"What the hell?!"
Kara jerks awake and looks up, alarmed, at the intruder in her bedroom. It's Alex, a hand still on the door handle and the other on the gun holstered at her side. Kara hasn't heard her come in. She hasn't heard the front door unlock either.
"Kara!"
Of course, things must look weird to Alex. To be fair, they're a bit weird to Kara, too. Her arm is around Lena's waist and holds the woman close to her. Kara's face, she realizes, was pretty much buried in her hair just a few seconds before. How they've come to cuddle during the night, Kara has no idea.
Surprisingly, Lena hasn't woken up despite Alex barging into the room and not being exactly discreet. Kara places a finger on her lips to silence her sister and slowly disentangles herself from Lena and the sheets.
Alex is still staring at the scene before her, eyes wide and hand twitching at her side. Kara has to grab her elbow and drag her out of the room when she walks past her to make Alex react.
"What the hell is going on? Who is this," Alex hisses, pointing toward the bedroom door that Kara has closed behind them.
"This is Lena Luthor, Alex. You've seen her before," Kara deadpans, arms crossed against her chest.
"I've—Kara, where did you find the shape-shifter? This isn't healthy for you! I didn't even know you were into Lena Luthor like that!"
"Like what, agent Danvers?"
The husky voice startles them both. It seems that Lena wasn't asleep after all. Neither sister has heard her open the door. She leans against the doorframe, left eyebrow raised, shorts still too short for Kara's taste. Lena doesn't even flinch when Alex pulls her gun on her.
"Who are you," Alex asks menacingly.
"I believe we've already met a few times, agent Danvers. Once in this very apartment."
Alex looks completely lost. Kara places a gentle hand on the arm that's pointing the Glock at Lena and Alex reluctantly puts it back in its holster. She glances back and forth between Kara and Lena, waiting for an explanation.
"Alex, what are you doing here?"
"What am I—I tried calling you and kept getting your voicemail. I was worried because you didn't seem well yesterday. What is she doing here? How is she here?"
"It's a long story," Kara begins to say.
"I wasn't in my office when it blew up. I was checking on some new prototypes in L-Corp's underground lab. I heard the explosion, figured it was meant to kill me, grabbed this little thing here…"
She wiggles her finger with the ring and Alex frowns.
"…and disappeared. Literally."
"It's an invisibility ring," Kara adds.
If the situation wasn't so serious—and awkward, Kara thinks—she might have laughed at the look on her sister's face. Alex sits on the couch and brings a hand to her temple.
"So… You're telling me that this whole time you were alive?"
Lena nods and moves from the doorway to the kitchen where she takes a glass on the dish rack and pours herself some water.
"I don't—I don't… This is crazy."
"There's more," Kara says in a sheepish tone. "But I think we should probably head over to the DEO so that we can brief everyone at the same time."
Alex looks ready to burst and she makes a face at Kara. It makes Lena smile in her glass, and after she empties it, she makes her way to the bathroom where her clothes are waiting for her. On her way there, she looks over her shoulder—Kara looks up quickly but she can tell she's been busted by the way Lena grins at her—and says:
"Oh don't worry, agent Danvers. I know that Kara is Supergirl."
Kara wishes she could have her own invisibility ring right this moment.
The ride to the DEO is filled with a tense silence that no one dares to break. Alex keeps throwing glances in the rearview mirror and Kara knows she must be trying to wrap her head around the news she's just learned. Lena is in the backseat, invisible, and even to Kara it's still weird. Thankfully, traffic is fluid so the ride takes less than ten minutes. Kara is out of the car before it's at a complete stop.
The room Alex chooses to have their meeting in is small and very similar to the room where Kara had met with Lillian Luthor. Once they're all inside, Alex finds Kara's eyes, then looks pointedly at the camera. Kara takes the hint and she floats toward it and turns it toward the ceiling.
At everyone's puzzled look, Kara begins to explain why they've been summoned in the room this early in the morning. She's brief and doesn't give much detail, just the basics of what Lena's told her. When she's done, she looks around the room and clears her throat.
"Lena?"
The brunette materializes right next to her and Winn staggers and bumps into the wall behind him. James' jaw drops and he looks back and forth between Lena and Kara. J'onn hides his surprise well but Kara sees it in the way his arms cross and rest against his chest.
"So, I'm going to let Lena speak now because there's a lot more she needs to say."
No one interrupts Lena while she explains everything, from her telepathic ability to the day of the explosion. Lena seems totally unfazed by the mistrusting looks Winn and James give her. J'onn, to his credit, remains as impassible as ever. Kara wonders briefly where Mon-El is, and then remembers that he has the night shift at the bar which means he's probably asleep now, at barely eight in the morning.
When Lena arrives at the part where she tells them she knows where Lex is hiding; the atmosphere in the room changes.
"Can you tell what I'm thinking right now," Winn challenges Lena.
"Do you want me to get inside your head?"
"Sure, let's see how reliable that power of yours is," he shrugs.
"Very well."
Kara's eyes shift to Lena's face and she watches, in awe, as her friend's features change. Suddenly, Lena seems far away. If Kara couldn't hear Lena's heartbeat, she would swear she's stopped breathing. Winn squirms, uncomfortable with the way Lena stares at him with hollow eyes. The whole thing lasts maybe ten seconds, before Lena blinks and her body visibly relaxes. She doesn't look away from Winn though, and she takes a moment before she speaks.
"You're wondering if I set up the bomb in my office. If everything isn't part of a bigger plan to bring all of you to my brother so he can kill you. If my next move will be to find a way to enslave Supergirl. I really like that one, by the way."
Kara shoots daggers at Winn and he cowers behind James a little. Lena, however, remains unaffected and doesn't hide her amusement at the situation.
