Kara just wanted to close the curtains on her life right now and shut out the noise, eat her weight in potstickers, listen to a playlist of breakup songs and mourn the loss of a relationship she truly cherished. Was it for the best? Absolutely. She knew that, understood it, she just wanted some time to process it.

She just wanted to rest.

She lightly scratched the back of the tabby cat's ear that she had just rescued from a tree, the forest fire finally having been contained after four long hours of grueling work. It was a lucky little thing having missed the worst of the blaze. She set it down and pushed off the ground and ascended above the clouds, closing her eyes as she let the sun filter through her skin. She had spent the better part of her weekend averting one crisis after another. She barely had a spare moment to herself.

On one hand it was a perfect distraction from the ache in her chest, the overwhelming guilt and discomfort of having broken Diana's heart. On the other it prevented her from wallowing in the misery of it, feeling in no small part like it was her penance for having done such a horrible wrong to another person, intentional or not. It was times like these when she wished the sun could repair more than just her physical body. Her mind and her heart were inconveniently impervious to such an easy fix.

She had woken up in her bed the previous two mornings rolling over and reaching out only to find a pillow and a flat sheet where Diana's body once laid. She silently cried as the events of Friday night and the look on Diana's face played on loop in her head.

Diana had called Alex after she left and told her that Kara might need her. She felt the pang of guilt acutely. Even in the middle of a breakup Diana was still worried about her well being. Alex had stayed with her for a couple hours before Kara shooed her away to go be with Sam claiming she just wanted to be alone.

She knew that if she had seen a future with Diana things might have been different, but there was only one future she wanted, and one person she wanted it with. However, Diana had been an unintentional casualty and she was struggling to cope with it.

She unconsciously rose higher in the air as she willed the rays of sun to do more than the repairative rays were capable of. She sighed heavily as she let the burst of energy and the rush of endorphins the yellow rays did provide try and lift her spirits. Hoping it would at least help in keeping her dampening mood and bludgeoning guilt at bay. In the end all she really felt was lost, and there were only two places she liked to go when her emotions overwhelmed her ability to sort them out. Argo wasn't a trip she was willing to make so that left one other place. She shifted her position mid flight and changed course.

Lena stepped off the elevator and walked briskly towards her office. "Jess, call Henry and set up a meeting with Brainy, and I to discuss their progress with the proto-therapy machine. It's been a few months since I've heard any real status report on it and I'd like to know how that project is coming along."

"Right away, Miss Luthor."

"And call Randy, head of our legal team, I need documentation for licensing and patents drawn up on any and all technology Henry Irons lays fingers on, I don't care how small or inconsequential…" Jess nodded and Lena stepped through her office doors, thinking about the altercation with Maxwell Lord and muttered more to herself than to Jess as the doors behind her closed. "I have a feeling I'm in the middle of a chess game and I want to make sure I'm five steps ahead of my opponent."

She set her things down and logged into her computer pulling up her emails for the day and then leaned back in her chair with a heaviness that spoke to just how tired she was. The last two days had been lonely ones, having taken Andrea home after the gala her once occupied weekends were now vacant again. As they left she couldn't help notice that Diana and Kara were also leaving together, waving their goodbyes from a distance. Kara's eyes had lingered on Lena's in that brief moment. Both of them shared a small exchange without the use of words.

She thought back to that conversation on the balcony, then the gentle touches and soft embraces as she was led around the small secluded corner in that brief dance. Everything about that memory wrapped itself around Lena's heart as she tried desperately not to open it back up to hope again, but Kara had Diana and they were happy. It wasn't a new feeling, this disappointment at the end of hope and she easily coped with it now.

Her phone pulled her from her thoughts as a text from Andrea came through.

Lunch?

Lena smiled and sent a text in the affirmative pushing the lunch date to later in the afternoon so she could get some paperwork done, but happy that they were able to maintain their friendship after everything.

Great, see you then. :)

Sam pushed her way through her office doors causing Lena to startle, Sam's smirk betrayed her little victory and Lena bit her tongue as she watched Sam practically run the short distance to her desk. "So I have some rather interesting news…"

Lena smiled and leaned forward in her chair with playful interest. "Ooh, do tell."

Sam threw her things into the chair next to hers as she plopped down into it. "It's so interesting, so deliciously entertaining that I'm almost tempted to not reveal it and just watch it unravel in due course."

