that could create static electricity. It barely took a few hours to build it, it was more complicated to calibrate it, and this Elle didn't really have any idea how to do. She had seen the schematics that was it.
With nothing else to do Overgirl was watching Lena as she mumbled about electromagnetic waves that vibrate and their frequencies, radiations and energy. After a moment of feeling Elle's eyes on her Lena looked up and asked. "I'm sorry if this is boring, I just need to adjust the settings so that the radiations aren't dangerous to humans, while they still stop our yellow sunlight from recharging your batteries."
"Does that mean I would need to… exhaust myself for it to work?"
"That's another tricky part, it needs to be quick enough, without weakening you. I'd like you to be able to go back to your superpowered self as soon as you step into sunlight. I don't want to empty your batteries, I want to dampen the effect of our sun on your cells."
"That's not boring at all." Was Elle delayed answer.
Lena looked back down at her screen. "Even if you are just watching me?"
"That's…nice."
"What?" Lena wasn't sure she understood. Of course, she herself liked working side by side with other people, when she was included, not that much on the outside.
"No one ever told you that watching you work like that is kind of a turn on?"
Lena who had grabbed her prototype to plug in her computer and try a setting, let it go, to grab it once more, with shaky hands. Her wide eyes went to the blonde as they turned into a small glare.
"Did you do this on purpose? To tease me? I have to make this work."
"You told me I had to be honest, so I was." Elle stated as she looked straight in to Lena's eyes. Neither moved for a good minute.
The Luthor gulped before looking back down. "No. I…" She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I really have to finish this."
Elle didn't say anything back, she watched the raven-haired girl a little bit longer before letting her eyes roam in the room. She got up to get a closer look at the various machines there. She stopped in front of something strange, a mannequin with what looked like a diamond shaped box in the middle of its chest and nothing else. Overgirl reached out, it was smooth, she pushed a little harder and it glowed red before it expanded. She quickly took a step back as some kind of Supergirl colored armor encased the mannequin.
"What is this?" Asked Elle without taking her eyes off the mannequin.
Lena joined her. "This is another project I've been working on. A Kryptonite-proof suit. Thanks to you and the work I've done on nanite recently I've got many new ideas to improve it, or create clothes people could materialize. Imagine a police office would only need to press a button for a bullet proof vest to appear."
"Is it functional?"
"I still need to run some tests on it to be sure it's completely impervious to Kryptonite's radiations."
Their musing was interrupted by a loud growl.
"Sorry." Mumbled Elle.
"No. Don't." Lena raised wrist to look at her watch. "I didn't think it was so late. You should have told me you were hungry, I tend to forget things like food when I'm working."
"Next time I'll make sure you eat." Stated the blonde.
"Come on. Let's go to my office, we'll order something. I need a break anyway."
"I still can't believe you're going to eat all that." Said Lena as she pointed at all the bags of Chinese food on the table in front of her white couch.
"If you want some, all you have to do is ask."
"Not right now, thank you." The raven-haired woman brought her kale full fork to her lips when she finished her statement.
"I don't understand how you can be satisfied with rabbit food."
"I don't understand how you can thrive on junk food and take out."
"I need it now that my powers are back."
Lena stopped chewing at that. She knew that Elle was getting her strength back, however they didn't speak about it. "That does explain why your withdrawals symptoms seems to have disappeared, your Kryptonian physiology sped up the process."
They were interrupted by someone walking in. Kara Danvers.
Kara spoke to Lena as soon as she slowly closed the door behind her. "I'm sorry for showing up like that. I wasn't sure if I was welcome. I know you said I could come see you anytime without an appointment but I wasn't sure if that was still in place. Then you secretary just lets me walk right in, though now I understand why she was giving me this weird look, she probably saw you walk in with someone that looked just like me, dressed differently of course. I like that cardigan."
"Kara." Lena had to stop her, she wasn't sure she would otherwise. Kara took a deep breath in. "That's fine, we were just eating. Would…would you like to join us?"
