Chapter 8: Persistence

"Oh, Lena! I thought you were taking a few days to sort out L-Corp's financial team?" James smiled politely at her as she walked past his office at Catco.

"I was, but then Kara came to me in tears. I was hoping that you'd know something about it, considering that you seem to know her so well." Lena didn't intend to add an edge to the question, but deep down it bothered her that James had known so confidently about Kara's panic attacks and yet she hadn't a clue. It was petty, but at this point she couldn't care less.

"Yes well, so there was… she uh… so basically what happened was…" James was struggling to find a half decent answer to Lena's question. He looked over at Kara, who was slowly and aimlessly circling a pen around the same line she had been reading for roughly 30 minutes now.

"Olsen I swear, if you don't tell me in the next few seconds-"

"Look, it isn't my place to tell you. If you want answers you're going to have to ask her sister." Sorry Alex.

"I understand. Where can I find her?"

James had a feeling that Alex wouldn't exactly appreciate Lena Luthor knocking on the door of the governmentally classified Department of Extranormal Operations, so he didn't really have a choice other than to send Lena to her apartment. "I guess I could give you her address?"

With a swift nod from Lena, he pulled a piece of scrap paper out from his drawer and scribbled the location down, then handing it to her.

"She'll probably be there, I think she got a few days off of work."

"Okay. Thanks, James." And with that, she was off.

As soon as Lena was out of earshot, James pulled out his phone and texted the person soon to be at the forefront of Lena's investigation.

James: hey alex, Lena just came into Catco and basically grilled me on why Kara is feeling so down (apparently she went to Lena's office earlier in tears?!) and I told her to ask you. So she may or may not be on her way to your apartment like right now.

Alex: … You're buying my drink next time we all go to the alien bar.

James: that's fair.

James looked up from his phone to see Kara half heartedly sorting her papers, to then stuff them into the draw next to her desk. Suppressing his urge to ask her why she was leaving work early (because as far as he was concerned there was no emergency to be attended to by Supergirl), James watched her as the young blonde made her way towards the elevators. She met his eyes as she passed the door to his office, and he smiled to the best of his ability, though to his disappointment he was met with a watered down replication of her usually radiant grin, and he noticed that the smile didn't reach her eyes.

After texting James back, Alex shoved her phone into her pocket and switched the TV off, not that she was really watching. Though this was much to the frustration of her fiance currently nestled into the couch beside her.

"Okay so here's the jam, Lena went to James asking about why Kara's feeling down because apparently she visited Lena at L-Corp in tears, James evidently had no excuse and so told her to come here and ask me. And so in conclusion we probably have about 10 minutes before a certain Luthor comes knocking on our door."

"Jesus, little Luthor sure is determined."

"Yup, which is why I need to think of a good explanation quick. I mean maybe I could probably blame it on Mon'el…"

"Does she know Kara's been cutting herself?"

"Babe I don't know, I mean probably. She said she wanted to tell Lena so that could be why she went over there in the first place."

"Okay so then that excuse won't count for shit. We need something that's close to the truth and is equally as severe and significant as the truth, but like not the truth."

"Wow thanks Sawyer." Maggie simply winked in return.

Alex took a moment to think. Something that is close to the truth but not the truth. Close to the truth. Close. She had it.

"Maggie, here's the story we'll go with. Supergirl and PSI fought in that weird back alley near Kara's apartment because that happened to be where PSI was at the time. Kara heard a commotion outside so she went down to check what it was, but as she stepped out she was caught in the crossfire and hit by one of PSI's strong psychic blasts. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Wow Danvers, that's pretty damn solid."

"I know." Alex said with a smirk. No sooner had they concluded the plan, there was a sharp series of knocks on the door. Maggie remained seated on the couch while Alex begrudgingly got up to answer it.

"Here we go."

Alex opened the door to see a stunning, raven haired woman standing stiffly outside of her apartment.

"Lena! What brings you here?" Alex did her best to sound casual, though she could practically feel Maggie cringing at how fake it sounded behind her.

"Kara's been acting really off recently, and James Olsen told me that I needed to ask you if I wanted any answers to why." Straight to the point.

"And why exactly do you need to know?" Deep down, Alex was hoping that Lena would give a really weak answer so she could avoid having to give any sort of made up lie to her, but unfortunately everyone knew that that wouldn't be the case.