"Then you'd be a cruel person for ever bringing it up." Lena clipped back, her smile undercutting the bite in her tone.

"No, just opportunistic."

Lena studied Sam for a moment and tsked as she sat up straighter and swiveled slightly towards her computer. "Seeing as how I was perfectly content before you walked in the room I really could care less then." She pretended to start typing up an email.

"Not that I'm, like, judging or anything." Sam said, twisting her hands in the air as she spoke. "But I can't help but notice that you and Kara were gone for quite a long time Friday night, only to make eyes at each other when you reappeared. Just saying, I think you're a little less than 'perfectly content' wouldn't you agree?" Sam's inflection went up at the end and Lena's eyes tracked right, glancing quickly at Sam, before looking back at her display.

"I suppose…" Lena said, as she crossed her arms and used her toe to swivel her attention back to Sam.

Sam flashed a smile, her eyes dancing with excitement as she sat up and leaned forward in her chair. "Great, because I know, with absolute certainty, that Kara and Diana split over the weekend and I'm feeling like an ass for being the only one excited about it." She stared at Lena, gesturing at her with her hand. "You know, for obvious reasons, cause lets be real, no one is better than a Luthor…" Sam leaned back and held up a finger "With the one exception of course."

Lena smiled inwardly at that. Alex was weaving into Sam's heart, she wondered briefly if Alex was aware what was at stake there. Sam was a guarded person, one of the many reasons why they had such an easy friendship was that they shared a lot in common.

"Nice one Sam, but isn't it a little early for this?" Lena asked through a smile.

"Oh I'm dead serious. Happened Friday night."

Lena's smile was fading as she studied Sam for any deceit. "What?" She said still trying to wrap her mind around the news. They were so happy when she last saw them, sure Kara was upset, but that had been about Andrea, and them, the lie and the hurt they never talked about. She went back to Diana, she went home with Diana, Lena watched both happen.

She shook her head. "Why?"

"All I know is that Alex and I went home, and Alex got a phone call from Diana telling her Kara needed her." Anger spiked in Lena at that, Diana must've done it then, she reasoned, and then tried to soften the blow by sending Alex. She'd have words with her. Slow, methodical, pointed words, her jaw clenched as she allowed herself to hone in her anger. How could Diana leave her? What possible fault could she find?

Her mind traitorously reminded her of their year apart, of all the terrible damage she caused. Who did she think she was asking those sorts of questions with her own red ledgered past?

"Alex came back a few hours later telling me they broke up and that she was basically kicked out by Kara, wanting to be left alone." Sam finished more somberly.

"Has anyone talked to her since?" Lena was already reaching for her phone.

"Haven't you seen the news? She's been putting out fires, quite literally, all over the city this weekend. There's been more Supergirl sightings in the last 48 hours than there've been in months!"

"Talked to her, Sam, not just seen her. Has anyone actually talked to her?" Lena frowned when the call went to voicemail.

Sam shook her head. "Aside from Alex? No, but its been a busy weekend for the both of them, all I know is Kara is exhausted and her Supergirl duties are wearing her pretty thin right now." Lena frowned at that and Sam looked at her sympathetically. "She's taking it pretty hard. Alex has been beside herself with worry, cause Kara hasn't been able to stop in days."

That didn't help settle Lena's nerves. All she wanted to do now was talk to her. They were at that point now right? Lena wondered. They had been growing closer and closer, but they hadn't really had cause or reason to comfort when it came to these types of situations. She dialed Kara's number again, whether they were or not, she was determined to be there for her.

Still voicemail.

"Kara, these should be planted in rows of three, switch the sand cherries with the hydrangeas there to make more room." Eliza guided as she proceeded to plant her own portion of the flowers they had purchased. Kara reordered the plants accordingly and began digging out small holes to place them in, content in the small actions and enjoying the monotony of the task.

It was quieter here. She forgot how much noise the city made and her mind felt significantly more at peace. She had enough thoughts swirling around her head without the constant background chatter of the bustling world around her. Coming to see Eliza had been a good idea. After the weekend she had she wasn't in much of a mood to be social. She had heard her phone vibrating in the pocket of her jeans still strewn about on the floor of her old room upstairs. She couldn't find it in herself to care too much about the ringing and ignored it. She focused her attention on the work in front of her and let all the other tension melt away in the sun.

