last chapter was fun

this chapter is a bit of a doozy

now, read, ponder, and enjoy!

It was an accident. Truly. It started out as a simple quest for coffee, then maybe a simple quest of the walk-of-not-so-shame to show up to work on time before her boss flayed her for being late.

Kara Danvers wasn't a snoop. She just had very good hearing and sometimes excellent eyesight despite the glasses. And she really just wanted a coffee and perhaps even an apple, because last night had been a whirlwind of dreams coming true and transcending orgasms that she didn't even think was possible.

When she first heard about Lena Luthor and then saw photos on the internet, Kara had marked her off as an incredibly intelligent and unattainable woman.

When she first met Lena Luthor, she was beyond impressed and attracted to the woman, but she still didn't consider the possibility of kissing the woman, much less taking her to bed.

And yet last night happened, and the blonde decided that she should just throw all presumptions out the window. Clearly, she knew nothing about how the universe worked, and she should stop trying to be a prophet. Leave it to actual prophets; she would just stick to the law.

So she crawled out of bed, stretching out delicious kinks in her joints, and walked out to brew herself a cup of coffee. She happened to pass by a corner of the living room where Lena had apparently seen fit to stack up her documents, and she happened to catch the words lining the top of the uppermost document.

Blinking once, twice, she leaned down to read it clearer.

The State of National City vs. Rep. Michael Alexander Gand Matthews.

Oh shit.

Forget about coffee.

Kara rushed into the bedroom and pulled on her clothing, having to readorn her shirt because she'd put it on backwards the first time around. She spared a few seconds gazing at Lena, who was still deeply asleep, mouth slightly open.

And god, she was beautiful. And Kara would have stayed a little longer. Kiss Lena a little longer. But she couldn't. Not now.

Kara (7:12 a.m.): sry 2 cut n run – can i call u ltr?

"You knew."

James looked up from the paperwork on his desk, reasonably confused from her barging in without even so much as a greeting. His frown deepened when he noticed that she was wearing yesterday's clothes, ponytail nearly falling apart in her rush to get here.

He tilted his head. "Laundry day?" he asked.

She looked down at herself and huffed, dismissing it with a simple wave of her hand before plonking her ass down on a chair in front of him. "Why is the DA's office filing a lawsuit against Mike?" His eyes widened, which, to Kara, was a clear sign of guilt after years of knowing him. "What did he do?"

After staring at her for a little too long, he stood up abruptly and went to close the door that she had left open. When he drew the blinds, she started to realize that this was more severe than she thought. Then again, she shouldn't even have thought otherwise, given the fact that Lena was handling the case.

This must be the big break that everyone had been talking about, once the entire circuit had learned of Lena's break from showing up in the courtroom for the time being. This must be the reason Lucy had become so worried for her own career as the DA.

Her personal conscience as a fellow attorney had stopped Kara from reading the document any further. Or even just picking up her phone to dial the man's number to ask him herself. Granted, it had been almost half a decade since she'd spoken to Mike, but she still considered him a friend, despite everything that had happened.

"How did you know?" James asked, expression grave and fingers steepled together on his desk.

"It doesn't matter how I know," she dismissed again, certainly not about to tell James that she had pretty much slept with the enemy last night, even though she didn't really subscribe to that ridiculous, unspoken rule.

He raised his brows. "Yes, it does," he enunciated carefully in an attempt to hammer in the severity of the situation. "This is supposed to be confidential until he's actually been served, Kara."

"He's not served yet?"

"If he has, you would have read about it in the papers, like everyone else is supposed to."

"But not you."

He intertwined his fingers and clenched them into one big angry fist. "Kara," he pronounced in warning.

"You should have told me," she complained, resting her elbow on the arm of her chair and rubbing her forehead.

His brows rose higher. "You, of all people, should know why I couldn't. You almost married the man!" he exclaimed incredulously and with a hint of disdain at the thought – yeah, no one in her life had been particularly pleased when she accepted his proposal.