"You also wonder if I know who Supergirl really is," Lena continues, "to which I can answer: yes, I do. Is that enough to convince you of my abilities or shall I go on?"
"That's—that's fine," Winn stutters.
Lena smiles, a smile too wide to be anything but fake, but Kara mirrors her. She has really missed Lena's presence.
"Not a word of this to anyone outside of this room," J'onn orders. "Miss Luthor?"
"Yes?"
"I trust you can remain invisible while you're inside the DEO?"
"Absolutely."
"Good. Now, please, tell us about your brother."
The too-bright smile fades quickly from Lena's face.
They end up sitting around the table. Kara pulls the chair next to Lena, and she ignores Alex's raised eyebrow. Lena talks about the desert in which Lex is hiding. She describes the bunker he's elected to live in for the time being. She says he's been there for over three weeks now so it looks like it will be his base for a while. Kara senses the urgency in her tone and she finds herself wanting to be done with this whole thing already. She wants Lex gone, she wants Lena to have her life back.
Lex is in Nevada; Lena tells them. She mentions the Smoke Creek Desert and how her brother used to disappear for days at a time there. To oversee the bunker's construction, she surmises. Lena warns them that getting to Lex won't be easy as he's had ample time to secure this area around his hideout. Kara isn't worried. One man can't do much against her and her friends.
J'onn takes command from here. He orders Winn to get his hands on any plans of the area he can find, and asks Alex and Kara to go and rest in one of the dorms the DEO has built in one of their underground levels. James is soon on his way; his company needing its acting CEO. Lena, though not ordered to do anything—J'onn wouldn't dare—decides to follow Kara down to the dorms. If Alex is still a bit wary of her presence, Kara is ecstatic. She really doesn't want Lena out of her sight.
It still startles her when Lena suddenly disappears at her side, but a few seconds later, Kara feels a hand on her elbow and she wonders if Lena has guessed how uncomfortable Kara is when she can't see her. They follow her sister out, leaving Winn and J'onn to organize the technical details of the assault that will most likely happen within the next twenty-four hours.
Kara plops herself down on one of the four beds in the room they elect. She watches as Lena appears before her eyes.
"This is so surreal," she comments.
"I know, right? I freaked out the first time I used the ring in front of a mirror," Lena tells her.
Alex rolls her eyes and pulls out her phone, no doubt to call Maggie.
"I'll be out there if you need me," she says before she leaves the room and closes the door behind herself.
Kara shrugs and sits up as Lena takes place beside her.
"What happens after we catch Lex," Kara asks.
"I'm not sure. I suppose I'll have to come clean to the rest of the world. Show my face out there, maybe call for a press conference."
Neither woman speaks for a long time after that, both thinking of the repercussions Lena's deception will have on her image and career.
"I could always disappear to the Bahamas or Bali," Lena quips after a while.
"No way," Kara replies, nudging her with her elbow. "Not unless you take me with you. Supergirl needs a vacation."
"Deal. I'd love to have you."
Their eyes meet, then, and Kara blushes furiously. Lena laughs.
"I mean, I'd love to have you with me," she amends.
"Right. Yes. That's—I understood what you meant."
It's funny, Kara thinks, that despite wearing Supergirl's outfit, being around Lena makes it hard to be anything but Kara Danvers. There's something about the other woman that flusters her and if Kara has always forbidden herself from thinking about what that something is exactly, it is much harder to resist doing so now. Because now, she knows how it feels to live without Lena, to lose her, and she realizes it's foolish to run away from whatever emotions Lena provokes in her.
"Kara?"
"Uh? What? Sorry, I was…"
"Lost in thoughts? I noticed," Lena teases with a smile.
"Yes, sorry. What were you saying?"
"Nothing important, don't worry."
"No, please, tell me."
"I was just… if I have to tell everyone that I didn't actually die in the explosion, I was wondering if I could have Supergirl's public support?"
"Of course. I'll even stand by you on stage if you want to make a grand entrance," Kara promises.
"Well, I haven't yet decided how I'm going to pull that off, but thank you."
Their little moment is interrupted by a knock on the door and Alex pokes her head in.
"Hey. I'm going back up to find a sparring partner. Can I leave you two alone here?"
"I won't murder Supergirl, if that's what you're afraid of, agent Danvers," Lena replies coolly.
"No, that's not—sorry. I wasn't trying to imply anything like that, miss Luthor."
"Besides, I'm sure she could have me easily pinned to that bed in case I tried anything funny," Lena continues, a smirk appearing on her face.
Both Danvers sisters look at her; Alex, horrified, and Kara, dumbstruck. Lena laughs at them and shakes her head.
"Oh come on! I was joking!"
"Right," Alex says.
She exits the room without another word, and Lena turns to look at Kara, who is trying hard to avoid her gaze. Gently, she puts a hand on Kara's shoulder.
"I'm sorry if my silly sense of humor makes you uncomfortable, Kara. I promise I'll stop."
"No, don't," Kara tells her. "I'm just easily flustered but I don't mind, really. I get that it's tempting to make fun of me because of it."
"It is; I won't lie. But if it bothers you or upsets you, I'm done with those jokes."
"It's fine, Lena. Really. Besides," she adds as she finally works up the courage to look at Lena, "it's not like your joke isn't rooted in truth. I could easily pin you to that bed if I wanted."
The bark of laughter that Lena lets out is absolutely undignified and it makes Kara smile so wide that her cheeks hurt.
"Well, look at that! Seems like you can give as good as you get, after all," Lena exclaims.
With all the confidence in the world, Kara grins and raises an eyebrow.
"You have no idea, miss Luthor."
And if Lena's eyes flicker to her lips for a fraction of second, Kara tries not to think too much of it.