Author's Note: Does this being the longest chapter to date make up for it being over two months since the last update?

No?

That's okay. We can still be friends.

Chapter 11

"Lena, this is…" Kara's voice hitched off with a gasp for a moment and there wasn't a single part of Lena that even attempted to suppress her grin at it. "This is hardly a productive use of our time."

Her only response was to press her lips firmer against the warm flesh of Kara's neck and resume her actions. One of her hands tangled in the tresses of Kara's blonde hair as her teeth grazed lightly over Kara's pulse. The shiver that ran through Kara's body at that was unmissable, and Lena found herself spurred on all the more by it.

"We can't keep hiding back here," Kara protested, even as her hands gripped tightly around Lena's shoulders, pulling her closer. "Someone is bound to find us."

"Someone will if you don't keep quiet." Lena's lips curved into a grin as she said it, barely breaking contact from the skin of Kara's neck. "You worry too much."

"That's not true," Kara broke off with a groan as Lena turned her attention further down to trace her lips over Kara's collarbone, applying just enough pressure to avoid leaving a mark. "If I worried enough, we wouldn't be doing this at all."

Reluctantly deciding to relent, Lena pulled away from Kara fractionally, lifting her head enough for the kryptonian to meet her lips with her own. The kiss was slow, languid, even in the face of Kara's very valid point out the public nature of their hiding spot, but neither of them were in a rush to separate from the other. Kara's hands trailed over the defined muscles of Lena's arms and shoulders, dipping down to the crook of her elbows before working back up again. Though she wouldn't admit it out aloud, Lena was endlessly thankful for how the temperate climate on Krypton allowed her to wear short-sleeved shirts or tank tops almost constantly. The attention it got her from Kara was overwhelming.

Lena took full advantage of the position they were in, her own hands trailing across the rounded curves of Kara's hips and running light brushes up and down the length of her back, warm from the body heat bleeding through the dress Kara was wearing. Even with her eyes closed through the kiss, Lena could map every inch of Kara's body with almost perfect recall. Almost desperate for more contact between them, Lena shifted forward until the two of them were chest-to-chest. Almost in sync the two let out a breath at the added contact, breaking the kiss between them.

Lena pulled back fractionally, lifting her head just enough so that she could make eye contact with Kara.

"You okay there?" She couldn't help but to tease Kara for the bright red flush that ran all the way down her cheeks and neck, though she doubted she was any better herself.

"I could ask you the same thing." Kara said. The two of them giggled at one another for a moment, lips curled bright with smiles. A moment passed before Kara said anything else. "We have got to stop doing this." She said definitively, glancing around them.

It wasn't like she didn't have a good point, Lena admitted to herself. The university library was hardly a suitable place for them to hide away for a while, but it tended to be mostly empty and they were both very easily distracted while studying.

Since their date at the restaurant, things between them had progressed in ways that Lena couldn't find words to do justice to. Somehow they just fit together, in a way so close to perfect that there really wasn't another word for it.

They could spend hours sat around academic journals, comparing theories on the protheans and new ideas for harnessing dark energy. While Lena had always harboured a deep passion for science, she had always lacked for peers to discuss her ideas with. There had only ever been one person in her whole life that had been able to keep up with her, challenge her, even offer her perspectives she had never considered before, but that was a bridge that hadn't just been burnt. It had been thoroughly napalmed, the ashes collected into a small lead box, and the box thrown into the nearest convenient supernova. Kara had given Lena that all over again, and in a way that was even more meaningful to her. With Kara, science never felt like a battle, like they were trying to one-up each other by proving who knew the most or who could catch the other out with some obscure theory that they hadn't considered. It felt almost like song, two lines in a duet that perfectly complimented the other.

Even outside of the science, Kara was a delight to be around. When they were alone, be it hidden away in a quiet table at the library, or on a date at some restaurant where she didn't have to feel as through she was being watched, Kara shed the trappings of her kryptonian upbringing. It was almost like getting to spend time around a different person, one who laughed freely, who made jokes, who teased Lena relentlessly. Someone who wasn't afraid to be herself. Without even fully realising it, Lena could feel herself beginning to fall.

And the sex…Lena could have written sonnets about it.

"I know." Lena said, briefly dipping her head back in to steal a kiss from Kara.

