These chapters turn out much longer than I initially plan them to be.

Lena was waiting for Ella to be released to her. They had her sit down with a sketch artist. Alex Danvers had made the arrangements for her to take the girl for the time being until proper arrangements with a foster home could be made.

A gust of the wind from behind her told her Supergirl had just landed.

"Find anything?" Lena asked.

She shook her head, despondent. She'd been scouting for any sign of Lena's would-be assassin.

"Whoever he was, he's long gone by now,"

"I'm still breathing, which means he hasn't collected a pay day. He'll be back,"

"You should reconsider Agent Danvers' offer of protection,"

"I don't need a round the clock protection detail,"

"Recent events say otherwise,"

"If anything does go wrong, I can just call you,"

Supergirl frowned slightly, "I'm fast. Doesn't mean I'll be guaranteed to get there on time,"

"I believe in you Supergirl,"

Their conversation was interrupted by Maggie bring Ella over to them.

"They say I'm gonna go home with you,"

"If that's okay?" Lena bent down so she was eye level with her.

She nodded, reaching out for Lena's hand.

Maggie handed her a card, "If you need to get in touch with me,"

"Thank you, detective,"

Lena nodded to them before she led Ella to where her vehicle was waiting. Her driver opened the door for them. Ella shrank back when she saw him.

"It's okay, Benjamin works for me. He's not a bad guy," Lena said, rubbing Ella's back.

Ella still hesitated for a moment. Ben took off his sunglasses and smiled at the girl. It was only then she took a step forward, letting Benjamin help her into the back of the car.

From the sidewalk, Supergirl waved goodbye to Ella. Alex and Maggie were standing next to her.

"Strapping a bomb to a kid, that's a new one," Maggie said.

"Let's hope it stays the only one," Supergirl said.

"As twisted as it was, it's genius. No one is going to think a little girl will have something like that on her. Not at a toy drive. And certainly not a little girl in a pink tutu of all things," Alex said.

"Taking a homeless kid makes it all the worst. No one is going to be looking for her," Maggie said.

"Can we really not find anything on her? There must be something. A birth certificate, medical record, even a report card," Supergirl said.

"We'll keep looking," Alex said.

"Detective," A cop called over to Maggie, waving to get her attention.

Maggie raised her hand and said to Alex, "Just give me a few more minutes to finish up here and then we can head home,"

"I'd really like that." Alex looked at her gratefully. When Maggie stepped away, Alex moved half a step closer to her sister. "Do you think you could keep some tabs on Lena?"

"Okay, but why?"

"I don't expect that guy to just give up after one failed attempt,"

"Do we have any idea who could be behind this?"

"Do you want me to pull out the list of people who would want Lena Luthor dead? Her brother and mother are the ones who top the list. And anyone else on that list is only slightly less resourceful,"

"Unfortunately that's true. Yeah, I'll keep close to Lena. I was planning on paying her a visit tomorrow anyway. See if I could offer any help with Ella,"

"Good idea," Alex's attention was drawn by Maggie walking back to them, "I'll talk to you tomorrow,"

She nodded.

Maggie took Alex's hand, "Ready?"

"Yeah, good night Supergirl,"

"Good night Agent Danvers. Detective Sawyer," She said formally before taking off into the air.

When she landed in her apartment she sent an email to Lena.

I saw what happened on the news. And my sister gave me some details. Are you okay? And that little girl? How is she doing? If that happened to me I don't know what I would have done. Is there anything I can do?

- K.

Lena's phone lit up in her hand with the email alert. She smiled a little when she saw it was from Kara.

I'm still alive. We both are, thanks to your sister working a miracle. Ella is really shaken. But she's brave. I think she's going to be okay. With time. And maybe some therapy. It's sweet of you to offer help, but there isn't anything you can do right now. I think I'm just going to go to sleep as soon as I get home.

- Lena.

What about tomorrow? I know you have Ella for a day or two. I'm great with kids.

- K.

Lena looked at the email for a minute. She was considering telling Kara not to trouble herself. But the more she thought about the more she realized she knew next to nothing about kids. Having someone else around cold be a big helpful. Especially someone who was self-proclaimed 'great with kids'.

