The way one single word can make a vampire’s already cold blood turn to ice is horrifying, terrifying, and everything in between.

Lena and Sam’s eyes lock onto each other as the noise stops, freeing them from the prison of pain they’ve found themselves unexpectantly trapped in. For the most part, Kara is just trying to catch her breath, stunned by what just happened and barely holding herself together as the fear catches up with her, her brain processing that she was just in a considerable amount of pain, and now she’s not.

“What the fuck?” Sam had just about curled over out of the chair she was sitting in when it happened, and now, she leans back, making a conscious effort to rid herself of the tension that wound up around every muscle in her body.

Seeing Sam compose herself and ease the strain out of her stiff shoulders, neck and spine, Lena follows suit. With the tightness there, she almost wonders if she got rigor mortis a few centuries too late.

“We need to move somewhere else, somewhere safer.” Lena pants out, barely catching her breath.

“Like where?”

“I’m not going to say, clearly, we’re being listened to,” Lena says, not bothering to lower her voice. It won’t do any of them any good.

Kara is still on her knees, her eyes firmly fixed on the carpet, her mind reeling. Her panic, anxiety and fear are scuttling around under her skin like a thousand tiny bugs burrowed away inside her. It makes her itch but she can’t seem to make herself move; she doesn’t have the energy after that.

Alex rushes to her side. She and Ruby were giving the three of them some space by sitting in the kitchen while the vampires and hybrid have their discussion, but upon hearing the pained gasps and grunts, they gave up on their stations in favour of making a beeline for their loved ones.

Dropping down before her sister, Alex’s hands brace along Kara’s jaw, cradling her head in her soft, worried embrace. “Kara? Kara, are you ok?”

Kara nods weakly against her palms, very obviously not ok.

“We can’t go anywhere yet, it’s too light out. What do we do?” Sam asks, her eyes darting between Lena and Ruby. “If it’s not safe here, I don’t want Ruby here. Maybe you can get Frank or Jess to come and get her so we can send her somewhere she’ll be better protected.”

“Sam, nothing is going to happen to her. We all know that a hundred vampires could break in here right now and nothing could come remotely close to hurting her because we would rip them to shreds if we had to. Besides, for us to be heard, that means another vampire knows where we are, and they must be strong. However, no vampire can walk in the light of day unscathed.”

Sam shakes her head before pointing at Kara, raising an eyebrow at Lena.

“No, a hybrid wouldn’t have enough power to hear us from the ground, and there’s no way they’re inside the building; the security is too tight. I built this place, and I have safeguards in place to prevent outside ears from listening in. I have no idea how they got around it, but I need to figure out how they did it so I can stop it from happening again.

Alex manages to shuffle Kara up and get her on the couch. It’s clear she’s not doing well, and while she’s doing her best to remain stony-faced, unshed tears are making her eyes glisten and her clenched jaw gives away just how disturbed she is by what just happened.

Her breathing is ragged; Lena can hear it clear as day, and her hands are clenched into fists atop her knees. Lena reaches out to unclasp it, hoping to relax her somewhat, but she tears herself away, stretching her back out until it clicks and shrinking in on herself.

“Kara?” Alex tries again, and seeing the way Kara winces at the sound of her sister’s voice, Lena realizes what’s happening.

“She’s overwhelmed. I fear the audio attack we’ve just faced may have momentarily tipped her over the edge. There are headphones on the nightstand in my room. They’re noise cancelling and should help her regain her senses once again, would you mind fetching them for her?”

Lena barely gets her question out before Alex is on her way to get them. She’s grateful to be given a task, something to do to make her feel useful because, quite frankly, she hasn’t got a fucking clue what just happened. All she knows is that they’re being listened to and that means she has to be careful with what she’s saying. Given that she doesn’t know what is classified as dangerous, she’s opting to say as little as possible.

She grabs the headphones and rushes back to the living room to fit them over Kara’s head, ignoring the blonde’s hands as she reaches out to take them from her. Once they’re firmly in place, she tucks a few stray curls out of her face and sits beside her, her brow furrowed in worry.

“I don’t have a clue what is going on but I need answers as to what just happened and I need to know that you’ve got a plan.” She stares into Lena’s eyes for a brief moment before moving over to lock eyes on the chestnut brown ones of the other vampire, who has her daughter tucked beneath her arm protectively, the younger girl’s head resting against her arm.

“You’ll have to let me figure that one out for myself before I can answer that, Alex.” Lena huffs, annoyed that she’s out of the loop. If there’s one thing she hates more than being threatened by a mysterious voice that is paired with the audio equivalent of being stabbed in the ears repeatedly, it’s not knowing something. Lena has to figure this out.

-

Lena’s senses are going crazy as she ushers everyone into the back of Frank’s car, and she has no doubt that Sam is just as on edge as she is.