Almost every time they had met up in the library to study it had devolved into them sneaking away to a quiet corner in order to make out like teenagers. Lena had no idea if Krypton had the same kind of high school culture that Earth did, and Lena highly doubted that it did, but even so she could imagine herself and Kara getting caught by the principal for making out under the bleachers. The thought alone made Lena smile.

Of course, on Krypton, it was a very different situation.

There was, unlike Earth, no remote possibility of there being an issue with them both being women. From what Lena understood, even before Krypton had evolved into a full technocracy, there was little to no cultural stigma around same sex relationships. After their technological explosion and the development of the Birthing Matrix, what little stigma there might have been vanished completely. Kryptonians were nothing if not practical.

The real issue was Krypton's approaching to courting. Relationships were, on the whole, arranged between the heads of two houses in order to benefit them both. Very few kryptonian's married for love. To Lena, the whole process seemed unbelievably archaic, something that definitely didn't belong in a society as evolved as Krypton seemed to be. There were degrees of consideration, she later learnt. The romantic preferences of the individuals was taken into consideration, and of course either party were well within their rights to refuse, but that was almost completely unheard of. Duty and loyalty were important to kryptonians, very few things ever ranked above that, and certainly not love.

While her suspicions had never been confirmed by Kara, and Lena had never been brave enough to ask outright, Lena knew the kind of scandal that could be stirred up by someone from a high standing house engaging in a relationship without the consent of the head of her house, and that would be made uncountably worse by Lena being human. It was a conversation Lena suspected that they needed to have, but one that she had no desire to make happen.

Their relationship existed in a bubble, a bubble that kept the two of them away from everything else in the universe. It was precarious, Lena knew there were a dozen things that could, at any moment, thread a pin through the thin skin of their bubble, but they were in it. All that Lena saw was Kara, and that was enough for her.

"It's difficult to think you mean it, when you're looking at me like that." Kara said, an intensity in her eyes that Lena knew she must be matching.

"Well how else am I supposed to look at you?" Lena asked, one eyebrow raised as she shamelessly dragged her gaze down the length of Kara's body and back up again.

Kara made her best imitation of Lena's signature eyebrow raise. "Perhaps in a way that will not get us immediately found out were someone to stumble across us."

"I think the way I'm looking at you is going to be the least of our problems if someone finds us." Lena said, emphasising her point by shifting the hand that had been resting on Kara's hip to cup her ass and pull her closer.

With an involuntary gasp, Kara's arms, suddenly forced to find purchase now there was no space left between their bodies, wrapped around Lena's shoulders. Who made the first move to initiate the kiss that followed, neither of them were sure, but the embrace lasted minutes before either of them finally found the willpower to separate.

"Lena Kieran, you are going to be the death of me."

A faint twinge of guilt moved through Lena's mind at hearing Kara call her by that name. Legally, it was hers, but Kara had no idea of the history that was carried with it. Sooner or later, Lena was going to have to explain her past, her reasons for joining the Alliance and leaving Earth. Just one more needle hovering just outside their bubble waiting for the right gust of wind in order to burst it.

As if she could sense Lena's sudden shift in mood, the deep arousal in Kara's eyes faded away to be replaced by concern.

"We should get back to studying." Kara said, dropping a hand from her shoulder to take Lena's own and thread their fingers together.

For once, Lena didn't try to argue.

XXX

For all that their relationship had rushed forwards in leaps in bounds in the admittedly short amount of time that they had known each other, Lena had still yet to meet any of Kara's friends.

Kara had only met Sam since she was rushing out of Lena's apartment the morning after they had first slept together and Sam had, as was her natural, shit-stirring self, been already awake in order to play hell at the nearest available opportunity. Beyond that first, brief encounter, Kara had yet to meet Sam again. Knowing Sam's ever frustrating personality, Lena had been keen to avoid any further interactions between her best friend and her…Kara. (Lena hesitated to describe Kara as her girlfriend, they hadn't spoken about the labels of their relationship and she didn't want to make any assumptions) Sam, naturally, had bullied Lena relentlessly over that decision, but Lena was happy to take the jokes and jabs in private so long as it avoided Sam embarrassing her in front of Kara.

Kara, of course, knew James already but to the best of Lena's knowledge that was in a purely academic capacity. She tutored him for some kryptonian science module he had deeply regretted choosing as an elective and that was the extent of it. On James' own admission it would be hard to describe them as much more than acquaintances, even if they did have a few areas of interest in common.