"Alex, your sister and I are close friends. I've known her for quite a while now, and never before have I seen her this sad in both her demeanour and her actions. Not to mention that I had no idea that she even suffers from panic attacks, and I had to find out first hand when she collapsed at Catco. She barely works, barely eats, I can tell she barely sleeps and, well, she showed me her arms. I want to know what's going on so that I can help her. I hate seeing Kara this upset. I don't know what could have possibly drove the forever optimistic Kara Danvers to the point at which she's cutting herself, but what I do know is that I will be doing everything in my power to help her as she as done for me countless times before. That is why I need to know, Alex."

After a short pause, the eldest Danvers stepped to the side, allowing Lena to enter and then closing the door behind her. Alex then walked over to the couch and leaned on the side of it, while Maggie remained sitting at the end nearest to her. Meanwhile, they both noticed that instead of sitting down, the young woman stood rigidly straight in the center of the main room, arms crossed with an expectant look in her eyes.

Alex made a mental note to ask Kara exactly how close her and the woman in front of her was, because Lena's behaviour suggested to her that she cared a lot about her younger sister. Though it didn't take a trained professional to figure that one out.

Alex sighed deeply, taking the time to carefully consider her words, before then explaining to Lena how Kara was caught in the middle of a feud between Supergirl and PSI, and that a psychic attack focused on Supergirl ended up hitting Kara instead.

After Alex had finished speaking, she looked up to meet Lena's eyes, trying to gage a reaction from her.

At first Lena thought that Alex might try to lie to her, but after the red-head had ended her story she knew that what the woman standing before her had said was true.

Lena shuffled to the side slightly, leaning against the counter and taking in a long, drawn breath. It was a lot of information to absorb.

She had known it had to be bad, but to know that Kara, her Kara, was hurt in such a traumatic, dramatic way was troubling to say the very least.

After a few moments of silence, the young Luthor finally spoke.

"Okay so, you're saying that Kara was forced to see her parents', her sister's, her ex-boyfriend's and her friends' deaths first hand and in full, gruesome detail?"

"Unfortunately yes, that's what happened. And as you can see it really affected her, as it would affect anyone who would ever have to go through what she has."

"Has she shown any signs of improving?" Alex wasn't at all surprised to see Lena transition so smoothly from shock and anguish to the ever practical pragmatist that she was known to be. It gave her hope.

"Kara has a bad habit of forcing her feelings down. She can be really stubborn when it comes to seeking help which as I'm sure you can imagine is problematic to say the least, especially when she actually needs it. She always puts on a fake smile trying to convince both us and herself that she's okay when she really isn't. I honestly can't tell if she's improving or doing the opposite, because she hasn't really opened up completely yet. And so what ends up happening is she gets worse and worse while mentally straining herself more and more until she ends up doing crazy, dangerous, stupid things that we don't even know about! How can we help her when she won't help herself?! We're trying so hard but-"

Alex's spiral was paused, as a hand gently arrived on her shoulder. Maggie held it there to keep Alex from stressing herself out any further, and spoke up on her fiance's behalf.

"I think what Alex here is trying to say, is that none of us are entirely sure. But we're doing our best to keep an eye on her and to make sure that she's being safe."

"I see." Lena looked solemn as she took in a shaky breath. "In all honesty, I really need a drink after the story you've just told me. It's a lot to take in."

"I completely understand. I mean I would be up for a drink for sure, what about you Danvers?" Maggie felt the tension across Alex's back and knew that a night out (a tame night out though) would be a pretty good escape for her fiance at this point. She just needed Alex to take a break from her own thoughts for a little bit. Plus, Maggie was pretty certain that the DEO official standing next to her wouldn't be able to resist the pleading look she was giving her right then.

"Uh, yea I suppose we could go."

"Alright cool. We normally go to an Alien bar a few blocks from here, are you okay with that Lena?"

"That's all good. They have better alcohol so why not." Lena was still shaken by what she'd just found out about Kara's situation, and she knew that if she went back home she would just get drunk anyways. Why not do it with friends?

Alex and Maggie grabbed their coats, and then the three of them were on their way.

Authors Note: Hey guys! I know it's been quite a while since my last upload, but chapters will be coming out far more frequently. I've found that I have a lot more free time, and so can get back into the swing of writing for y'all. I'm personally quite excited for the next chapter, I've got it all planned out and believe me when I say it's juicy. XD Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave suggestions/feedback in the reviews!