A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. Writers block got me bad on this chapter. Once I had an idea of what I wanted to write life hit hard and then a small back injury happened. But I think we are back to regular updates no promises tho. Because I had such a hard time writing this chapter it might not make sense in some parts. Happy reading!
2 Weeks Later
Lucy was sitting in the kitchen of the Luthor Mansion. Her vocal chords were still raw and talking for long periods of time was out of the question. She watched Lena give Alex the run down on the security system and which parts of the mansion to stay away from. Sam, Ruby and Maggie were there as well. Since Lucy had arrived a little over a week ago Lena would periodically show up to check on them and make sure none of the security systems had been breached in a way only she would know how to fix. Sam and Ruby would be leaving tonight after they had a "family" dinner.
Sam had actually been a great source of comfort for Lucy once Hamilton had let her out of the DEO. When Hamilton had suggested sedating Lucy for five days she wanted to protest but Alex had stepped in. Gave Lucy the reasons why it needed to happen that way. Top reason being there was no way Lucy wouldn't try and talk. It would damage her vocal chords to a point of no return. Not being able to talk to Alex and her friends is what finally got her to agree. Plus, she wouldn't know in the end that she had been out for five days.
In the end she did it for her strong and incredibly beautiful girlfriend who had signed up for more than she asked for and was still here. When Lucy woke five days later Alex, Maggie, Lena, Sam and Ruby were all there. She wasn't surprised to see Maggie, but Lena, Sam and Ruby were total surprises. Sam had told her that if she ever wanted someone to talk to she could always reach out, but they still barely knew each other. Why Sam was here was a total shock. She soon got her answer.
Sam walked toward her bed and placed a hand on her cheek. The touch so gentle Lucy wasn't sure she was actually touching her. "I'm here because you are an important part of Alex's life and she is an important part of mine. As she for everyone else in this room. You're not alone in this fight against your father. Alex and Maggie can do far more than I can on the home front, but I can be here for you as a friend. Someone to talk to who doesn't know your dad or your past."
Lucy had never had a support system like this. It was all new for her. She had felt overwhelmed at first but then she really looked at everyone in the room and she felt nothing but love. Hamilton had run tests and cleared Lucy to leave on one condition. That she was taken somewhere safe and someone stayed with her. To make sure she didn't do anything she shouldn't do.
Lena had suggested that Sam and Ruby stay with her at the Luthor Mansion until Alex could get there. Lucy was hesitant at first but knew Alex had a lot on her plate because of everything going on with her dad. She agreed it would be better than being alone. Plus, it would be a good opportunity to get to know Sam better. To get to know Ruby. The teenager that Alex had come to love as if she was her own.
Because Lucy couldn't talk she did a lot of observing. The first thing she noticed was the relationship between Sam and Ruby. It reminded her so much of the relationship she had with her mother. Which made her wonder if all of this would be happening if her mother was still alive. Would her father have turned into such a monster?
She got into an easy routine with Sam and Ruby. She would sit with Ruby while she did her homework and help when she could. Lucy had insisted that she would cook dinner. She still couldn't talk, and cooking was something she could do that didn't require talking. Sam would help sometimes or would sit at the bar and talk about her day or ask questions that Lucy could answer with gestures or a facial expression.
One night after Ruby had gone to bed Sam opened a bottle of wine and sat with Lucy on the couch. Her voice had come back enough that she could talk for small periods of time if she didn't try to over project or use long sentences. They mostly talked about Alex. She had gotten a text from her earlier that day saying that she wouldn't be able to get to the mansion until that weekend. By that time, it would be 11 days since she had seen her, and Lucy didn't want to admit how much she missed her.
But Sam knew, and she did her best to help distract Lucy from that fact. It worked but she did cry when she went to bed that night. It was the first time she had cried since everything had started with her father.
Three days later Lucy had woken up to find Alex in bed beside her. For a moment she thought it was a dream. That it wasn't real. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again. Alex was still there, with the biggest smile on her face. Lucy scooted herself over to Alex and snuggled into her. She felt Alex wrap her arms around her and she breathed in deeply.
"I've missed you."
"I've missed you too Luce, but we now have a plan of attack. I promise I'm not going to be leaving you alone again anytime soon. You'll probably get sick of me."
Lucy looked up at Alex, "I'll never get sick of you." She let out a contented sigh and fell back asleep. When she woke up it was to an empty bed and the sounds of laughter coming from the kitchen.
She was startled from her thoughts by a familiar pair of arms wrapping around her shoulders and the sweetest pair of lips kissing her cheek. She leaned into Alex. They hadn't been alone since she found her in her bed this morning. She desperately wanted to get her alone just to talk but that would come later tonight.
