Her heart was beating steadily in her chest as she carefully moved the small piece of Kryptonite underneath the microscope. Over the past few days, she had been setting up her experiments based largely on the research already done by the DEO, and surprisingly by Maxwell Lord (she may have taken a peek into his servers as well, just to confirm her information). And had started to set up for the basic tests she wanted to run, yes she already had the answers, but she wanted to get them herself, if you want something done right and all.
She had been in her warehouse since dawn, going over her findings and comparing them with what the DEO had, and made a mental note to return home and go over Lex's own notes on the radioactive rock.
It was nearing twelve o'clock when she finally moved away from her computer and stretched, she was going to be late if she didn't leave now. She had a notepad to her right and had made a few observations and jotted down a few questions she wanted to answer, and to her left, there was a large tray of the radioactive rock. She had taken it out to look at it closer, and may have been enjoying the color— yes she was aware it was radiation but she knew that she'd be dead long before any of the radiation damaged her cells enough to kill or change her, so she felt safe looking at it from a distance for a few hours.
There was an almost empty bottle of water next to her notepad; she'd been having sharp headaches lately and had taken to drinking more water than normal to try to combat it; it hadn't worked, neither had the aspirin she'd been taking. She was almost ready to go to the doctor and then remembered that Dr. Alan was dead so she'd have to find another one.
She had planned to meet Kara in half an hour at Noonan's near CatCo, so she'd need to leave soon if she wanted to get there on time.
It was as she was rising that a bout of nausea hit her and her hand turned white on the edge of the table for a moment until it vanished, and she idly considered the thought she could be pregnant, but she hadn't had sex in at least six months, and the last person she'd been with was a woman, so no baby for her. Breathing heavily she straightened and took a step forward when her headache roared with a vengeance and she brought her hands to her head at the pain.
"Argh," she groaned and stumbled against the table. To its credit it held fast under her weight, barely sliding at all.
Shaking her head she felt her heart rate increase as she realized her vision was slowly turning grey and she jerked her head around for her cell phone, before remembering it was over by her bike because she had purposely had this place built so that there wasn't any reception unless you connected to the private Wi-fi which would act as a signal tower.
She fell to the ground with a cry tearing its way from her lips, her chest was aching and contracting as though she had run a great marathon and she swore her ribs were trying to crush her. Tears were streaming down her face and she was thankful for her waterproof mascara, appearances were everything.
Panting she tried to rise to her feet, only to have them collapse underneath her, the chair rolling out of her reach. Her skull was pounding, increasing in tempo with her heart rate until it blurred into a solid sound and she screamed again, forcing herself upright, hands grabbing for something, anything.
One of her arms was half over the table, holding the rest of her weight up as her vision went black and she fumbled around. Her grasping fingers caught the tray of Kryptonite and she fell back with a scream, giving in to the pain as though someone was trying to crush her skull in their hands. The Kryptonite tipped on her and it was heavy on her body, weighing her down even though it wasn't physically heavy, and the small sharp edges were digging into her skin, she wondered if it was drawing blood.
She had never been in so much pain in her entire life, not even when she had fallen from a tree and broken her leg, it was like that pain only in every bone in her body, and all at once, and she couldn't take it anymore. There was a roaring in her head getting louder of the steady drum of her heartbeat and she reached for it, anything to end the pain. Her vision turned to white, blinding white like the sun and then there was nothing.
~*~
10:43; Hey, Lena! What time are we meeting for lunch? 😃
10:47; Twelve thirty good for you? 👍🏼
10:47; Yup, sounds good. Noonan's?
11:02; Sure! I'll have to see if it's as good as you say 😉
11:03; It is! I promise 😈 👌🏼
11:03; I'll see you soon. It'll be good to see you! 😎
11:04; See you soon x
12:17; I'm heading down now. 😃 I'll grab us a table. Want me to order you anything?
12:37; Hey. Are you running late?
12:42; Where are you? 😛
12:49; If you are we can re-schedule
12:50; running late that is 😀
1:05; Missed Call: Kara Danvers
1:06; Lena? Please text me back. I'm getting worried.