"I'm allowed my bad decisions."

"And good riddance to him."

"Mike isn't –"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's not that bad. I've heard all about it."

Mike Matthews was…a moment of weakness in hindsight. Not that Kara would ever let her peers know that she had come to that conclusion, lest she wanted to open herself up to more onslaught of I-told-you-so's.

But in her defense, he had been charming and handsome with a really nice smile when they first met – she was a sophomore, and he was already in the running for the representative who had a good chance of toppling the incumbent Republican in Missouri.

In fact, Cat was the one who introduced them to each other, which her mentor had refused to acknowledge once she learned that her student was dating him.

And yes, she really did think she could spend the rest of her life with him, because despite all his misgivings which she had willingly ignored at her own expense, he loved her. Or so she thought. Or so was his version of loving her anyway.

"Look, I'm not gonna ask how you know. And you're going to pretend you don't know until you know," James offered, pointing a finger in her direction.

"But what did he do?"

"Kara, just because you're one of my closest friends doesn't mean I can divulge that information. I'm still your boss," he said sternly, leaning back in his chair. "Now get out and do your job. We can talk more when it's all clear."

She huffed, but stood up anyway.

James was nothing if not stubborn, a fact that made him an exceptionally good lawyer in the first place. He would have been a trailblazing prosecutor if it wasn't for his kind heart. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't show him exactly how she felt about the secrecy by swinging open the door wildly and not bothering to close it behind her.

There were, of course, courtroom dates and the like. Tons of paperwork – post-judgement reports, jury options, case research, interviews – flooded her desk. And she had to show up at the court twice today because of two ongoing cases. She was optimistic about one, but not so about the other.

Still, despite all the work that James had specifically instructed her to complete, Kara couldn't help but be distracted by the document she had spied this morning and James' vague answers about, well, everything. She pretty much drained her phone's battery in between hovering over Mike's contact number and the text thread with Lena.

Seven hours had passed since she had essentially sneaked out of Lena's place, and still, no reply.

Not that she would blame the woman, honestly. She had walked out like it was supposed to be a one-night stand, after all, but if it wasn't for the sudden concern for her ex-fiancée, she would have stayed to find out whether Lena had intended for it to last just that one night, because Kara didn't.

She still wasn't exactly certain what she wanted, but she was positive that she didn't want just one night with Lena. It wasn't enough. She hadn't tasted all of Lena yet. She hadn't kissed each and every freckle that dotted Lena's flawlessly alabaster skin. She hadn't touched the nooks and crannies and learned all the pressure points that would make Lena cry like she had last night.

Kara had wanted and wanted Lena, and then she had Lena. And now she wanted more. She wanted so much more.

It was approaching 8pm, and the office opposite her building still had its light, indicating that Lena was still hard at work, because of course she was. And Kara was too strung up for alcohol right now, so she settled in her own office, watching the other office, feeling a little too much like a stalker.

But her text was still left unanswered. And Kara didn't want to go home tonight. Not if she had the choice. Hence, as she paid attention to Lena's office, she picked up her phone.

Alex picked up after a couple of rings, because the redhead had promised that she would pick up her sister's phone call if she was able to. "What's up?" Alex greeted.

"You really hated Mike, didn't you?" Kara asked without much introduction, unable to keep the lingering lawsuit out of her mind, though it certainly didn't overpower the memories of last night.

There was a pause on the other end before Alex scoffed. "He's quite possibly the worst Democrat I've ever met," she replied. "Not that Democrats are all that great, but he was terrible at being one."

"You're the one who pushed me to date him."

"And I regret that to this day. This is why I'm not allowed to make decisions. What brought this on?"

Kara clenched her jaw and saw the words flashing behind her retinas, almost like they were burned. She was an incredibly curious person, and she would have become a journalist if it wasn't for her complete obsession with the law, and she wanted to know what Mike did, for the love of god.