Alex, Maggie, Vasquez and President Marsdin were making progress in the case against her father. That was the only reason she had been ok with Alex staying at the DEO for almost two weeks. Lucy knew that they had all kept the newly formed plan of attack a secret. Only those four people knew what it was. Not even Pam knew. Once Lena, Sam and Ruby left Maggie and Alex would fill her in on what the plan was. Her gut was telling her that she wasn't going to like part of it but at this point she didn't have a choice.
"How is your throat feeling? Voice is still a little raspy, but it sounds better."
"It doesn't feel like sandpaper that was lit on fire with everclear so that is a plus. Just feels like your run of the mills sore throat. If I talk to fast or project, my voice to much it hurts. That's why I've been so quiet."
Alex sat on the stool next to Lucy, "I never thought I would complain about you being so quiet."
Lucy gently shoved Alex, "She has jokes. Wait until I can speak again. You'll be so tired of my voice you'll beg for me to shut up." Lucy turned toward Alex and leaned forward and captured her lips in a searingly hot kiss. She didn't care that anyone else was there especially Ruby. Which she should feel bad about, but she hadn't kissed her girlfriend in over a week. She wasn't going hide how she felt from anyone. Then she remembered Maggie was there. That she did feel sorry about. But only mildly.
Alex couldn't help the moan that escaped her lips and she was only mildly annoyed that Lucy had pulled away. They would have plenty of time over the next six months to kiss whenever they wanted. To do whatever they wanted without fear of being attacked.
"I love your voice and honestly I've missed you teasing me and shamelessly flirting with me."
Alex kissed Lucy. This time keeping it closer to PG than the kiss Lucy had given her earlier. Maggie was in the room and she knew her ex kissing her best friend would make her uncomfortable. Even if they had made progress toward mending their relationship as friends over the past two weeks.
Kissing Alex was one of her favorite pastimes, but she knew they couldn't do this forever in front of Maggie. "What's on the menu for tonight?"
"Not sure Maggie and Sam are going to tag team and last I heard neither of them had come to a decision about what would happen in the kitchen tonight."
Before Lucy could respond Alex's, phone started ringing, "It's the president I've got to take this I'll be back in a minute."
Lucy got out of her stool and walked toward Sam and Maggie. "You two figure out dinner yet?"
Sam smiled mischievously, "We have, and Maggie here is worried that it isn't going to be up to your standards."
Lucy looked at Maggie confused. "My standards aren't that high Maggie I don't know what you're talking about. Unless Sam is thinking of making lasagna." Lucy glanced at Sam and saw the look on her face. "You are making lasagna and Maggie knows how good mine is and doesn't think yours will be up to snuff."
Lucy turned back towards Maggie, "I'm not picky when it comes to food and you know that if anything I may have found my match in the kitchen. We'll consider this the official test of who has the better lasagna. I love a little friendly competition." She turned back toward Sam, "I can't wait to try it. Sam has also been eating my cooking for almost two weeks now so I think she understands my palette. She hasn't had my lasagna but if you know what you're doing lasagna isn't hard to mess up."
Sam stuck her tongue out at Maggie, "See I told you nothing to worry about."
Maggie raised her hands in defeat, "Ok so I was wrong, but I have been in this situation before, it wasn't lasagna, but it stung."
Lucy knew what Maggie was talking about and couldn't help but chuckle. "You know Alex sabotaged you that night. I'm not sure if it was on purpose or if she did it on accident but the less than stellar mac and cheese wasn't your fault. I figured out the next day that you had used slightly sour milk and that was what gave your mac and cheese the interesting flavor."
"That would explain why we didn't have pancakes that morning. Alex had talked about those pancakes so much I was very disappointed that you didn't make them. But I will say the look Alex gave you when she woke up and discovered there were no pancakes will forever be ingrained in my brain. The omelets you made were amazing and she definitely wasn't complaining but Alex does love her carbs."
Lucy was enjoying the easy conversation between herself and Maggie. She had missed talking but the amount she was doing right now was starting to hurt. It had been two weeks since her father had tried to strangle her, and she felt like her vocal chords were never going to heal.
"As much as I've loved going down memory lane my throat is starting to hurt so I'm gonna go get Ruby and see if she wants to play chess."
Once Alex had finished her conversation with the President she went back into the kitchen and Lucy wasn't there. Sam said her throat was getting sore, so she was going to see if Ruby wanted to play some chess. Remembering that Lena kept the chess board that Lex had taught her to play on set up in her father's office she made her way there.