Overgirl didn't understand why Lena was being so polite as she moved over to the end of the couch, pulling her Chinese take-out closer to her on the table. Lena gave her a look but didn't say anything.
Lena knew it wouldn't be the best idea to make them sit side by side so she slid next to Elle, making it an obvious invitation for Kara to sit next to her.
"What is it that you need?" Asked Lena
"I…I…" Kara was a little hurt that her friend would think she would only come if she needed something, it was worse because she wanted to respect her friend's boundaries and giver her space and she had been told to do an interview. She did need something; it made her queasy.
"I didn't want to bother after you asked not to be, but you've disappeared for a while and Snapper wanted me to write a piece about it, seeing as we are…close. I wanted to ask you what you'd want me to do, I can't say you've been taking care of…" She made a hand gesture towards the general.
Lena patted once the cushion next to her. "Sit."
Kara did as she was told, putting the paper bag she was carrying oner her knees. "I brought lunch for you but I guess you don't needed."
"Thank you Kara, the thought always counts, but I couldn't possibly work with Elle's stomach growling like a lion. I'm just having a kale salad."
"Did you get dessert, because I brought you the smoothie you like?" Kara tentatively pulled out a cup.
"Oh, thank you." Said Lena as she took it.
Elle glared at the cup before glaring at her doppelganger, who glared back.
"I see you are enjoying a large meal." Said Kara.
Overgirl was defensive most of the time and more so with Supergirl. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, you are eating quite a lot, at someone else's expense." Said Kara innocently as she pulled out her container and started eating like they were speaking about the weather.
"Kara." Lena had a warning in her voice. "I'm more than happy to…"
Elle cut her off. "I repay her the best I can. I repay her in nature."
Lena's eyes grew wide while Kara actually choked on her gnocchi. The heiress quickly gave a few slaps on her best friend's back. "In kind. She repays me in kind."
Kara was breathing again but Lena didn't stop rubbing her back. "I'm good. I'm good." Managed to say the superhero.
"You two really need to cut it out." Lena was getting exasperated by these two together.
"Miss Luthor. Miss Arias is there to see you." It was the voice of her secretary coming from her intercom.
Like she needed to add that to their situation. Sam and her timing.
"One of you needs to leave." Said Lena, obviously she couldn't have two Kara in her office.
Kara thought it was meant for her since she didn't know the general had her powers back. "This is my world! She can hide under your desk."
"The only way I'm going under this desk is if Lena is sitting at it in a skirt."
Lena actually groaned before turning to Kara. She grabbed in each hand a side of her button-up shirt and pulled, revealing the hero's suit underneath. "Take off your clothes."
Kara was frozen, Lena had just torn open her shirt. She felt a strange thrill go down.
"Miss Luthor?" The intercom again.
"Kara and Supergirl can be in my office at the same time." Explained Lena.
Kara nodded before taking a step back and spun, when she stopped, she was Supergirl.
Overgirl groaned, Supergirl had to be so dramatic with the spinning. Lena gave her a look and opened her mouth when the door burst open and Sam walked in. "This is ridiculous, what could you…?" She trailed off as she looked at the three women.
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting Sam, but as you can see, I'm having a meeting." Told Lena.
"I am sorry. I just heard that you came to work today and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I didn't want to worry you, I had some things to process, but it's all better now."
Sam looked at Kara. "So… you don't need me to kick someone's ass?"
"You know me. I can do the ass kicking on my own." Lena smiled as she tried to reassure her friend, aware of the elephant in the room.
Sam stepped more into the room, she walked past Supergirl and glanced at her but her goal was her friend. She kept going until she stepped on something. She looked down as she took her foot off it. A button. She frowned before kneeling to pick it up. She saw something else under the couch and grabbed it. It was a characteristic Kara's button-down shirt with a few missing buttons.
Lena closed her eyes for a second. She had wondered Kara put her clothes. She just hoped Sam wouldn't find Kara's plaid wrap skirt somewhere.
