Lena has barely slept. Usually, she can sleep perfectly when Kara is around because she trusts her instincts and her reactivity enough that she can allow herself the time to just rest and put her safety in someone else's hands for a little while, even if they don't know that they are taking that responsibility.
Something about Kara's aunt and the way Kara was so quick to get lost in the joy of seeing her again puts her on edge. They don't have the time to waste on misplaced sentimentality. She knows that sounds harsh, but it is true.
She would absolutely love for Astra's words to be honest and true, for her to be well-meaning and just want to take care of her niece, but something seems fishy to her, and she can't place her finger on it. Maybe it's just her wary side shining through, but she is praying for Kara's sake that Astra pulls through.
Lena's mind also keeps wandering back to the others and what they are going to do about them. They can't tell Astra about them yet, but they are stupidly loyal to a fault, so they are likely to come wandering back this way to come and rescue them, so they need a game plan.
Lena peers down at Kara out of jealousy at how soundly she is sleeping. She honestly looks more rested than she has in a while and that's after she has been sneaking in naps wherever she can. She understands though, Kara has a difficult relationship with her family and Lena herself understands better than anyone that when it comes to family, you are entitled to as many irrational feelings as you can fit into your noggin.
Kara seems to sense that Lena's thinking about her and shifts even closer to her from where she was already lying next to her, her arm slung across her waist until she has her forehead pressed to the side of Lena's arm, breathing in deeply when her nose brushes Lena's warm flesh.
Lena makes a decision right there and then, with Kara snuggled into her and a cloud of uncertainty hovering over her head. She's going to do as much snooping as she can possibly get away with to be sure of Astra's motivations, she just hopes for Kara's sake that they are good.
She's still watching over Kara a little bit later when the golden sleeper finally stirs. She looks up at Lena, worry swirling in her sapphire orbs. "You look tired. Have you slept?"
"Not really." Lena doesn't have the energy to lie. "I'm still on edge, I don't trust these people, I know that she's your aunt, but we don't truly know them."
To her credit, Kara doesn't try to defend Astra out of some kind of familial loyalty. "I get that, I want to see the good in her and try to prepare myself for the worst. I know that my aunt has done a lot of bad things, some heinous, but I can't help but see her as the woman that used t read me bedtime stories."
"I know, darling. That's why I'm staying vigilant." Lena swipes her fingernails up and down in a soothing motion on Kara's upper arm, tickling her slightly and keeping her relaxed.
Kara hums, processing everything the best she can. "Do you want to try and sleep for a while? I'll stay awake and if anyone comes near here, I will wake you up."
Lena jumps at the offer, her eyelids already halfway shut. She isn't going to be able to investigate as much as she wants to when she is half asleep so a couple of hours will do her wonders. Now that Kara is awake and being honest with her, Lena feels more comfortable sleeping. She knows she can trust Kara to put her safety first, she doesn't even know why she doubted it.
Her head barely hits the pillow before she is fast asleep, sunken into a dreamless sleep.
Kara keeps her word, she spends the next two hours watching Lena sleep and keeping an ear out for any signs of movement. She takes the quiet time to think and assess. She knows that Lena is right, but as always, she is too emotionally invested to see the situation for what it is, she needs to let Lena take the lead on decision-making and just use her skills to get them by until they can discuss their options.
She loved the time she got last night with Astra, but it was all too convenient. Astra gave in far too easily to her, pulling out all the stops to try and impress her with the fancy meals and the words that hit her right where she needed them to. It's all too good to be true.
Still, there is that niggling feeling in the back of her mind. The what if that won't go. What if this is real? What if Astra really is good? What if she can stop Astra from doing some of the awful things she is destined to do?
No. She needs to stop that train of thought five minutes ago. She can't change the timeline, she can't prevent Astra from doing the things she needs to do here or from getting captured by her mother. She needs to be sent to Fort Rozz and die at the hands of her sister. Everything happens for a reason.
What she really needs to do is go her own way, get Astra to let them leave and continue on with their mission and not get sucked up into Astra's life, she needs to let her go, and along with it, her hopes of having a relationship with her aunt. Her time with Astra long since ran out and she is now on borrowed time and when you borrow things, you always end up owing someone something.
She shimmies down the bed, so she is face to face with Lena's sleeping form. She puts her head on the pillow beside Lena's, their foreheads so close that they are almost touching, and Kara can feel Lena's steady breaths mingling with her own.