She saw Lucy and Ruby both quieter than she had ever seen either of them. The looks of complete concentration Alex found amusing. Neither one of them were talking but they did exchange a few looks every now and again. She stayed in the doorway of the office watching the game unfold. She hadn't known that Lucy knew how to play chess. It was something that her mother had taught her how to play. She had played occasionally with Lena and Lena had usually beaten her. She saw a few games with Lucy in her future.
Dinner was long over, and everyone had left except for Lena, Maggie, Alex and Lucy. Lucy wasn't sure exactly why Lena was still there. As far as she knew Lena wasn't in on the plan of attack against her father. Maybe that had changed. Either way she was about to find out.
"So, what's the plan?"
Alex exchanged a few looks with Maggie before turning to Lucy, "You aren't going to like it but after talking about it for days we concluded that it was the only option. When Hamilton cleared you to leave the DEO I asked J'onn to shapeshift into you to throw off any would-be attackers. I had Maggie leave with him to make it look like she was taking you back to her place because ours was still trashed."
Alex had paused which could only mean that someone had attacked Maggie and J'onn. Making Lucy's assumption about not being safe anywhere true. It was a good move on Alex's part. To assume that someone would be lurking in the shadows ready to attack again once she had left the DEO. "Let me guess Maggie was attacked?"
"She did but she knows how to hold her own and J'onn was there so luckily she walked away with a few bruises. The scary part of the whole thing is it means you were right. They are going after the people you care about in order to get you to keep quiet. Thankfully Lena had suggested of moving you around the same time. When asked Lena about staying here she suggested to bring you here herself. Which was a brilliant idea no one suspected you were with Lena when she left the DEO.
"But the attack on Maggie meant we had to change our plans. This is the part you aren't going to like. I'm stepping down as director temporarily. J'onn is stepping back in with Maggie as his assistant. Lena has offered to let us stay at one of her properties. I figured since leaving National City for an unknown amount of time I would let you pick the place we get to hide out."
So, the plan was to hide. Alex was right Lucy didn't like the idea of running away from the problem one bit. The rational part of her brain was kicking in and it made sense. She really hated to admit that, but it did. She knew everyone was just trying to protect her and Alex, but she was Lucy Lane she didn't run from a fight.
"I'm guessing I don't get a say in this plan at all? Other than where we go to hide."
It was Maggie's turn to speak up. When Alex had first asked her to go with J'onn disguised as Lucy she hadn't seen Alex this scared. Ever. Alex had called her not long after Hamilton had sedated Lucy. She came to the DEO as soon as she could. Alex was holed up in her office with all the lights off, bottle of whiskey sitting on her desk. Alex had shown her the footage of Sam Lane trying to strangle Lucy and she caught every word he said. That was the day this plan started. It has changed many times over the last two weeks, but this was the best solution they had to keep Lucy and Alex alive.
"No Lucy you don't. The attack on J'onn and I wasn't the only incident to happen. To prove your theory, we had J'onn assume your identity whenever he was out in the city. He was only approached and threatened when he was alone. The other times he was with Kara or Vasquez and each time he was left alone, and the other person was attacked. The one man tried to kill Kara but not knowing she is Supergirl that didn't work in his favor. That was when they finally figured out that we were messing with them."
Maggie paused this next part she wasn't sure if she should tell it or if Alex wanted to do it. If Alex was even going to tell her at all. She turned to look at Alex and she could tell she was hesitant. Lucy was going to freak out, but this might be the exact thing that would convince her that this really was the only option.
"Do you want to tell her, or do you want me to do it?"
That got Lucy's attention. Alex saw Lucy sit up straighter and look in her direction very worried. No, she didn't want Lucy to know that she had been attacked while she was at the apartment getting some of their things.
"Kara came with me to the apartment, so I could get some of our things. She got called away as Supergirl and I thought I would be fine by myself for a few minutes. It was General Rogers who attacked me. He unfortunately didn't know who he was messing with. I managed to walk away with a few cracked ribs and some other bruises before Kara showed up and subdued him."
Lucy didn't know what to say. Of course, Alex would tell Kara that she would be fine while she went off to fight some crime and of course Kara wouldn't fight with Alex on the issue because it's Alex her badass sister who has protected her countless times. The fact that General Rogers himself tried to take Alex away from her hurt the most because that meant that all of her suspicions about her dad were true. She only knew what he had lied about with the mission in Russia and what had happened in Russia that wasn't in any of the reports. What else was her father involved in that they would go to such lengths to try and stop the investigation.
Those were all questions for another day. When she and Alex were far from this dumpster fire of a mess. She turned toward Lena and with a grim smile asked, "What are our housing options?"