Those two people functionally accounted for Lena's social circle at Argo. There were a handful of others she knew, people from the gym or from her doctoral programme, but no one that could even come close to approaching the realm of being referred to as a friend. Without really any effort on either of their parts, Kara had been introduced to everyone on Argo that mattered to Lena. Really, everyone who was in her life who mattered to her.

Like herself, Kara's social circle was small, she had confessed that much to Lena. Given what Kara had told Lena about needing to head to Argo to get out from under the watchful eye of her parents, it made sense that her group of friends would be relatively small. No need to go out and make waves when all you wanted was something quiet. Still, Lena was keen to meet them. When Kara had mentioned them, she had spoken fondly of them, and Lena had heard a few stories about their escapades.

Perhaps, as she seemed so often to do, Kara had been able to sense Lena's thoughts about it, or perhaps she had also realised the same thing as Lena. Either way, little over two weeks since their second date, Kara was arranging a night for them to go out on what essentially amounted to a double date with two of her friends.

After her introduction to the dive bar off-campus by Lena, Kara had been looking for a good excuse to get some of her friends down there. Of course, Kara had been granted a much easier time there than any other alien would face. There was no standing anti-alien sentiment in the bar, after all the people who still held onto those outdated notions tended never to leave Earth, but that didn't mean that it wasn't of interest to the patrons when there were non-human customers there.

The diaspora was a relatively recent event, give or take half the present human population had been alive when humanity had first discovered the Mass Relays. Lena herself had been mentored at Alliance boot camp by men and women who had fought in the First Contact War. Add onto that the inherently curious nature of most humans, and aliens were still often considered to be a fascinating occurrence. Especially in a social setting.

Kara had proven to be able to exempt herself from that, the right wardrobe was all it took for a kryptonian and a human to be completely indistinguishable with the eyes alone. For every other race of the galaxy, that was an impossibility. Still, the idea of added attention hadn't perturbed Kara from suggesting the idea nor, apparently, did it dissuade either of her friends.

Which found Lena arriving at Al's on a Friday evening with her arm looped around Kara's, scanning the bar for patrons she didn't recognise.

It didn't take long.

Even with the varied clientele that attended the bar, it was a predominantly human crowd. The regular alien customers Lena recognised from her far too frequent nights spent there with Sam and James, and the first timers were about as obvious as a FTL flare over a no-fly zone. Even rarer, was seeing an asari and salarian sat together.

Kara spotted them about the same time Lena did, if the sudden increased tugging on her arm was anything to go by, and Lena quickly upped her speed to keep in step with Kara. The asari spotted them too, the salarian's attention seemed to be elsewhere, but he quickly picked up on the re-defined focus of his companion and changed the direction of his gaze.

The asari was out of her chair when they made it to the table and Kara unhooked her arm from Lena's so she could pull her into a hug. Feeling the almost immediate tug of social awkwardness as Kara embraced the asari – the two exchanging rapid, familiar, greetings – Lena's hands slipped behind her back, feet spread apart, in almost perfect military stance. Reflex reached some strange places in the human mind. The salarian seemed to notice the shift in her posture, eyes flickering from the embracing friends and over to Lena for a brief moment.

He didn't get time to really look at her, Kara was out of the arms of the asari and doing the same to the salarian almost as soon as he turned his attention to Lena. The faintly grey-green pallor of his skin rang out in stark contrast to the sun-kissed hue of Kara's skin and the glossy blonde of her hair, and Lena found herself smiling faintly at it. Clearly, the salarian was nowhere close to as physically affectionate as the asari. The hug he returned to Kara was awkward and stilted, but clearly bespoke familiarity.

Then, Kara was back at her side, hand sliding into Lena's own and the brief flash of discomfort at the new situation melted away.

"Lena, this is Nia Nall,"

That was the asari. Lena extended a hand out, a remarkably human greeting that her mind only caught up with after Nia had reciprocated the gesture. Nia was clearly still a maiden. Her skin was remarkably light, a colour that brought to mind a memory of Lena's childhood, of crystal blue water in a lake somewhere in the French Alps. Her facial markings were remarkably few, two faint white lines that made a remarkable analogue for eyebrows, so much so that Lena had to pass a double glance across them to make sure that she hadn't misread them. Another two lines marked the top edge of her cheekbones, defining the sharpness there in a distinctly attractive way.