They have been waiting all day for the chance to leave, waiting for the sun to go down just enough for them to get out of the apartment and get to L-Corp. At least there, they’ll know they’re safe. The only problem with that is their relative certainty that the person who sent them that message is a vampire too, a strong one at that. That means they could show up at any time, and all they can do is cross their fingers and hope they can get to L-Corp without meeting them.

“Frank, don’t dawdle. Take the fastest route and be on guard. If you see anything suspicious, you must let us know.”

“Of course, Ms Luthor.” Frank drones, his foot hitting the gas pedal before they’ve even had a chance to put their seatbelts on.

A horn sounds from behind them as they cut off some poor soul who’s probably on their way home from work. Kara flinches at the sound, and Lena pulls her into her side more firmly before making sure the cups of the headphones are over her ears properly. “Keep them on. You’ll be on edge for a while so it’s best to leave them on until we at least get where we’re going.”

Kara presses herself into Lena’s side more firmly, taking comfort in the tight grip she has around her shoulders. It’s steadying and makes her feel like nothing can touch her. Her right hand reaches over to grab Alex’s, who looks just about ready to jump into Sam’s lap with how wide her eyes are, constantly searching for the threat they can’t see. The only reason she hasn’t already done it is because Ruby is huddled so tightly to Sam already, Kara’s certain.

Frank makes the judgment call not to take the fastest route but the most populated, figuring that if someone or something is after them, then it’s best he uses the public as their safety blanket. No vampire wants to be exposed to the world, and no vampire is going to risk attacking them on Main Street, he’s pretty sure of that. Not unless the vampire is dumb or overly cocky anyway.

Lena takes note of Frank’s choice but doesn’t say anything. She understands why he did it, but she would still prefer it if he followed her instructions. Fighting over it now isn’t going to help anyone though. It’s already tough keeping everything moving smoothly when they’re all on edge. If she makes a fuss about it, that will scare everyone even more.

Closing her eyes, Lena listens out for any sound that could be coming from someone who wants to hurt them, her ears working overtime to try and find footsteps that aren’t matched by a heartbeat or the telltale sound of some supervillain cackling malevolently in some dark, abandoned building.

Frank pulls up around the side of L-Corp, bringing them to the same side door that Kara was first brought through by him long ago when Lena had him bring her to her. This time, nobody needs to get threatened by a gun to go inside, although Kara wishes she had one stuffed in the waistband of her pants so she could whip it out like she’s in an action movie and get her revenge on Frank.

They all scuttle through the door, their heads swivelling as they duck inside, trying their best to spot anyone down the alley.

The door clangs shut behind them, but none of them lose any tension from their shoulders. None of them release the breath they’re holding. Something doesn’t feel right.

“Everyone get down to the lab,” Lena demands, her ears straining to find anyone who isn’t meant to be here and coming up empty. Diving for her phone, she calls up the new head of security, someone she hired after Vasquez was murdered. She’s not sure if she likes her just yet but doesn’t get any negative feelings from her. “Ms Lane, I want a full head count and a list of everyone in the building please. Anyone who isn’t security is to be taken to the second-floor conference room. Once I’ve reviewed the list and checked on the staff, I’ll decide on further steps.”

“Of course, Ms Luthor. Is there anything you’d like me to prepare for?”

“Just be ready. We might have to move fast.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Lena shuts the lab door behind them firmly before heading straight for the safe room. “I know it’s not your favourite place in the world, but please just go in here for now. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I’ll be able to handle it better knowing you’re safe.” She swings the door open and gestures inside.

Ruby is the first to pass through the door after a not-so-gentle nudge from her mom and Alex is right behind her, quickly followed by Frank.

“You too,” Lena says softly, squeezing Kara’s hand. “You’ll be more protected from an audio attack in there, and I’ll feel better knowing there’s someone powerful in there to protect Ruby. I know Sam will too.”

“I will,” Sam confirms.

“Is Jess still here?” Kara asks, backing into the room. “Are you going to bring her down here?”

Lena’s eyes widen. “Oh shit. Sam, can you go and get her? I imagine she’s either already been rounded into the conference room or at her desk.”

Sam takes a second to enter the safe room, duck down to press a kiss to her daughter’s forehead, and then whisper a gentle reassurance to her before she darts off up the stairs, much quicker than the humans in the room were expecting, all of them left shell shocked by the causal display of power.

Kara moves into the room and waits just inside the door. “She should be back in just a moment, right? No point in shutting the door until Jess is here.”

Lena nods but looks around nervously. “I guess so, but it’d still make me feel better.”

“We all saw how quickly Sam just ran off, she’ll be back in no time.”

“They’ll be longer than you think. The day Jess lets anyone make her move that quick is the day a janitor is mopping up her puke from every step in the stairwell. It’ll be like a breadcrumb trail, except it’s just the regurgitated sub she had for lunch.”