That would be appreciated actually. But you don't have to if you don't want too.

- Lena.

Oh no, I want to. I'll see you tomorrow!

- K.

Lena was smiling at the reply when she felt a weight against her arm. Looking over she realized Ella had fallen asleep against her. She carefully shifted her so she was laying in her lap. The poor thing. Lena didn't blame her. After what she just went through it would surprise Lena if she wasn't exhausted. When they arrived at her building she asked Benjamin to help her take the girl up to her apartment. She had him place her in the guest bedroom. He wished her a good night and the best of luck when she saw him out. She went back to the bedroom and took off Ella's shoes before she turned into for night herself. Sleep took her almost instantly.

When her eyes opened next it was still dark outside. Her mind foggy, she struggled for a reason why she was awake. Then she heard it. The muffled sobs. She sat up, groggily rubbing her eyes as she stumbled out of bed. Muscle-memory guided her feet to the guest bedroom. She switched on the light. A figure under the blanket whimpered and curled tighter in on itself.

"Ella?"

Another whimper.

"Ella?" Lena hesitated, unsure how to comfort her. She placed a hand where she guessed the girl's back was.

"I'm sorry." Ella's voice was small and doleful.

"Why?"

"I let a bad man try to hurt you,"

"That wasn't your fault,"

"But I should have known he was bad. They always know who the bad guy is and that's why the heroes win in the end. You and Supergirl almost lost because I didn't know who the bad guy was,"

"Ella, no," Lena's voice soften, "No, sweetheart. It's not your fault. Sometimes it's not as easy to know who the bad guys in real life are,"

Ella only sniffed in response.

"I've been tricked by bad guys before," Lena whispered.

At this Ella's figure tensed under the blanket. Then her head poked out. Her eyes were wide with surprise and confusion. "Really?"

Lena nodded.

"What happened? Did they win?"

"Almost. But I got lucky. I managed to see they were bad guys before it was too late and I outsmart them,"

"I'm not smart enough to do that,"

"Sometimes it's hard to know who the bad guys are. But that doesn't mean we should let them win. Even when they manage to trick us there's still hope to win,"

"There is?"

"There is. All you have to do is believe,"

"I… I think I can do that,"

"Good girl," Lena smiled at her, patting her head, "Try to get some sleep now,"

She stood, walking over to the light switch. She was about to switch it off when –

"Could you leave it on?"

Lena looked back at Elle and nodded.

"And… could you stay?"

"I… Of course I can,"

Lena sat back down on the bed. Ella curled into her side. Lena watched as sleep slowly relaxed the girl's features and her body lost its tenseness. She wasn't sure exactly how long after she fell asleep, but when she awoke it was with an arm draped over her face and hair tickling her nose. She suppressed the urge to push it all away. Instead, she carefully slid out of bed slowly.

Once she managed to escape and was out in her living room a thought came to her. She had no idea what to do now. She'd said she could take care of Ella. It was only for a few days. But what was she going to do now? She could let her watch Netflix, she supposed. Would they just stay inside all day? Should she take her out somewhere? What was even an appropriate place to take a little girl Ella's age? That's when Lena realized she didn't know how old Ella was. She had to be around eight or nine.

"No need to panic," She said, taking a breath, "No need to over complicate things. Start simple. With…" She looked around and her eyes fell on her kitchen, "Breakfast. Let's start with that,"

It was probably a little embarrassing she had to look up a recipe for pancakes, but she knew her way around the kitchen well enough to manage the simple recipe. She wasn't sure when Ella was going to wake up so she just made the batter and set it aside until Ela woke up.

She went ahead with her usual morning routine, minus her morning workout. She figured, seeing as she almost died the day before she was allowed a cheat day. Ella was still sleeping when she finished and she defaulted to her usual routine, work. Or at least that was until her phone rang.

"Hello,"

"Ms. Luthor, this is Richards. There's a Kara Danvers down here asking to come up,"

"Oh shoot. I completely forgot to leave the message to let her in,"

"It's fine Ms. Luthor, she's on her way up now,"

Only moments later there was a knock on her door. She opened it to reveal a grinning Kara.