There was a youthful looseness in her stance that suggested she hadn't gone down the commando path, wasn't even considering it come to that. At the same time, there was none of the grace and poise that belied the dancers physique that many young asari maidens developed when they took jobs dancing in clubs. Given that she was a friend of Kara's, Lena wondered if she might have been one of the rare few asari who chose to go for academic pursuits in her maiden stage, rather than later in life as was the normal.

"And this is Querl Dox,"

The salarian had the better part of a whole foot of height on Lena. Salarians tended to be tall, much like turians, and Lena never could quite get used to the disadvantage she felt having to look up to be able to make eye contact. It was a strange feeling, the origins of which she couldn't quite pin down, whether it was her military training or her early life that instilled it in her, or maybe some strange combination of both.

There was a sharpness in the salarian's eyes that Lena definitely recognised. She had noticed it when she had first spotted him, but it was all the more evident as the two of them simultaneously analysed the other. When her and Kara had first walked in, Lena had seen Querl in active conversation with Nia, but at the same time his attention had been everywhere else at once. His eyes had been scanning the room. It was a look Lena had seen in some of the N7s she had met, a passive state of alertness that couldn't be turned off.

Lena locked eyes with Querl. There was a long moment, one that happened so quickly that Kara and Nia probably didn't even notice it. In that moment, the two of them wordlessly acknowledged that they had been sizing each other up, noticing every detail they could and building a model of the other in their mind. Then, Querl smiled, white teeth stark against the grey-green skin, and Lena found herself doing the same.

"This Lena, my…" Kara cast a sidelong glance at Lena, as if suddenly remembering that they had never had that conversation defining their relationship.

There was no Kryptonese word that translated directly from girlfriend. Part of the problem with the prescriptive, arranged nature of kryptonian relationships was that there was a limited vocabulary around the words they could use to describe their partners. There were various translations of 'spouse' to suit a whole array of pronouns, gendered and otherwise, but that tended to refer to couples who had undergone Krypton's equivalent of marriage. Outside of that, there was a word that had far too many vowel sounds in it for Lena to ever get her tongue around that roughly translated to 'one who I am courting', but that was about the extent of it.

Most every other species in the galaxy had a much wider berth of words. The asari had more so than even humanity for it, given the almost infinitely variable nature of relationships that the asari could have. The vocabulary of the salarians tended to lean towards more parental tinges, given the precedent their cultural placed around reproduction and the protection thereof, but even there you could find words that linked more to affection and love to express someone as a partner.

"I'm her girlfriend." Lena offered, taking a leap that Nia and Querl's translators would find an appropriate word.

Nia and Querl smiled in understanding, but Kara's head tipped sideways slightly. Lena squeezed her hand and offered her a bright smile, knowing that her translator had probably struggled to find an appropriate Kryptonese phrase with which to replace the word, if it had even managed to do so at all.

"I'll get some drinks," Lena said, "I know what you're having, Kara, but Nia, Querl?"

"A cocktail would be nice, something sweet," Nia gave her a gentle smile as she said it. "And it'll be brandy for #$*^%&*."

Lena cocked her head, reached back a hand and tapped the small silicon pad of the translator that sat behind her ear. "Sorry, I think my translator just glitched. What did you just say?"

"Ah," Querl said. "It is a salarian nickname." His English was absolutely perfect, so much so that Lena almost missed the subtle change from the synthetic twang of the translator to Querl's natural voice. "There wouldn't be a human equivalent. I suppose your nearest translation would be, hmm…Brainiac."

"Brainiac, huh?" Lena grinned. It was an appropriate nickname for a salarian if ever she had heard one. "Brainy it is then."

Unthreading her hand from Kara's, Lena brought up her omni-tool and opened the link to her translator. Pulling up the device's recording history, she highlighted the last word that Nia had said, and plugged in the new translation for it. The device bleeped softly in acknowledgment.

"Okay, drinks."

A couple of hours later, Lena was stood at the bar, mildly buzzed on a couple of tequila slammers and a single shot of very good ryncol, debating colonial politics with an equally intoxicated Brainy.

