"Who's to say Lena's not behind this, too?" Alex snapped, pacing the floor of the DEO as Kara rolled her eyes. "What if he's manipulated her?"
The Danvers sisters had been arguing for the better part of the morning. After the Lex revelation was delivered to the team, Alex was quick to express her concerns over Lena's trustworthiness. Their heated debate had reached the point that Maggie, Winn, J'onn, and a handful of other DEO agents - who waited for the smoke to clear so they could discuss strategy - could only stand around as uncomfortable spectators.
"I think 20 years of surviving an identity crisis, following her instincts and morals, should be enough to trust Lena's judgment!" The Kryptonian asserted.
"I don't care!" Alex emphasized, hands clasped at the top of her head in exasperation. "Lena's brother, really? Doesn't that make you the least bit suspicious?"
"No." Kara responded flatly.
"Well maybe if you weren't blinded by sleeping with her."
"Alex!" The Kryptonian shouted indignantly. "Regardless of our relationship, I've gotten to know Lena! Like I said, she's been harboring this secret for two decades because she-"
"She's been conspiring with Lex the entire time? She's always ten moves ahead, so who's to say this wasn't an infiltration from the inside?" Alex shot back so fiercely that Maggie approached her. It was evident that the former FBI agent had anticipated an escalation and was trying to calm her girlfriend down.
"If it weren't for her, thousands of civilians would be dead right now," Maggie reasoned softly, defending the Luthor. Alex met her gaze for a moment, still skeptical.
"If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have this invasion in the first place," the elder Danvers insisted.
"Alex," J'onn addressed her softly. "You need to look at the facts here. There's no evidence to suggest that Lena is working with Lex. I can read her thoughts and know she's been honest with us."
"Could you read Lex's? During either his first attack or his little pep rally this morning?" Alex challenged.
"No," J'onn admitted freely.
"Then halfbreeds might be able to counter your abilities," the elder Danvers pressed. "Lena's great at hiding herself, including mental guards."
"I'm not here to hide," a solemn voice sounded from behind the room.
The group turned around in surprise to face Lena. Kara's blood went cold, wondering just how many of Alex's accusations her girlfriend heard. She crossed the room to meet the Luthor. Lena appeared numb, her eyes slightly red.
"Lena, I…" The blonde began, but the brunette cut the awkward tension by addressing the room.
"Lex has been posing as my assistant's boyfriend for the past few months. He's now threatening to harm her. In exchange he wants access to L-Corp's arsenal within the next day and a half," she rushed out. "I won't let him hurt her, but I sure as hell won't give him the weapons."
"We're gonna figure this out," Kara assured her. "All of us."
"Absolutely," J'onn confirmed.
"For sure," Winn echoed.
The younger Danvers shot a pointed look at her sister, who turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. Maggie looked apologetically at Lena.
"We're with you," Maggie explained. "Alex just needs time."
With that, she followed after her girlfriend.
"We don't have time," Lena sighed frustratedly. "We need to find a way to rescue Jess, but Lex keeps tight surveillance. He might have the whole city bugged for all I know, given the frightening amount of info he was privy to already."
"No chance of removing the weapons?" Winn spitballed. "He doesn't have their coordinates."
"He'll track me," the Nodei swiftly countered. "The extent of his surveillance is frightening."
"Do you know where Jess lives?" the Kryptonian inquired, trying to ignore the fact that Lena had barely glanced her way since arriving. Now's not the time to be worrying about that, she chastised herself, but it was simpler in theory than in practice.
"Yes," the brunette responded shortly, typing away at something on her tablet. After a moment, she turned the screen around for the room to see. It showed the National City skyline from a high vantage point.
"This is the L-Corp exterior feed," she explained. "Jess' apartment is in this complex, two blocks south."
"We can at least try to stake the place out, see if we can figure out any possible escape routes?" Kara offered, earning a small nod from Lena.
"And she's been, like…uh…with your brother? All this time?" Winn shook his head in disbelief. "Talk about getting catfished."
"Really?" J'onn scolded the tech wiz, then began making his way to the computers. Suddenly an invisible force was dragging Winn by the ear behind him.
"Ah, jeez, ok, ok! I get it!" Winn huffed.
As the two set to work on the computers, J'onn gave instructions to Lena and Kara.
"You two determine if there are any escape routes around her apartment. Lay low and go by foot. I'm willing to bet Lex has as many eyes scanning the air as he does the water."
Fifteen minutes of walking in silence later and the pair were only a few blocks from Jess' apartment. Kara was torn between letting Lena have the space to process and providing active support - or clarification, given the scene on which the Nodei had walked in. Just as the Kryptonian was mustering up a carefully-worded peace offering, Lena spoke.
"Is there a seed of doubt?" Her voice was quiet as she stared down at the sidewalk. "Is there something I've done to suggest you can't trust me?"
Coming to a complete stop, Kara turned to face her girlfriend. She had assumed a posture that was so uncharacteristically small for the CEO.
"Lena," the blonde breathed, resting a gentle hand on Lena's cheek. "I trust you completely. You of all people, with your damned good bullshit detector, should know I'm telling you the truth."