"I slept with Lena," she said in lieu of telling Alex what she found out accidentally.

Another pause. Another scoff. "Of course you did," Alex muttered, a combination of fondness and annoyance.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Kara, when you see something you want, you don't like to wait. And you always get what you want," her sister explained vaguely – the blonde could almost imagine her rubbing the bridge of her nose after another one of her antics. "I'm pretty sure telling you to not fuck an ADA only made you want to do it more."

"It's not – I didn't intend to!"

"It doesn't really matter now, does it?"

The public defender sighed and tilted her head, leaning so far back in her chair, legs propped up on the shelf behind her desk. "You wanna know something else?"

"What?"

"I wanna do it again."

Alex released a groan so loud and long that Kara had to distance the phone from her slightly to save herself from the unavoidable damage. And when the groan was done, she replaced the device back to her ear.

"There's just something about her," she defended weakly.

"You're a fucking mess."

"Hey, you kiss Eliza with that mouth?" she chastised.

"Do you want. Just don't come to me when you get in trouble," Alex grumbled.

"Why did you hate Mike by the way?"

"I really can't keep up with you changing the subject in this conversation that hasn't even lasted 15 minutes. You're a fucking mess, and I hate you so much," Alex complained, then she sighed. "Do you remember that time – I think you've been dating for more than a year – but I just broke up with Maggie, and I called you because I didn't want to be alone, do you remember that?"

Kara nodded to herself. "Yes?"

"And Mike…essentially didn't let you to come be with me."

Oh, right. That did happen. It had been one of the moments when Kara realized that Mike wasn't exactly who he had portrayed himself to be when they first met. He had started out charming, but gradually, he displayed a side of himself that was distasteful and alarming, but Kara had been in too deep to actually see it.

"Right," she breathed. "That."

"It was a lot of things, but that was – that was when I really started to wish that you would leave him," Alex confessed. "Maybe it was selfish of me, but you were – I could practically see you withdrawing yourself from me. Everyone, actually. I remember you almost failed your finals because he kept wanting you to be with him."

"He's a jerk, yeah, but I really – I don't think he's a bad guy, you know."

"I mean, sure, I don't think he'd go and kill someone, but you know, jerks can be jerks in other ways."

"Yeah, I suppose." Kara gulped and sighed. "I'm sorry, by the way, for not being there when you needed me."

"It's alright. I would have actually hated you if you had actually married him."

Kara chuckled. "No, you love me too much." Alex chuckled with her. And then the light opposite her building turned off, and she jumped to her feet. "Okay, I gotta go. I love you."

"Hey, we were having a moment! Where are you going?"

"Doing what I want."

"Oh, gross."

Thankfully, the public defenders' office wasn't as luxurious or tall as the DA's office, so Kara managed to make it to the streets before Lena. She made sure to check the streets to stand firm on that conclusion, and proceeded to wait at the streetlamp that she had begun to claim as hers.

Truthfully, she was expecting the usual banter and playful accusations before she dived right into the thing that had been haunting her brain since the morning. Well, one of the things anyway. Until she saw the look on Lena's face when she walked out – the way she looked around and settled on the blonde, but not with the usual curiosity.

Oh no, that look on her face resembled a little too much like Lillian Luthor's when Kara was late to her class that one time. Stony. Emotionless, save for the storm in those green eyes.

"Not a bad deal, huh?" Lena asked as soon as she was within earshot, voice dripping with sarcasm. Kara narrowed her eyes questioningly. "You get to sleep with me, and you got information that you shouldn't be privy to," the ADA added with a smirk.

Kara blinked. "What?"

"Let me guess: Mike Matthews put you up to it, though I do wonder if he asked you to have sex with me. Or was that just a bonus, Ms. Danvers?"

It was the reluctant formality that shot Kara back to real life, amidst the confusion the moment she saw that expression on Lena's face from far away. She pushed away from the streetlamps, only to stop when Lena took a step back to maintain distance between them.