Salarians, on the whole, tended to emanate an aura of knowing far more than they were ever willing to let on in polite company. It wasn't a surprising feature for a species as renowned for espionage and covert operations as the salarians were, after all the STG had comprised the earliest members of the Spectres. With Brainy it was no different, there was an unquestionable powerhouse of a mind behind his dark eyes, but unlike most salarians Lena had met, he had no qualms sharing that intellect with those around him. Their views on politics differed somewhat, but Brainy was definitely willing to go toe-to-toe with Lena on their intellectual sparing.

"From what I hear, the colonies in the Sanction system are on the brink of rebellion against Alliance oversight and they are willing to pull out. Why not the same approach in the Traverse?"

"It's not the same equation." Lena said. "In the Sanction system, humanity has had the better part of three decades of stability, the local governments there don't actually need Alliance oversight. Sure, they stand to lose a ridiculous amount of taxable income and they'll actually have to arrange a real trade agreement for the resources the colonies produce, but on the whole that's going to cost them a lot less than quashing an out-and-out rebellion."

Brainy eyed her curiously. "But not in the Traverse?"

"No. The Traverse is constantly under assault by pirates, batarians and Christ knows what else. Just look at that mess we had with the Collectors a few years back. Without legitimate military backing the colonies out there would have collapsed years ago, and it's not like the Council is going to do anything about it. Short of creating their own, organised, space-faring militia, the Traverse colonies need the Alliance for stability."

"And you support this?"

Lena laughed out loud. "God no. I think the Alliance have got their whole colony policy ass-backwards, they haven't got a clue how to manage things out there, because none of the decision makers have ever gone any further from Earth than the Citadel."

"An interesting view from someone who wears the Alliance uniform." Brainy said, voice preternaturally neutral.

A flicker of recall dialled almost immediately through Lena's memory, trying to asses if she had been the one to tell Brainy that over the duration of the evenings conversation. When she realised that she hadn't, Brainy's measured tone made a lot more sense. He was speculating, making a leap based on the information he had picked up about her over the time that they had talked, probably mixed with things he had heard from Kara. He was keeping his tone neutral in case he was wrong or, Lena considered, in case she reacted badly to being called out on it.

"The Systems Alliance Navy and the Alliance Parliament are two very different institutions." Lena said carefully, as if she was about to turn around and see Ambassador Udina stood behind her.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I wasn't aware that you'd asked one."

There was a drawn out moment that hung in the air around them, one that could have, in all circumstances, gone in either direction. To the surprise of both Lena and Brainy, a slightly hysterical good humour had brewed up in the space between them, and they both started laughing almost as soon as the tension had built up. After a few moments, Lena waved it away with one hand.

"Yeah, I'm a solider in the Alliance Navy, but my pay check and my politics have very little to do with one another." Lena said, still trying to shrug off the laughter in her voice. "There's plenty of people in the Navy who know that what the government is doing is fucked, but there's nothing any of us can really do about it. Stuff like that is beyond the remit of soldiers."

"You have no interest in politics?"

"It takes a lot more patience than I've got to get involved at that level, probably part of the reason I'm a solider. Alliance High Command has some influence at parliament, but given how…outspoken I was during training, it's unlikely I'd ever be promoted that high anyway."

Brainy cracked another smile. "You were public with your disapproval of the way your government ran things?"

"More than a little. My DI gave me shit for it constantly."

"DI?" Brainy asked, head cocked in curiosity.

The whole time the two of them had been at the bar, Brainy had switched over to speaking English with her. While translators were, on the whole, incredibly effective and accurate, intense political discourse tended to lend itself to errors where different cultures lacked equivalent words or political theories. Of course, the effect that an influx of alcohol had on standard speech patterns did little to help with that particular issue. That had been the first time Brainy hadn't been able to keep up with her.

"Military jargon," Lena explained. "Drill Instructor; that's the guy who ran training at the boot camp I got shipped to."

Brainy nodded his understanding. "Your instructor did not approve of your views?"

"No." Lena let out a mirthful chuckle. "Political dissent in the ranks is considered bad for morale."

"Human military training differs significantly from salarian. Political discussion is encouraged. If we do not question those in power then who will?" Brainy posed the question in a tone that suggested it didn't really need answering. Given their conversation, Lena supposed that it didn't.