Everything will be alright, Kara is going to make sure that it will be. She brought her family on this mission and promised that she will do whatever it takes to keep them safe, no matter what the cost. Astra is her cost, she just doesn't know whether or not the toll machine is broken or not yet. She might be able to slide right on by with her pockets still full of change.
After a while of gazing at her, Kara gets up, set to start reorganizing their packs since they got messed up from being searched. She notes immediately that they took the sword back, she's not surprised though, she did technically steal it from them.
Their clothes are all crumpled and messed up and everything had been taken out of the pockets and then haphazardly tossed back into the main compartment but there's nothing she can do about it now except start going through it all making sure that everything is still there and then repacking everything how it was originally.
She notes as she goes through her own pack that her spy beacon has been put back in, the only item to have been put into a pocket instead of the main compartment with the rest. She holds it in the palm of her hand, turning it over a couple of times as she wonders how such a little thing got her in such a big mess.
It is still not clear how she left the wrong spy beacon, she is sure that she checked it before she left but she doesn't know for sure because she hadn't taken it out again after they left the accommodation, so she doesn't really know, she just has to take Astra's word for it. She doesn't know how else they could have been tracked though so it must be the truth.
It doesn't take her as long as she thought it would to repack everything. As far as she can tell, everything is still there, including Lena's books, the corners a little bit water damaged. It mustn't have closed properly in their rush to run away so the rain got into her pack.
Kara sets herself up next to Lena, moving slowly so she doesn't jostle the bed as she climbs back in. She grabbed the book that Lena hadn't started yet so she doesn't accidentally lose Lena's bookmarked page. Lena has outstanding book etiquette that Kara is too scared to argue with.
The book is very helpful in taking her mind off of everything. She didn't think Nia was the type for historical romance, but she has to admit that it is a good book, and she will be taking recommendations from her from now on. Well, after she gets through the laundry list of books that Lena says that she has to read because nobody should die without reading them.
She doesn't even notice Lena peeking up at her until Lena rolls onto her back and tucks an arm under her head. "Is it any good?"
"I wasn't expecting it to be, but yes."
Lena plucks it from her hands, careful not to lose her page. Her eyes flicker across the words of the blurb, reading it even though she had already done so when she got them off Nia in the first place. "This really isn't what I thought Nia would read."
Kara smiles widely, she gestured following suit. "That's what I thought! I was expecting something modern and hip but nope, she really is just an enigma."
"That much has been obvious since day one. She is something special."
They fall into a comfortable silence, Lena grabbing her own book, tutting at the water damage and opening it up to her bookmarked page.
Kara likes the way it feels, sitting here with Lena, each reading their own book, but it still feels like something they are doing together. For a while, she can pretend that there is something more between them. For a while, she lets herself imagine what could be. Maybe one day.
Lena is completely oblivious to the thoughts running through Kara's head, just taking the time to try and relax before they have to go and put on their brave faces. The nap did wonders for her, even if it was only a couple of hours long, maximum.
As a CEO, she is used to running on minimal sleep and at this point it is pretty much hardwired into her that she only needs a few hours instead of the regular eight.
Kara, on the other hand, loves sleep. She likes to get in as much as she can, wherever she can. She was dismayed when she first became Supergirl and realised that she had accidentally signed up to be on call all times of the day and night. Unable to rest properly most nights so she takes an hour here and there wherever she can.
It's a regular occurrence for one of the others to walk into the tower to find her, donning her full Supergirl regalia, fast asleep in an armchair of across a couch. A few times, tossing herself onto the bed in the med bay since the pillow in there is a fancy high-quality one that Lena had bought after the other one bit the dust and Alex asked her to grab one on her way over.
Their peaceful sanctuary doesn't stay peaceful for long, a guard of some kind knocking and waiting for them to answer the door. Kara slides it open just enough to see his face and to see what he wants. She is informed that their presence has been requested for breakfast and to please be ready within a few minutes for the food to be served. It sounds like Astra is going all out again.
"Breakfast is almost ready, we have to go fight a few battles," Kara informs Lena when she turns to see her brow raised in question.
Lena nods resigned to the fact that whilst they are here, they have to live by Astra's rules. She thanks Kara when she grabs her clothes and sees that Kara has repacked everything. "You do have your good qualities, don't you?"