"So. You come all this way, take me out for lunch, buy me these gorgeous flowers to plant in my garden, and I still haven't learned what this impromptu visit was about in the first place. Pass me the spade…Thank you." Eliza shoveled out a small hole.

Kara shrugged as she continued her own work. "I came for the quiet."

"You came to escape, dear, let's not beat around the bush. No pun intended." Eliza eyed Kara warily and Kara ducked her head with a slight shrug in response. "Question is; what are you hiding from?"

"I'm not hiding. I'm just not sure what to do about something. I needed to get some distance and maybe I was hoping for some of your award winning advice." Kara said as she sat back on her heels, using her wrist to push up the glasses that were falling down her nose. She dusted off some of the dryer dirt on her hands and went to wipe the more stubborn soil away with the towel that lay near her knee.

"Ah. Alex may have mentioned your relationship with Diana ending recently. Is that why you're uprooting my prized bushes?"

"Wait…You said you hated those!"

Eliza smiled and pointed to the side of Kara. "Those are the ones I hated." She moved her finger up above the shrubbery to the last remaining berry bush. "But you uprooted my blackberries."

Kara looked at the bushes she had pulled from the ground with new eyes. How did she not see all those berries before? She didn't realize how distracted she had been. "Oh Eliza I'm so sorry I can put them back." Kara said sheepishly.

Eliza chuckled softly and patted Kara on the knee. "If you don't mind. I've been enjoying those."

Kara smiled as she shook her head at herself. "Sure."

"So… Diana." Eliza said as she went back to her tasks.

Kara sighed. "She told me she was in love with me."

"Hmmmm…and that's a problem because..." Eliza said simply as she dusted off her hands and started picking up her tools, when Kara ignored her, pushing the uprooted bush back into its hole in the ground. Eliza tilted her head as she waited for Kara to answer, but when silence prevailed the Kryptonian, she decided to cut to the chase. "You have feelings for Lena."

Kara's head spun to Eliza in surprise. "I—what? How did you know?"

Eliza laughed. "Oh honey, it was obvious you were a lost cause for that woman ever since y'all met. When we talk on the phone the moment she comes up in conversation, she's all I hear about. Honestly I think I know her as well as you do at this point and I've only met her a couple times."

Kara smiled sadly. "Yes, well. She's dating somebody now. They've known each other since back when she went to boarding school. There's this whole shared history between the two of them."

"The same can be said of you dear. Is she happy?" Eliza asked.

"I never really understood that. How can people be in toxic relationships or settle and choose to live unhappily? Why would anyone be in a relationship like that?" Kara asked instead as an answer. She thought Andrea made her happy. She hoped so. Lena deserved happiness in her life. She should have a smile on her face everyday, it was one of her best qualities, that uninhibited smile that lit up her eyes and made her whole body seem to light up in return. Nothing put Kara at more peace or in a better mood than seeing one of those smiles. It meant that, despite everything, Lena still found joy in something. If she knew what that something was she'd make sure Lena had it everyday. She only hoped Andrea felt the same way.

"I feel like my heart is split in two right now. I feel such massive guilt for hurting Diana. I do love her, but it's different and I don't know how to grieve for the loss of that relationship when all I want to do now is see Lena, be near here, tell her how I feel. How can I do that? How can I manage both feelings simultaneously? It's like this internal tug of war on my emotions and it's exhausting and it's confusing cause I don't want to hurt either of them."

"Who says you can't do both?" Eliza asked.

"I wish it were that simple." Kara said solemnly as she replanted the other blackberry bush. "Lena is dating Andrea, remember?"

Eliza hummed and sat quietly as she watched Kara finish up her work. They gathered the rest of their things and walked up the front porch where a large pitcher of glass water had been placed. Eliza grabbed her glass and poured water into it, offering it to Kara, then made herself one. "Did I ever tell you about how I met Jeremiah?"

Kara sat down on the rocking chair. "At the mall right?" Remembering how it seemed so random at the time.

Eliza sat in the other chair beside Kara's and smiled fondly. "Yes. I was working at the time as an optometrist in a department store. He had a major crush on me, and he'd always find some way to strike up conversation. He learned my schedule and made a point of coming to the mall whenever I was working. We became really good friends, ate lunch together, talked about this and that and I was so completely enamored by him. It went on for weeks, months, and I started to fall for him. Then one day he stopped coming." Eliza sat silently as she let that period of time replay in her memories. She looked over at Kara and shrugged. "Turned out he started dating this girl he knew from his childhood. He'd occasionally say hi, share a few words here and there, whenever he'd be out shopping or hanging around the mall, but his time was consumed with this new relationship and I couldn't understand why. I thought we had shared something special, was waiting for him to make the move and when he never did, I felt like I missed my chance…" Eliza looked at Kara slyly, "Or so I thought at the time." Kara smiled.