The night swelled on with noise and hilarity for a while. The bar, as it always was, was packed for the weekend rush of students who needed to let off steam thanks to the oppressive study regime that the University of Argo put upon them. Lena's high from the alcohol began to flatten into something more reflective. In small groups or couples, the occupants of the bar drifted out as the night progressed. By three a.m. the final band that had taken up residence on the stage announced their imminent departure and much of the rest of the drinkers left with them. After that, the music was dialled back to a soft piping of some post-diaspora jazz clearly designed with sub-sonics to mellow out the mood of anyone listening to it.

Purely owing to Lena's rapport with Al, by four a.m. the bar was down to one table – Lena, Kara, Nia, and Brainy.

Nia returned to the table, having disappeared into the toilets minutes prior, and slumped into the chair next to Brainy.

"I," She pronounced carefully. "Have drunk far too much."

The asari had been wonderful company, an almost inexhaustible ball of energy with an uncanny ability to make Lena laugh. Much as Lena had suspected on her first analysis, Nia had confirmed that she was an academic at the university, studying politics, though that hadn't seemed to really have been her area of interest.

Rather remarkably, she wanted to be a journalist, though neither of her parents saw that as a worthwhile pursuit and so she was completing a political major as the closest alternative they could agree on. When Lena had commented on how ridiculous that seemed, Nia had simply shrugged and said "how many asari have you seen on the news 'casts lately?". It was a fair point.

"Well, it's Friday." Lena's attention was mostly focused on Kara even as she said it.

Nia let out a slightly hysterical giggle that had the rest of them almost joining in.

"You guys seen this? Latest news out of the Citadel." Nia asked, swiping a hand over her omni-tool and sizing up a news feed. "Some Spectre just wiped out half a turian colony going after a krogan pirate."

Kara and Brainy both expressed matching looks of distaste. Lena let out a derisive snort.

"All that kill-or-be-killed shit is strictly for the move-makers, Lena." The voice was crystal clear in recall. "It's crude. You don't always need to kill. That's crude." Her drinking companion leaned forward as his enthusiasm kindled. "You ever see any of those old samurai movies?"

"Bruce Lee? Shit like that?"

"No, no. Not those. This is other stuff. Older. More subtle. See, these two guys, they're about to have a duel. So they both stand there, swords out." Her companion thrust with an imaginary sword and Lena jerked back in reflex. Her eyes narrowed momentarily, then she laughed.

"Shit. Scared me there."

"Sorry. Wasn't intentional. So yeah, the two of them stand there, and they stare into each other's eyes."

He locked gazes with Lena, who emitted another snort of laughter. Her companion sipped at the pipe in his hand, then passed it across to her. Lena took it without word and inhaled a lungful of the smoke.

"They just stare. Because they both know that the one who blinks or looks away first, that's the one who would have lost the fight."

Lena's laughter dried up in her throat. She set the pipe aside. Both of them were leaning on the table now, drilling their gazes into each other's eyes with chemically altered concentration. The shared stillness of the moment stretched. The sounds of the bar receded into a backdrop, surf on a distant beach. Time ran on like a train they had both just missed. The pipe smouldered quietly to itself on the scarred wooden table. Vision wired their stares over it, eyeball to eyeball. From somewhere, an internal silence leaked into the world.

Lena Luthor blinked.

Lena Luthor laughed and looked away.

The moment blew away like an autumn leaf and her companion sat back in his chair with a look of tipsy fulfilment on his face. Lena grinned, a little intensely. Her companion was too drunk to catch the upped voltage. Lena made a pistol of thumb and forefinger. She pointed it at her companion's face.

"Bang!"

The laughter bubbled up again, this time from both of them. Lena made a sounds between a snort and a laugh.

"There you are. You stared me out."

Her companion nodded.

"But I blew your fucking head off."

"Yeah." Her companion leaned back across the table. Enthused. Enjoying the edge in Lena's voice. "But you see, there was no need for that. We'd already established the winner. You blinked. I would have won."

Lena blinked back to the present. "It's fucking crude."

"What is?" Nia asked.

"Spectres. All that running across the galaxy, blowing shit up to make themselves look powerful. It's fucking crude. There's no call for it. The Council just let it happen to keep the rest of us just scared enough that the majority of the population stay in line."

The three other people at the table leaned back. It wasn't often people spoke out so publicly against the Spectres. The Spectres went wherever they wanted to go, did whatever they wanted to do. Most local governments prayed to whatever gods they gave houseroom to that they would never be found wanting enough for that contingency to be invoked. Most criminals did their utmost to stay just south of loud enough for them not to be worth a Spectres time. The aftermath of Spectre intervention was almost always very unpleasant for all concerned.