1:11; I'm serious Lena, where are you? Call me as soon as you get this okay. I'm really worried.
1:27; I called L-Corp, they said you weren't in today? Please tell me you're okay.
2:16; Lena, if I did something that's okay, just let me know you're okay. Please?
2:10; Missed Call: Kara Danvers
3:21; I'm coming to your apartment with Alex
3:58; Missed Call: Unknown: Voicemail left at 3:58- seventeen seconds long
4:03; Unknown number: Where the hell are you, Lena? I'm getting really worried now! Please, please call me back.
"She's not answering, Alex," Kara said worriedly and almost crushed her sister's phone like she had her own.
"Maybe she just got caught up in her work, you know how the scientist types can get," Alex offered reassuringly, trying to calm her frantic sister. She hadn't seen Kara this upset or concerned about anyone in a very long time and considered that maybe Maggie had been right about Kara, but tossed that thought aside, Kara needed her first.
"Not Lena," Kara shook her head. "I was texting her this morning, she remembered our lunch date. She was coming! I knew we should have kept the protective detail on her!"
"Okay, okay," Alex said and looked around the CEO's empty apartment. At any other stage, she would have enjoyed the luxury and maybe taken a peek at her secret lair- if she could get in-but with the apartment manager watching her, and with her sister almost wearing a hole in the floor, she was more concerned with locating the missing Luthor.
"Look, we'll go into work," she said carefully. "And see if we can get Winn, or maybe even J'onn to try and find her."
Kara's head immediately snapped up and the fear in her blue eyes softened for a moment. "Good idea. Thanks, Denis!" She shouted to the manager, grabbing Alex's arm and dragging her from the room and towards the stairs. Alex was certain she would bruise come morning, if not later on this evening, by the tight grip the Kryptonian had on her, but she grit her teeth through the discomfort and let Kara virtually carry her down the stairs. She definitely went faster than a normal human should have been able to and almost sprinted from the lobby, dragging Alex along behind her. She tugged her sister behind the first dumpster she could see and was soon shooting into the sky in her red and blue uniform, clutching the agent under her arm.
"Karaaaaahhhhh," Alex screamed at the sudden movement and turned green and Kara quickly slowed down.
"Sorry!" She turned her sister in her hold and held her tightly as she soared through the air towards the DEO, ignoring how her sister howled revenge into the wind, words snatched from her lips and thrown away.
"Winn!" Supergirl was a blur of red and blue as she skidded to a halt next to the computer whiz.
"Kara?" He spluttered out in surprise and she gripped his chair and spun it towards his computer.
"Lena's missing. I need you to track her!"
Alex was still at the entrance and was doubled over, breathing great breaths and clutching the wall for support.
"What?" Winn was confused and rightly so, Kara had come in like a whirlwind and demanded he track Lena Luthor.
"Supergirl," J'onn's calm and commanding voice came from one of the corridors. "Slow down and explain."
"LenawassupposedtomeetmeforlucnhbutshedidntshowandnowimworriedbecasueIcan'tgetaholdofherandIneedWinntohackhercellphoneandfindherlocation," she said all at once and looked beseechingly at J'onn and then turned her puppy eyes on Winn.
"What?" Winn blinked.
"Lena was meant to meet Kara for lunch and didn't show. We can't get a hold of her and her apartment is empty. Her secretary says she wasn't coming into L-Corp today. Kara's worried," Alex finished as she got closer. She still looked a little green, but the color was slowly returning to her face.
J'onn folded his arms and looked directly at Kara, brow furrowed and eyes serious.
"Have you tried to call her?"
"No!" Kara threw her hands in the air like an angst-ridden teenager, she channeled it quite well. "Of course not!"
J'onn wasn't impressed and conveyed that through his gaze.
"Of course I did! She didn't answer!"
She spun back to Winn. "Please see if you can track her."
Winn shrugged and started to type away, ignoring how Kara was leaving finger dents in his chair as she leaned over him awkwardly.