Eliza leaned forward "I decided to take matters into my own hands. Left little notes on his car. A flower once or twice. Always signing it, your secret admirer."

"Oh my gosh!" Kara laughed and covered her face.

"I know, I'm showing my age. Do kids even do that these days?"

"No, no they barely have the courage to speak face to face anymore, much rather text than talk…"

"You're an old soul then." Eliza said fondly as she looked at her daughter.

"I don't know what you mean." Kara said, pretending to pout.

"You'd rather fly down here and speak with me in person than make a simple phone call." Eliza pointed out.

"I thought I was 'escaping.'" Kara eyed Eliza questioningly as she reminded her of her earlier words.

"That too dear, but you've always been the type to want to meet people where they are and it's hard to convey sincerity through typed words on a screen. Texting has never really been your strong suit. But I digress. Where was I?"

"You started sneaking love letters to him." Kara said with a googly eyed expression which made Eliza laugh.

"Right, yes. Well one day he caught me red handed. Anyway, long story short, It caught his attention. The girlfriend went away soon after that, and we drifted back together again. He asked me out finally, but for the most part we didn't really label it. It wasn't until after he had gotten really sick that things took a more serious turn and we realized how much we really cared about each other. The rest is history."

Kara sat contemplatively for a while. "So what you're saying is I should write love letters to Lena secretly while she is still in a relationship with Andrea in hopes that I will win her heart?"

Eliza chuckled lightly in her glass of water before dropping her hand and looking at Kara. "What I'm saying is; you don't have to start off strong. Just be there, be honest with her and yourself, the rest will work itself out." Eliza said softly with an affectionate look.

"Point taken. I should probably start heading back." Kara stood up smiling softly at her adoptive mother. "Thank you Eliza."

"Anytime sweetie. Say hello to your sister for me."

Kara knelt forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek then raced to her room and gathered up her belongings, she checked her phone and her heart leaped out of her chest when she saw two missed calls from Lena. For a brief moment she hesitated, then she shook off her lingering doubts and called her back. She sat down on the edge of her old bed and put the phone to her ear and closed her eyes as she silently prayed for her racing heart to settle down. She's probably just checking in, or maybe she wanted to do lunch not realizing she was in Midvale. Alex didn't even know she was here, well unless of course she tracked her. That seemed likely –

"Kara." Lena said in an exhale, sounding relieved and inadvertently snapping Kara out of her thoughts.

"Hi." Kara said, trying her best to sound light and doing a decent job of it after her conversation with Eliza. She was feeling significantly better now that she didn't feel so tormented by her thoughts. "Sorry I missed your calls. H-how are you? What's happen'en?" Kara asked slightly less casually. Now that her feelings for Lena had been given the freedom to reign free she was suddenly aware of how she sounded. She groaned internally at herself, she could already tell she was going to be a hopeless cause.

There was a stilted silence on the other end and Kara was beating her head with the palm of her hand.

"I'm good, I guess." Lena drew out her words, her voice sounding more curious and confused than anything. "I was more concerned about you, Sam just told me the news."

Kara swallowed harshly and sucked in breath, deflating instantly at the reminder. "Ah, yeah."

"I just…well I wanted to let you know I'm here, you know, in case you wanted to talk about it." Lena spoke timidly and Kara smiled at the usually overly confident woman's behavior.

"Thanks, Lena. I'm…" Fine? Ok? Both sounded like dismissals and she wasn't really either. "Adjusting. It was for the best." She said softly because in the end, that's what it came down to. "Um, I really would like to talk with you, just maybe not over the phone. I'm in Midvale currently, but if you aren't too busy later…" Kara didn't know how to navigate this, suddenly feeling nervous and unsure.

"Yes."

"Oh. yeah, no I understand."
"No, I'm not busy. Yes I'd really like to talk with you too." Lena said in a rush and Kara felt the breath she was holding release and all the tension followed after it. "Oh." Sounding much more relieved. "I- well, I can pretty much be there in under 5 minutes but I don't think Alex will appreciate me breaking the sound barrier and you're probably still at work."