Every single organised army in Council Space was told to fear the Spectres. Hearing a member of one speak so openly and derisively must have been a shock to all three of them. Even in private with Kara, their discussions of the state of the galaxy hadn't touched on the Spectres.

"Hey, Lena!" Al's voice shattered the crystalline tension around the table. "Either get some more drinks or get out of my bar."

Nia jumped to her feet almost immediately. "These ones are on us."

The collective pronoun got Brainy to his feet a moment later after his alcohol slowed mind picked up on it.

A moment later, Kara was pressed up against Lena's side, chair shifted across what little space was remaining between them. All of a sudden, Lena realised it was the first time they had been alone all night.

"You like them then?" Kara asked, smile almost lazy with the alcohol in her system.

"Yea, I like them." Lena smiled back, dipping her head down for a chaste kiss.

Kara hummed into the feeling until Lena pulled away. She licked her lips and, as Lena caught the action, she had to fight the urge to drag Kara into the toilets just to get her somewhere private.

"What was that word you called me?" Kara asked, voice bursting into the fantasy Lena was constructing in her mind. "When I introduced you to Nia and Brainy?"

Lena had to pause to wind her mind back through the night, and the alcohol, to recall that initial conversation. As soon as she did, she blushed red with the embarrassment, hoping the alcohol flush would keep it masked.

"I…um…girlfriend?" Kara's head tilted in the same way it had before as her translator failed to compensate for the word. "It means…well it can mean a lot of different things for a human."

"And how did you mean it?" Kara's eyes were hooded a little, and Lena could see the desire and longing in them.

"In kryptonian terms? That you and I are courting." The word felt like old parchment over her tongue. "But also that I have incredibly strong romantic feelings towards you."

A grin broke out over Kara's face again. "Say that word again."

"Girlfriend." Lena said it slowly, giving her time to hear it properly.

Kara bit her bottom lip for a moment, eyes cast aside as her mind worked through whatever it was she was thinking. Then, her lips moved again.

"Girlfriend." Hearing the word in Kara's natural accent did things to Lena that she hadn't even considered possible. "Lena Kieran." Kara continued, pointing a finger towards her. "Girlfriend."

The English was slightly broken, but the message was more than clear. Lena gave up on fighting the urge, cupped the back of Kara's head with one hand, and pulled her in for a fierce kiss.

Author's Note: So, I'm back…again. Some more insight into Lena's past with this one, and two new familiar faces.

To defend my decision to make Nia and Brainy into pre-existing Mass Effect races as opposed to keeping them naltorian and coluan respectively, I want this story to fit as much as possible into the Mass Effect universe cannon. One of the big points with the aliens in Mass Effect is that, with the notable exception of the asari, very few of the species resemble humans beyond them mostly being bipedal. I've already made a point in this story with how big a deal it is in the galaxy that humans and kryptonians are identical physically and I didn't want to extrapolate that out to naltorians (who are completely identical) and coluans (who are identical but green). Plus, with coluans I would have had to do a whole pollical thing with them being AI and that's just not what I wanted this story to be about. I'm jumping through enough loopholes to make this work in my own perfectionist mind as is without adding two more layers to it. To that end, I made Nia an asari to compensate for her abilities as Dreamer (since biotics plus asari telepathy account for almost all of that) and Brainy a salarian (as it's basically accepted they are the most intelligent species).

That's my ramble over. Hope you enjoyed!

CODEX ENTRIES:

N7: The highest rank attainable for Alliance Special Forces operatives. The top graduates of the infamous N-School.

Ryncol: A strong, krogan-brewed alcohol that "hits aliens like ground glass"

STG: The salarian 'Special Tasks Group' is an espionage organization, usually deployed by the Citadel Council. STG operators work in cells, performing dangerous missions such as counterterrorism, infiltration, reconnaissance, assassination, and sabotage.

The Traverse: The true frontier of Citadel Space. The Attican Traverse is constantly under attack from the nearby Terminus system, despite the Citadel officially claiming the region as its own. Unwilling to engage in all out war with the Terminus, the Council has adopted a non-interference policy in the region, leaving the Systems Alliance the only independent governmental organisation willing to settle the unstable region.