Kara pinches the bridge of her nose between her fingers, wincing as she tries not to picture that. “Yep, thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome,” Lena smiles playfully, although it doesn’t feel completely genuine, the unease in her eyes overtaking the brief moment of joy.

“It’ll be ok.” Kara tries reassuring her but knows her thunderous heart is giving her away. She almost died the last time they were in a situation like this. Now someone else is threatening them, and she’s got to somehow not freak out.

Sam comes barging down the stairs at full speed, practically throwing Jess into the saferoom before barging Lena into there too before she slams the door shut behind them, locking them all in.

“What are you doing?” Lena exclaims.

“Shut up.” Sam commands, barely glancing back at the group, which now includes a very green-looking Jess. “They’re here.”

“What?” Lena whispers, almost inaudibly.

Not a moment later, a long, deep scratch can be heard from the other side of the door, trailing across it with a noise that makes them all raise their shoulders up in an attempt to protect their ears.

Alex notices Ruby quivering against the back wall and tucks her arm around the girl, noting how she immediately clutches her arms around her waist and buries her head into her chest.

Jess takes the other side of Ruby, joining in on the impromptu hug, a familiar figure for her to draw comfort from.

Frank just huddles in the corner, his necklace pulled out from under his shirt, the little cross held tightly between his clenched hands as he mouths the words to a prayer that won’t protect him.

“I hear you.” A dark voice sing-songs from outside. “I can hear your fear.”

Lena turns to everyone, a finger pressed to her lips to warn everyone to be quiet.

“If you think this adorable little room will protect you, you’re wrong. I know who you’re hiding in there. I know what you’re hiding in there. A beat. “Hybrid.”

Kara’s eyes are so wide she’s confident they might just roll right out of her head. Her hands clutch at the headphones, and to stop herself from accidentally breaking them, she shoves them back onto her head, regretting ever taking them off when they got down here.

Lena holds her hands out to her, holding her palms out flat to reassure her that everything is fine. She’s not going to let anyone hurt her.

“Give me the creature and I’ll leave. Nobody has to get hurt here.”

A snarl rips itself free from Lena’s throat, her protective side coming out in spades as she thinks about what someone could possibly do to Kara. Obviously, whatever she is planning isn’t good. Nobody who has good intentions with someone calls them a ‘creature.’

“Ah, so someone in there has a pair of balls. I like that, and I’d recognize that sound anywhere. You made that sound back when we first met too. So feisty, Ms Luthor.” A sinister laugh travels through the door, muffled by the metal but no less terrifying. “Or should I say, Lenetta Kieran? I bet you don’t even remember; you low-levels never do.”

Lena’s lip curls dangerously. She knows that was her name. Her first name. It’s changed many times across the centuries, often whenever she moved from city to city, or even across the minimal number of countries she’s been to, but that’s one she’ll never forget.

Only one person she met during that time was a vampire too. One person who definitely shouldn’t be here. Someone that she was sure died so long ago. Someone who paid the ultimate price for their crimes but apparently managed to duck beneath Death’s scythe.

“You know me, don’t you, Lena?” The voice taunts, and all of a sudden, Lena is back in her chambers in England. She’s human again, her last moments of being a normal person. The final moment before her life is robbed of her.

Lena’s hand moves without her consent, reaching forward to open the door.

Sam grabs her wrist, fighting against her, shocked by the amount of strength Lena is using to reach forward. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Open the door for me, Lena. You know you want to.”

Kara wraps her arms around Lena from behind, trapping her arms at her side as much as she can, knowing full well that this isn’t a fight she can win. Lena has to resist for them to win this battle.

Sam clings to her wrist, a flame burning deep inside her. She won’t let her do this, not when Ruby’s safety depends on it.

“Don’t make me stop you, Lena.”

“Lena, open the door.”

Lena feels as though something has nestled deep into her brain, changing the wiring and drawing her closer to the person on the other side of the door, pulling her like they’re magnets attracting. She has the desire to resist it but also feels like her wants are not her own. A part of her wants nothing more than to open the door while her logical brain screams at her that it’s a trap.

“Lena, don’t,” Kara mutters in her ear, her arms pressing deep into her stomach as she pulls back on her. Her warmth is steadying against her back and helps guide Lena through the fog.

“I won’t,” Lena says, her tone lacking its usual bite. “You might as well go, you can’t hurt us in here and we’re not handing anyone over to you.”

A cackling laugh travels through the thick metal of the door. “Interesting. You’re stronger than I imagined you to be. Nowhere near strong enough, but you’ve got a little bit of bite to your bark. I like that.”

“Just go!”