Lena chuckled lightly. "That I am. How about we meet at my place? I'll be home by 5, anytime after that is fine."
"Great, yeah, I'll see you then." Kara said and her spirits were already soaring higher and higher by the second.

Lena was unable to control the smile that lingered on her face after setting the phone back down. Now having plans to meet up with Kara she was suddenly very aware of the time and now dreading the rest of her work day. It was going to drag on painfully slow now. She pushed herself to focus on her tasks in hopes of finishing early.

"Knock, knock." Andrea stepped into view with a bag of take out pulling Lena's attention away from her computer, she had nearly forgotten about their lunch plans. "Busy as always, I see."

"Sorry, I was hoping to have this done before you came." Lena started placing all the files back into their proper folders, clearing her desk as Andrea started pulling out plastic containers.

"You seem way too excited about work today." Andrea said as she took notice of the grin on Lena's face.

Lena tried to glare but the smile was making it difficult. "Cut it out, Andrea."

"I can't say CatCo ever really has me smiling like that… so I'm gathering it has nothing to do with work and everything to do with a certain blonde who's been the bane of my existence." Andrea said with only a hint of actual bitterness to it.

"I got off the phone with her almost an hour ago." Lena said hesitantly, not wanting to lie.

"And you're still sporting that cheesy grin. Damn, I really didn't stand a chance did I?" Andrea said with a laugh but the hurt was still fresh and the wounds hadn't yet healed so Lena frowned, feeling a new pang of sadness for having made such a mess of things. She pulled the container Andrea set aside closer to herself. "I'm sorry, we can talk about something else."

Andrea observed her quietly and breathed in through her nose as she shook her head. "You know if we are going to continue to be friends, she's bound to come up in conversation. I may as well get used to it now, right?" She took a bite out of her salad to hide the fact she was still uncomfortable but Lena could see the effort she made to push past it. A sad but appreciative look past between the two of them and they both let the conversation move on from there. By the end of lunch they were both feeling like they had just jumped the biggest hurdle in this new path forward and feeling victorious for it.

"Thank you for lunch." Lena said as she stood to give Andrea a hug goodbye.

"I'm glad we did this." Andrea said as she wrapped her arms around Lena for a quick squeeze in return before pulling away.

"Me too."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Miss Luthor, Brainy and Mr. Irons are here."

Right. Another thing she had almost forgotten. She nodded to Jess and looked back to Andrea, "We'll talk soon."

"Of course."

Lena was walking Andrea out when the two men entered and she couldn't help but notice the immediate attention Henry seemed to have on Andrea, his eyes following her all the way out. "Ok gentlemen. I'd like to wrap this up as quickly as possible so let me get straight to the point." Brainy and Henry both followed her back to her desk. "Brainy, why don't you start us off?"

Henry took the seat Andrea had vacated and Brainy stood next to him seemingly preferring to stand. "The testing phase of the new components we had to replace has been successful. There was a minor setback with the software, but Henry and I think we have a solution for it."

Henry seemed to take that as his cue. "There's some tech I designed, its essentially liquid metal, but it's innate design is to potentially take the place of bullet proof vests."

"And how exactly does that fit our current needs?" She asked. "That doesn't sound like a solution pertaining to coding and software or to the needs of our current project."

Henry smirked. "Essentially that's what it is. Software. Organic coding in a material form. It could be used in this instance to not only fix the current software issues of the proto therapy machine, but render any 'updates' obsolete as it would adapt and learn according to whatever the need may be."

Lena was intrigued by this. "Ok, send me all your current research and a sample of this 'liquid metal'. I'd like to see it for myself."

Five could not come fast enough. Lena raced home and made it in record time, barely saying hello to the doorman before she was inside the elevator. She quickly freshened up and only spared a minute to pour herself a glass of wine, thinking it'd probably be a while before Kara arrived. The light tap at her door had her heart racing as that assumption was quickly tossed out the window.

She drank the entire glass of wine and quickly set it down and made her way to the door. She breathed in a steady breath willing herself to calm down. It had only been a couple days and yet everything had changed. She put her hand on the door knob and opened it and instantly felt the smile spread across her face when she saw Kara standing there on the other side looking just as nervous and her smile just as wide. "Hi."

"Hey."

"Come in."