Different parts of Kara were feeling different things. Anger at James for not being keeping his mouth shut when he had specifically instructed her to do the same thing. Confusion as to how Lena managed to reach that conclusion in the first place. A vague tug in her chest at the idea that Lena didn't trust her.

Then again, why would she? They barely knew each other, no matter how much Kara wanted to.

"See, I understand that there's some…attachment –" Lena hissed "– due to your previous dalliance. You did almost marry him." Kara blanched at the reminder. "But after what he did, I would have expected you to have a modicum of decency to at least doubt him, and yet, here you are, doing his bidding."

"Lena, let me explain –"

"It's Ms. Luthor to you," Lena snapped, the only moment where she allowed herself to voice the undeniable anger that must have been simmering all day long. She breathed deeply and cleared her throat. "It doesn't matter what you saw, but you can tell him that he can hire the most expensive lawyer in the city. Or the country, for all I care, and I will still destroy him, because I live to extinguish scum like him."

Kara's head was such a whirlwind that she could hardly settle on one reality at a time. She clenched her fist. "Lena, what the hell is going on?"

The ADA narrowed her eyes at the blatant ignorance Kara had displayed. "Last night was fun. I won't deny that. But don't come near me again."

Before Kara could further explain herself, Lena had pivoted on her heels and walked away. Far too fast for Kara to catch up.

Meanwhile, the blonde could only stand there, illuminated by a single streetlamp, painted as the lonely silhouette that she ended up being. She watched as the chance she didn't get to grasp strut away.

She could hardly sleep. She almost crawled out of bed and ran to Lena's building just to wait downstairs, but that would actually be stalking, considering the fact that she was – or had been – waiting for the woman at the bottom of the buildings almost every night since she joined the circuit two weeks ago.

So Kara lay in bed. Got out of bed. Got back in bed. Crawled out of bed. Watched some senseless show on Netflix that she wouldn't be able to explain had someone asked. Read a book that she'd been putting off for weeks and not absorbing a single paragraph.

Kara did manage to catch some shut eye, but two hours later, her alarm rang, and it was another day. And yet, she still couldn't understand what the hell last night had been. She found herself turning her anger to Lena herself, for accusing Kara of such unethical things when they were both essentially raised by Cat Grant herself.

She went through her morning routine. Coffee. Another coffee. Plain bread. Brushing her teeth. Slapping on some makeup to cover the obvious sleeplessness painting her expression. And then check her phone.

Then she dropped her phone.

Another one bites the dust: Lena Luthor helms lawsuit against Rep. Mike Matthews over 25 sexual assault allegations

It was a long headline. It was a Buzzfeed headline, and Kara would have looked into it further if not for the multiple texts that started blowing her phone up, all with similar questions did she know.

Did she know what? Did she know that he was apparently – allegedly – a serial sexual predator? Or did she know that he was being sued? Apparently, she didn't know her head from her feet. She didn't know anything, and she obviously didn't know Lena Luthor at all, in spite of the one magical night they spent together.

All Kara could do was stare at the headline, then gasped when her phone rang. She picked it up but didn't say a word as she waited.

"Kara, you have to help me."

The blonde closed her eyes and lowered her head, wondering at what point should she stop letting her ex-fiancé dictate her life.

Believe the victim, Alex had always told her. Believe the victim, Eliza had always said when Kara started learning about the negligence of women in the legal system. Believe the victim…until the evidence said otherwise, Cat had always taught her, being one of the pioneers in legal work protecting women's rights.

Believe the victim.

And there were 25 victims.

As the saying went, one was an accident. Twice was a coincidence. 25 was a devious fucking pattern that Kara still couldn't wrap her head around.

She went to work and immediately locked herself in her office, purposefully ignorant to all the strange looks sent her way. Her initial intention was to reduce the stack of documents that had gathered on her desk over the night, but she found herself trawling the internet, reading over news and think pieces on the latest Very Important Person purportedly committing multiple misconducts.