"Good Morning," She greeted cheerfully.

Lena stepped aside to let her in.

"When you said you'd come over today I didn't know you meant first thing in the morning,"

Her smiled flattered slightly, "Am I too early? I didn't wake you, did I?"

"It's fine. I've been up a while now,"

Kara stepped inside, her gaze taking in the apartment.

"Where's Ella?"

"She's still sleeping,"

"Probably exhausted,"

"Yeah,"

"And how are you doing?"

"I'm fine,"

Kara looked her over, as though trying to tell if she was lying or not. The slightly scrutinizing gaze made Lena squirm. She looked away, unable to maintain eye contact for much longer.

"Can I interest you in breakfast? I was getting pancakes ready for Ella,"

"I already ate… but if it's pancakes, I suppose one wouldn't hurt,"

Lena chuckled and breezed into the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Anything I can help with?" Kara asked. She moved to the kitchen counter, placing a shopping bag down.

"I can manage, thanks. What's that?" She pointed to the bag.

"I got a gift for Ella,"

"You didn't have to do that,"

"It's fine. I wanted to. It's a dress and a few other things. I figured she wouldn't have any clothes,"

Lena blinked. She hadn't even considered that. "That's very thoughtful of you,"

"It's nothing really. I know what it feels like to have nothing of your own,"

Lena spun around, almost hitting the bowl of batter in her hands against the counter.

"What?" Her eyes widened slightly.

"Oh… have I never mentioned that I'm an orphan?" Kara blushed. She gave a sheepish grin, looking down.

"I think I'd remember you saying something like that," Lena said incredulously.

"Yeah, Alex, she's my adopted sister. I lost my parents when I was thirteen. Her parents took me in and… the rest is history,"

"I… I'm sorry,"

"It's fine. It happened a long time ago. And I really do love Alex and my adopted parents,"

When Lena smiled it was a little rueful.

But the moment was broken by a sleep little voice calling, "Hello?"

"Ella," Lena moved towards to the girl, as she emerged from the hallway, "Hi, how are you feeling?"

"Okay…" That's when Ella noticed Kara. She hugged herself to Lena, hiding herself with Lena's body.

Kara and Lena exchanged a look.

"It's okay Ella, this is my friend Kara,"

"Hey there," Kara bent down so she was on her level, "It's nice to meet you,"

Ella peeked out from behind Lena. She looked up at Lena and then at Kara again. She gave a little wave. Kara smiled like the sun and waved back.

"I have something you might like." Kara took the bag she brought and held it out.

"For me?"

Kara nodded.

Ella looked up at Lena again.

Lena smiled and gave her a gentle push, "Go on,"

Ella dragged her feet across the floor towards Kara. She took the bag with a murmured, "Thank you," Opening the bag, she took out the dress. Her eyes went wide when she realized what it was.

"This is for me?" She asked, holding the baby blue dress aloft, "It's so pretty,"

"I'm glad you like it," Kara said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Can I put it on now?"

"Go for it,"

Ella took off running back toward the guest bedroom.

Lena called after her, "Ella, wait a minute,"

"Yeah?" She stopped, looking back, her gaze nervous.

"Why don't you take a shower one time?"

"Umm… okay,"

"Here, I'll show you where everything is," Lena took her hand and showed her to the bathroom. She showed her everything she'll need, "Do you need help?"

She shook her head.

"Okay, but I'm just a call away if you need anything,"

Ella nodded. Lena left her, rejoining Kara.

"Your gift was well received,"

"You could say that,"

Lena started spooning out batter onto the hot griddle, "It actually gave me an idea. We could go get some stuff for her today. Some Clothes and shoes. Stuff like that. So she'll have things to wear,"

"We?"

"I mean, if you want to come," Lena added quickly, "I don't want to impose on you,"

Kara gave her a soft smile, "It sounds like a great idea. And I'm free today so I'd love to come,"

Lena almost sighed with relief, "Great, I'll send a message to my driver,"

By the time Ella came out, skipping in her new dress, Lena had a small stack of pancakes waiting on the table. Kara was eating two and she had one on her own plate.