Kara pretends to be shocked, a hand pressed to her chest and her jaw dropped. "You wound me, Lena Luthor."
Lena laughs at her and takes her turn in the bathroom, having the world's quickest shower and making herself as presentable as she can. She doesn't say anything when Kara invites herself in a couple of minutes after the water is shut off so she can get started on her own shower as Lena is by the sink brushing her teeth.
If she lets her eyes wander once or twice, well, who could blame her? It is hard to focus on flossing when you have a naked Kryptonian in the same room as you and when she is facing away so Lena can get a perfect view of her derriere.
Some things they don't talk about, and this is one of them. They take peeks and say things that toe the line between platonic and romantic, but never once have they allowed themselves to step foot over the line. Kara is beginning to think that they never will.
It only takes fifteen minutes for them to be heading back to the dining room to greet Astra. She is already sitting up, waiting for them with her hands clasped together on the table in front of her.
Her lips split into a smile when they walk in, standing to greet them. "Good morning, I hope you two slept well."
"Not too bad, thank you, Aunt Astra." Kara kisses her cheek in greeting and Lena smiles at her, an act that is reciprocated. For a moment, Lena actually wonders if Astra is a good person. Can someone be so openly loving and have a dark soul? Yes, but she hopes that's not the case here.
The food is brought out to them again and every little bit tastes as marvellous as it smells. It's familiar and different to Lena's tastes all at the same time. She isn't sure how to describe it other than delicious.
"You don't have to have them make such complicated meals as these, we are happy with anything." Kara gives Astra a pointed look, trying to make it playful so she doesn't offend her.
"Can't a woman spoil her niece a little bit? I like to see you happy, and we all know that the way to your heart is through your stomach."
Kara acquiesces with a tiny head tilt. "Ok, but it is under sufferance." Her words lack any sense of actual reluctance and they all know it.
"Lena, please tell my niece to accept nice things. She is very deserving, and she seems to listen to you, so I know you are a smart woman yourself."
Lena does actually like this side of Astra, intentions be damned. She likes that she gives Kara the love and appreciation she has lacked from her Kryptonian family and even some of her Earth family too at times.
Lena locks her eyes on Kara's. "There's no harm in letting her spoil you while we are here. You do always complain about how much you miss Kryptonian dishes so you may as well enjoy it while it lasts."
Astra listens intently. She doesn't want to push for information because she wants to respect Kara's boundary that she set last night about not telling her everything, but she can't help but make note of every hint.
She now knows that wherever Kara usually is, it isn't Krypton and is most likely Earth because she doesn't often enjoy Kryptonian meals and Lena is from Earth. Their relationship does confuse her too, she has yet to determine the basis of their bond.
"Alright, I'll eat all of the very delicious food. You've twisted my arm." Kara says, another forkful of food cleared from her dwindling plate of food. The entire time she was complaining, she was still rapidly eating the food, savouring each bite.
Astra smiles, happy to be getting her own way. "I'm glad we have come to an agreement then, little one."
The nickname both feels like she is being stabbed in the gut with the same kryptonite blade that killed Astra and it warms her heart greatly, taking her back to her days of being a carefree kid.
They eat in mostly silence, with a little bit of small talk here and there but it is comfortable. Everyone at the table is aware of the underlying tension though, aware that the other women want answers from them that they can't give.
After breakfast, Astra invites them to the office and sits them down by the desk, the hidden door to the tower firmly closed, just as they had left it, but that doesn't mean that they haven't been up there in the meantime.
"I believe that we are all aware that there is much to discuss, many questions to be asked and some to be answered. I think it would be best for everyone for us to have this chat now, away from prying ears. It will allow us privacy and prevent assumptions that could harm us all."
Lena likes this woman more and more as she speaks. She does like a woman that doesn't beat around the bush. Not as much as a certain woman that is the opposite of that but still, she likes it.
"I agree with you and have a few topics that I would like to discuss but I fear that I may present to you as insensitive." Lena takes over, seeing the nerves in the tensing of Kara's shoulders. She's happy to take over for her so she can direct the conversation.
"Do not worry about such things, Lena of house Luthor. I wish to speak freely and have an open conversation, this is not to be an interrogation from either side."
"Agreed."
Ground rules set, it's time for them to get some answers.