Supergirl was looking at the ceiling, she had her hands wrapped around each other in her back.
"Should I take it as a sign that you and Kara…made-up? Or? "When Sam finished, she gave a suggestive look at Supergirl who immediately flushed.
"Sam! Supergirl and I are…" She looked into the hero's eyes as she finished. "Friends." The blonde nodded. Then she raised her hand to make her point. "And Kara is…dressed." That was convincing.
"You were supposed to keep me updated."
"I know Sam and I'm sorry. I've been dealing with a delicate matter regarding Supergirl. I had to sign an NDA." Covered Lena and feeling guilty about it.
Sam sighed. "I understand. I was worried and I really need to talk to you."
"How about dinner? Tonight? It's been too long since I last saw Ruby." Offered Lena with a real smile.
"I'd love that! I guess then I should leave you to…do whatever it was that you were doing." She walked up to Kara with a smirk as she handed her the shirt. Elle took it with a simple. "Thanks."
Sam looked at the three meals on the table on her way out. "I'm looking forward to tonight." Was the last thing she said before making her exit.
Lena groaned and let herself fall on her couch; she ran the palm of her hand over her forehead.
It was quiet for a minute, until it was broken by Supergirl. "Lena…"
"No. No. No." The CEO got up. "I've had it with you two. I had…" She stopped, she didn't think she could explain it properly, she had Kara Danvers before, she meant so much to her and she lost that person. She had two Kara, neither was really not up to par. She had to lie to Sam. She was exhausted in many ways. She wouldn't cry in front of them. She couldn't drink, she had work to do. She'd regroup.
"I'll go down to my lab for a while." She announced with a small voice, she didn't look at them as she grabbed her smoothie and left.
It was rare, Supergirl and Overgirl looked at each other without glaring.
"Shit." Said Elle. She handed out the torn shirt back to Supergirl.
"She is never going to forgive me, even less trust me again." Lamented Kara.
Overgirl pretty much ignored it and asked. "You seem like a very positive and hopeful person, why do you hate me so much?"
Supergirl gave her a look. "You mean other than the fact that you tried to kill me?"
Overgirl rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure you are very forgiving, maybe even a sucker, but with me it's different."
"I just…you came into my universe and took over my relationship with Lena. Because of you, I had to come out to Lena about a part of me I wasn't ready to share…"
The general cut her off. "You were ready, and a chicken. You were terrified of doing the wrong thing with Lena that you didn't do the right thing."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"And anyway, you're doing it all wrong, you're trying to push me away when you should be trying to get her closer to you."
"You shouldn't be there! This is my world. My Lena!"
"I don't like to think of people as property." Misunderstood Elle.
"That's not… you don't belong here, you helped mess up your world and now you come to mine where you don't have to face your mistakes. I have to make amends with Lena, what about you?" Supergirl crossed her arms.
"What?" Elle didn't like it, because Supergirl might be right, and she wasn't sur she wanted to hear it.
"I don't think I can even imagine how messed up your world is, but I know there are many things in common from one reality to the other, what about your Lena? Did you ever wonder what kind of life she has? If she is even still alive, you might have killed her and not remember it."
Overgirl quickly moved forward and grabbed Supergirl by the base of cape. "I would never."
Supergirl was surprised by the strength, so the general had her powers back. "Maybe, but with I can see you've changed. Who you were…"
Elle interrupted her again. "I remember them all, maybe not their names, but I'll never be able to forget their faces. I…" Her hands started to shake as soon as she let go of Supergirl. "It's like a nightmare, but…I'm awake and it's real. It's me, it's really…" Tears pooled up in her eyes. She started to walk backwards and Supergirl followed, faster so she would wrap her arms around her doppelganger, hug her.
"Why?" Whispered Overgirl against Supergirl's ear.
"Because even if you have your part of responsibility, I know what it's like to be exposed to red Kryptonite. I know. Because you are hurting. Because…I guess I am sucker."
Overgirl chuckled.