Green orbs finally met her own, scanning back and forth ever-so-slightly. Tentatively, Lena covered Kara's hand with her own, leaning in to meet her lips in a kiss. The Kryptonian sighed into the reassuring gesture, wrapping her arms securely around the Nodei, who followed suit. After a moment, they pulled apart, Lena laughing slightly as she wiped a few rebellious tears away.
"It helps that you're a terrible liar," she smiled, earning a chuckle from Kara. Exhaling calmingly, she continued. "No, I know I have you. J'onn, Winn, and maybe Maggie can help us see this thing through. It's probably best that Alex sit this one out anyway. At least that gives us enough people to take on Lex while ensuring Jess' safety. Which, if we can even find a way to get her to L-Corp first, I was thinking…"
She trailed off as she noticed confusion wash over the Kryptonian's features.
"Sit it out?" Kara repeated slowly. "Well, I'm gonna talk to Alex. She needs a minute, but she's still a crucial part of the team."
The blonde watched as the brunette's moment of vulnerability slowly dissipated, defensiveness creeping in to take its place. Lena's mouth formed a thin line.
"Kara, why not proceed on this mission without Alex?" The Nodei inquired, pushing back. "She's been treating me like the enemy, which I've ignored until now, because I value the protection of the city above my ego. There's no time for this, and we'll all be screwed if she can't trust me."
"Alex will come around," the Kryptonian insisted, feeling the frustration bubbling up. It was hard not to feel protective over her sister, but she wasn't making it easy either. The fact that her girlfriend was the opposing force in the situation was also worsening her conflicting emotions.
"What if she withholds information from me? Lex will sniff that out a mile away and use it to his advantage," Lena urged, her voice cracking. "Kara, don't think I haven't thought about just swapping out Jess for me, or burning the arsenal to the ground while Lex and I are both inside, because maybe that's the only way to lure him."
"Rao, no!" The blonde shuttered at the thought, eyes wide.
"I'm not going through with it," the brunette insisted. "Because even if I did, the rest of the halfbreeds would still unleash hell on the city. People could still die. The DEO needs me and vice-versa."
"And we need Alex," Kara stated plainly. "I need her."
"Why can't you find the guts to put Alex in her place? Just have her sit this one out? Just this?" the Nodei shouted in desperation, sending the Kryptonian into a fit of anger.
"She's my sister, Lena! I know how to handle her. We don't just drop each other, that's not how this works," Kara yelled back, then impulsively mumbled, "we're not your family."
Lena's eyes snapped up, exhaling slowly like a deflating balloon. Kara winced as the malice of her words settled over the space, eyes growing wide as she started stuttering to backtrack, her tone instantly softening.
"Oh Rao, Lena, I'm so sorry! I…I didn't mean that. No…no…shit, that was an awful thing to say."
Lena's brow furrowed. Kara took a step forward, panicked and reaching for Lena's hand, but the brunette recoiled.
"Are you referring to how my blood relatives treat me?" She spoke quickly, eerily calm. But her eyes looked exhausted, broken. She began walking forward, Kara falling rapidly into step with her, mind going into overdrive about how to remedy the situation. She would have given anything in that moment to take her words back, feeling appalled with herself that she could elicit such pain from Lena. "Or are you referring to my loyalty to, I don't know, chosen family, loved ones? You're basing this on what actions of mine? When have I ever abandoned any member of the DEO? Of my adopted family? Of my friends? Or you? Or are you assuming that because my brother and father treated people as disposable that I'm somehow predisposed to do the same? An educated guess?"
"No…no, of course not, Lena…I'm so, so sorry…I just…" Kara attempted helplessly, grabbing at any coherent thought. Lena held up a hand to stop her.
"We're almost there," she announced matter-of-factly, eyes scanning the perimeter. Kara reluctantly paused their conversation to do the same.
"There's no less than fifteen Nodeis on this block alone," Lena pointed out quietly. Kara was shocked as she spotted several of the halfbreeds she had already faced off with before, some even giving them knowing looks and smug smirks from across the street. Purple eyes, the green-haired woman, among others.
"J'onn, do you copy?" The Kryptonian asked, as the two made their way down the block.
"Unfortunately, yes," he responded through the earpiece.
"Looks like jailbreak won't work here," Winn observed. "But luckily we have an idea."
"Good afternoon, Jess!" Lena beamed, Kara in tow, crossing the elevator threshold to greet her assistant.
"Ms. Luthor! Ms. Danvers" Jess replied cheerfully from behind the desk, looking up from her desktop.
"Please, call me Kara," the reporter insisted.
"Not a problem, Kara! Didn't expect to see you back in the office today, Ms. Luthor. I thought you had an appointment after lunch?"
"Still did," she commented breezily. "But I need to wrap up a few more things for the day. Besides, Kara and I were talking. Maybe we can finally take you and Sebastian up on that double date tonight?"
"Absolutely!" Jess smiled.
"Fantastic," Lena remarked, clapping her hands together and sharing a tight grin with Kara. "How's Le Tavolet at 7?"
"That's perfect," Jess confirmed. "Sebastian's got some romantic surprise planned for tomorrow, so tonight is awesome."