"How do I look?" She played with the hem of her dress nervously.

Kara gave her thumbs up.

Lena said, "You look beautiful. Come here sweetie, have some breakfast," She helped her into her seat and placed a pancake on her place and handed her the syrup. Ella took up the syrup and poured a generous amount onto her pancake. So much Lena slowed her down, "Don't you think that's a little too much?"

"But Kara has this much," Ella pointed out.

Lena looked to Kara pointedly. Kara froze like a deer in headlights, her mouth full with pancake. Kara, for her worth, didn't even look ashamed. She gulped down the food in her mouth.

"Well, I do have two pancakes. So I need more syrup,"

"You drowned your pancakes,"

"Drowned is a strong word,"

"What word you use?"

"Healthy… moist layer,"

"Healthy moist layer?" Lena arched an eyebrow.

"Well? Yeah! You can't have dry pancakes,"

"How do you write the articles you do, but the best description for too much syrup you can come up is 'healthy moist layer'?"

"It's not too much syrup Lena. It's an average amount,"

"Kara that's anything but average,"

Ella started giggling, cutting off Lena and Kara.

"What's so funny?" Kara asked.

"You're silly," Ella giggled.

"Thank you," Kara said proudly. For whatever reason this made Ella laugh even more.

Lena chuckled, shaking her head. "Ella, while you were changing Kara and I were having a little chat. We were thinking, since you liked your dress so much, we could go pick out some more clothes. What do you think about that?"

"…Yeah,"

"Yeah?" Lena grinned, "Sounds like a good plan?"

Ella nodded.

"Great, we can leave after breakfast,"

At this Ella started eating twice as fast.

"Whoa, hey, slow down there," Kara said, "It's not a race. Don't worry we'll have plenty time to shop,"

Ella stopped, mumbling through a mouthful of food, "Sorry,"

"It's okay. Just take your time," Lena said.

"Kiddo, you got some syrup on your cheeks," Kara pointing to relating spots on her own face.

Ella wiped her face with a napkin and somehow managed to completely miss the messiest parts of her face. Kara scooched her chair closer so she could clean her face for her.

Half an hour later their pancakes were done and the dishes had been cleared away. Ella was skipping towards the elevator doors.

"Can I press the button?" She asked.

"Sure,"

She pressed the call button with the kind of eagerness that could only come from a child. But when the doors opened she gasped and darted behind Lena.

"Ella?" Lena looked down, confused.

"What's wrong kiddo?" Kara asked, looking between the empty elevator and the young girl.

She whimpered and pointed, "High,"

Lena gasped with realization. The elevator was a glass elevator, giving a view of the surrounds and the ground, far below them, "Ella, are you scared of the height?"

She nodded, pressing herself into Lena's back. Kara knelt next to her, gently taking her hand.

"There's nothing to be scared of," Kara said gently.

"You know, a lot of people think they're scared of heights. But really they're afraid of falling, but I promise there's no way you're going to fall."

"When we go on the elevator, you don't have to look at the ground," Kara suggested.

"What do I look at?"

"You could look at the sky. Is you're lucky you might see Supergirl," Kara said.

"And we'll be holding your hands the whole time,"

"O-okay," She gave a small nodded. Letting go of her grip on Lena she took her hand instead. Kara kept her grip on the other hand as they stepped on. Ella closed her eyes, but around half way down she peeked one open.

"See, not so bad," Kara said.

She shook her head, but didn't say anything more.

"You okay?" Lena asked when they were on the ground floor.

She nodded.

"All ready to go?"

"Yeah," She jumped off the elevator, pulling Lena and Kara with her.

I wonder if it would be a spoiler to say this story may not end the way you're expecting it too? But what do I know? I have no idea how you expect the story to end. And that statement I made last chapter, about this being a three chapter story, yeah you can completely disregard this. This isn't going to wrap in in the next chapter. I want to say four, for certain, but then again, it could stretch into five. So, for now, let's just say it's definitely longers than 3 chapters.

Nardragon~ until the next page.