"Are you sure Miss Luthor didn't just not notice the time?" J'onn asked carefully and didn't recoil under the glare Kara shot him, though lesser beings may have withered under its power.
"She isn't like that, J'onn." She said quietly. "Something's wrong, I know it. Please?"
The director of the DEO took a deep breath and released it slowly, nodding once. "Okay. We need twenty-four hours to file a missing person's report, but Winn can see if he can track down her cell phone. Maybe you and I can fly over the city, see if we can pick up anythi— oomph." He was cut off as Kara launched herself at him and squeezed him tightly.
"Thank you!" She said and then pulled away just as quickly to look at Winn. "Let us know if you find anything, okay?"
Winn nodded, eyes already narrowed on one of the National City cell phone providers websites, code screaming along the computer as he hacked it, searching for Lena's name, or that of her companies.
The afternoon was lovely, the sun warm and with a cool breeze and it was a wonderful day to be out flying if only she could stop worrying about Lena. She and J'onn soared over the city, passing the rivers and lakes and parks and the concrete jungle beneath them when Winn beeped in.
"Okay, Supergirl? I've got a ping off her cell-phone." Winn relayed through the comms and Kara broke the sound barrier as she spun and raced towards the spot. "I've also got a motorcycle incident with EMT's on the way."
J'onn was left in the dust as she raced towards the coordinates and quickly took in the scene as she flew to land. There was a transportation truck parked next to a line of cars with its hazard lights on and with a blue car buried headfirst in the line of parked vehicles on the other side. Its front was crushed and the windscreen was buckled and cracked, but on its side, there was a fallen motorcycle. A group of people were on the sidewalk surrounding a person in motorcycle leathers and as she landed she heard their gasps of awe and wonder. Some people were directing traffic, blocking one side of the road and allowing some through, and then letting the other side past.
"Is she still here?" Kara asked as she strode towards the group of people, her stomach tying itself in knots. She didn't like this. J'onn landed next to her and there were murmurs of surprise and unease as he walked after her-they didn't know of another potential Kyrptonian, but he was with Supergirl, so he was good.
"Yeah," Winn's voice came down the line. "She's right in front of you."
Kara bounded over the crashed car and let herself float to the ground as people moved out of her way.
Lena Luthor was resting against the corner of a shattered shop window, her legs stretched out before her and with a scattering of glass around her. Her left arm was held at an awkward angle- even the humans could see there was something pressing against the leather where there shouldn't be- and she was paler than usual, eyes closed as she matched her breathing to the man who was crouched next to her. He looked like he had been visiting the very store it looked like Lena had been thrown into, and had removed his jacket and had covered the young Luthor with it. Her motorcycle helmet was cracked and lying on the ground next to her as her hair fell across her shoulders and there was a dribble of blood following the curve of her jaw down into her collar.
"What happened?" Kara snapped out, fighting the urge to rush to Lena's side. J'onn was gazing over the humans calmly, and she had a feeling he was listening with his telepathy. Not going into other peoples minds, of course, but just keeping an eye out for any thoughts that were shouted his way.
"Supergirl," said the man holding Lena's hand and pale lids flickered before opening and Lena's bright green eyes were on her.
"Supergirl," she nodded a greeting and then closed her eyes again. Kara could almost feel her heartbeat stampeding in her chest, even as Lena's chest rose and fell sharply, she could hear the creak of her ribs with each movement.
"The truck pulled out and that car swerved to miss it right in front of Lena here," the man squeezed her hand and responded, jaw moving in pain.
"She didn't have time to react and they collided. She ended up here," he pointed to the shattered shop window, where evidently Lena had hit it, or at least the corner of it, maybe colliding with the frame as well, to keep her from going through the entire thing.
"Emergency services have been called," J'onn said calmly, in his measured and reassuring way. "We are not—you—are not needed here," he added in a quiet voice, so quiet that only Kara would have been able to pick up on it.