And the most shameful thing was that the first thing she thought wasn't about Mike living up to his Daxam roots, but that he had cheated on her, even before they were engaged. How sick was that.

"You knew," she deadpanned, eyes blankly staring at nothing, when James quietly entered her office.

He sighed deeply and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I wasn't in the position to tell you," he said tiredly, rubbing a hand over his face.

She dipped her chin. "Did you know?"

He stared at her in confusion for a moment before it finally came to him and he shook his head vigorously. "There's no – I mean, I had never liked him, but I didn't know that he is capable of such things. Hell, I didn't even know the DOJ was building a case against him until last week."

"Do you think it's true?"

"The evidence is…compelling. And the number alone…" he drifted off, as if unsure of anything else he could say.

Well, it wasn't as if he was wrong in that regard. If she had been a prosecutor, this would have been the case she wouldn't hesitate to take on. Cat wouldn't forgive her if she didn't. After all, Kara had been assistant to many similar cases when she was still under the woman's tutelage.

"I have a court date," she abruptly said, standing up to gather files in her arms.

James blinked in surprise and took a step back when she sidestepped him. "Kara."

"I have a court date," she insisted as she opened the door. "And I need – I need to scream. I need to disappear. I need to think. This is a lot, and for fuck's sake, I almost married the guy!" she exclaimed, loud enough for the rest of the office to hear her. "Just – give me some space."

"Okay," he agreed.

"Okay."

As she made her way to the courts with her assistant, Kara couldn't help the many instances that crawled through her mind. Flashes of her ill-fated relationship with Mike.

He hadn't been the best, but he had also always been one of the first to make a public statement standing up for women scorned. He had sat on committees and condemned others for doing the same thing that he was now accused of. He wasn't…predatory, as far as she had known him, and she liked to know that she knew him pretty well.

She clenched her jaw as she recalled the torment in Mike's voice when he called her this morning. And how she had hung up on him, because she hadn't a clue what to say.

If Lena Luthor was a snake, Samantha Arias was a shark. Utter beasts in the courtroom who managed careful words with their careful mouths to drive the point across with a dash of flavor in their favor. It was no wonder that they were always in the running for DA or even Attorney-General.

On any other, Kara would have welcomed the challenge and used her research to her own advantage. But today, she barely skated by with paragraphs rehearsed the night before, bolstered by weak arguments that weren't helped by a selfish bigoted client. And throughout the whole thing, Sam wasn't particularly kind to Kara, not even a greeting.

Diana Johnson didn't stand a chance. Kara didn't stand a chance. They were lucky that Johnson got away with a slap on the wrist in the form of a fine, and not an actual jail term. White people would be punished, but never severely.

"I was rooting for you," Sam said abruptly once they exited the courtroom, their assistants going their separate ways.

"What?" Kara asked, foggy mind and all.

"I know Lena is pretty hard on her rules, but you – I honestly thought you could help change that. I was rooting for you," Sam repeated, disappointment lacing her voice. "I genuinely thought you were different."

"Ms. Arias," Kara said helplessly, dipping her head. She didn't have time for this. "Look, I'm tired and I'm confused. I honestly didn't know that this was the case you were building against him. I saw what I saw because it was an accident. You don't have to believe me, but it's the truth. And speaking of which, I would think you or Lena would think better of me if you did expect more from me. But I guess this is just a day for disappointment, isn't it?"

Sam stared at her sternly for a long moment, and Kara just wanted to go back to her office and wallow. "She'll be at the bar tonight," the brunette finally offered.

Kara looked up with surprise, but Sam only nodded and walked away. The ball was back in Kara's court.

before you all throw me into the firepit, i wanna reassure you that:

1. i have a plan

2. mike is a scum and kara will see that soon enough

3. i know what i'm doing

4. I HAVE A PLAN