She cast him a withering glance as she turned her vision on the young Luthor. She was right, there were several fractured ribs and a definitely broken arm. She could pick up the closest medical team through their dispatch and glanced at J'onn and back to Lena. She looked small and vulnerable here, bleeding and wounded and her skin was pale. She could be required elsewhere and it didn't seem like Lena would suffer any more while waiting for the paramedics, but she was her friend, and she did want to help.
"Take her to the hospital, Supergirl," J'onn sighed, sensing or maybe reading her indecision and Kara nodded, striding forward to crouch down next to Lena. J'onn was standing next to a woman who must have been the driver of the car. Kara scanned her and saw that she was alright, with no major injuries, apart from some cuts where she hit the windscreen—which the paramedics would sort— and then turned back to Lena.
"Miss Luthor." Around her, there were a few gasps of surprise and companions muttering to their neighbors. "I'm going to pick you up now, and fly you to National City General."
"No, you're not," Lena rasped out, voice strained, accent thick, and Kara blinked in surprise. "You have a city to protect. Don't waste your time on me."
"You are a part of this city," Kara pointed out and fought the urge to straighten and place her hands on her hips and settled for glaring down at Lena. Lena's lips were pressed together and her features were tight with pain, eyes held closed. "I will be taking you to hospital. You're wounded."
"I'm not going to swoon," a green eye cracked open and Kara barked a laugh at the young CEO's audacity.
"I wouldn't expect anything less," she told her and slid her arms slowly around Lena. Lena's breath hitched and caught as she was lifted into Kara's arms.
"Sorry," Kara winced. "You have a few fractured ribs as well as the arm."
"Wonderful," Lena murmured dryly, taking short sharp breaths. "I needed a vacation."
"I'll make sure the doctor's sign your medical certificate and give you the year off," Supergirl promised as she straightened, feeling oddly powerful with the woman in her arms. The watching people stepped back, and some had their cameras trained on the two.
"Even if you have to promise to visit their kids' schools?"
Kara chuckled. "Even if I have to take them flying."
A green eye flickered open again. "You are not to toss anyone off their balconies."
"That was an accident!" Kara defended and J'onn cleared his throat pointedly.
"Wait," she said suspiciously. "How do you know that?"
"Supergirl!"
"Right, right. Okay." She cast a glance at J'onn and then looked back down at Lena. "We're going to take off now."
"Argh," Lena grunted. "Wait, my bike!"
"I'll take care of that, Miss Luthor," J'onn promised and then he frowned, head tilting to the side.
"Mh'kay," her eyelids fluttered closed. Personally, Kara thought the bike was a wreck, but she wasn't about to tell the stubborn CEO that.
Kara rose into the air as quickly as she dared, trying to make the trip as easy as possible.
Within minutes she was gently landing in front of the hospital. Winn had already radioed ahead and told them she was coming in and they had a stretcher waiting for Lena. There were a few members of the press already there, already clicking away and Kara tried to turn away from them to protect Lena.
"I'm not getting on that with these vultures outside," Lena's voice was sharp and brittle and Kara cast the reporters a glace before nodding and carried the young Luthor into the hospital. The hospital staff followed with the stretcher and the doors closed behind them, the media inching forward and into the lobby after them. No doubt the headlines would be of Kara carrying Lena bridal style, and the image would make her heart warm, though she wasn't sure why.
"I am perfectly capable of walking," Lena grumbled and Kara had to smile. She was kind of cute.
Kara lifted her head and looked around. "I want security here," she said after placing Lena gently on the stretcher. As gentle as she was still able to hear Lena's muffled grunt of pain and winced apologetically as she pulled back. "The media have no business being in a hospital," she said and placed her hands on her hip in her classic hero stance. Security was summoned very quickly to escort the press from the lobby and from the way they met her eyes as they passed her, she knew they'd stay at their posts.
Nurses were already talking to Lena and Kara was quick to point out her injuries, or at least the ones she could see, and they wheeled her away, dismissing the Super.
Lena's parting words were sarcastic and Kara couldn't help but sigh and shake her head. "My hero."
Yeah, because in what world would a Super, would she be Lena Luthor's hero?