“I can’t do that. Give me the hybrid and I won’t harm the humans you’re hiding. That’s the deal. I can smell them. I can smell you all. You have three…no, four. There are four humans in there, two vampires and the hybrid. One in seven isn’t a bad loss. Hand it over.”

Kara bites her lip and winces as nails once again scratch against the door, causing an obvious amount of damage. The door won’t hold forever. Lena made this one of the safest places on the planet, yet here they are, sitting piglets as the big bad wolf slowly taunts them as she blows their house down. “Maybe I should just—”

“Absolutely not.” Lena cuts her off, turning around in her arms and taking her muscled arms in her hands, holding her tightly as though she’s about to open the door after begging her not to do it just moments before. “You’re not doing that. We’re fine, we’re safe in here.”

“Not forever.” The voice singsongs. “How long do you think it’ll take for me to get through this door? A few minutes? An hour? A day? I can wait you out. I have nothing but time.”

“Are you a vampire?” Lena asks, unsure if she actually wants to know the answer, but in a much better state of mind than she was before, clearly the woman has stopped controlling her for now.

“You could say that.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Telling me.” Lena smiles through the darkness, pulling out her phone and tapping the screen with her fingers faster than the flap of a hummingbird's wings. She then shoves it back in her pocket and presses Kara’s headphones against her ears more firmly. “Sam, Kara, this is going to hurt. I’m so sorry.”

The loudest, most ear-piercing ringing booms through the entire building, ten times worse than the audio attack they suffered at the hands of the mysterious woman and strong enough that it knocks not only the vampires to the floor but also causes the humans to cover their ears. It’s not enough to hurt them, but it’s not comfortable.

They hear a piercing scream on the other side of the door, demonic sounding undertones to it reaching forth and battering the lab. They hear the faint smashing sound as beakers and test tubes shatter from the mixture of the scream and Lena’s defence system.

It pauses, and all goes silent.

They relax against the floor, loosening their stiff limbs from their foetal positions. Lena swallows harshly. “It’ll just keep going. The system will take short breaks every so often. It’s random too. It gives anyone affected a chance to leave. I’ll leave it on for as long as necessary. We can endure longer than you. We’re more protected in here than you are out there. We have the upper hand. Get out while you can.”

“No!”

The noise starts up again, and Kara cries out in anguish, the least able to deal with it out of all of them. Lena knows that, at least she does when she’s not also being assaulted by the noise. She just hopes that the woman doesn’t call their bluff. If she does, they really are screwed.

They tighten back up into their foetal positions, their hands covering their ears, and their eyes slam shut.

Another scream from outside the door.

Silence.

“We can do this all day if we have to. We’re not opening the door.” Lena pants. “Give it up.”

Silence.

“You can’t win.”

Silence.

“Why do you want her so badly that you are willing to endure this pain?”

“I’m not. I’ll be back, don’t worry. I’ll find you again, not that it will be difficult; your name’s on the building.”

The door slams.

Silence.

The screeching starts up again, and as much as Lena wants to text security and have them shut off the noise, she can’t make herself move at all through the assault. They have to wait for the next break in the noise.

It does come eventually, but it feels like it takes an eternity. As soon as it stops, Lena dives for her phone and submits the order. It’s over for now. If she’s really gone, that is.

They all unravel from their positions, slowly sitting up.

“Is everyone alright?” Sam asks, her eyes pinned on her daughter. “Ruby?”

“I’m ok, mom. Is she gone?”

Sam turns her ear to the door, listening for the woman.

Silence.

“She’s gone.”

“Are you sure?” Alex asks, her eyebrows furrowed and fear written across every inch of her face.

Lena wraps her arms around Kara’s shaking body. “We’re certain. I think you should stay here while Sam and I go out there and secure the building properly. We’ll come and get you once we’re sure that’s done.”

Nobody puts up a fight. Nobody wants to leave their little sanctuary, fear still coursing through their veins and taking over them.

-

Kara is still shaking over an hour later and it has everyone worried about her. She’s sure it’s just adrenaline, but Lena and Alex have forced her to lie down on a gurney—a new one. Lillian really did a number on the last one when she escaped from being bound to it.

“I’m ok.”

“I’m sure you are, but you’ve been through a lot today, and you were practically tortured by not only her but also my defence system. We believe we only got one over on her today because a person like that doesn’t think that people below them can have similar ideas to them. I installed the frequency emitters after the Lillian thing. I wanted to be sure that I have something to rid the building of vampires should the need arise.”

“Smart.” Kara shifts, moving to take the headphones off.

Lena gently bats her hands away, keeping them in place and instead connecting them up to her phone and offering it to her so she can play some music instead. “Find something relaxing, maybe try to rest for a while. Even if you can’t sleep, you should just try to relax your body and close your eyes.”

“What about you?”

“I have work to do.”

“You should at least take half an hour to yourself, maybe sit down and try meditating or something. You can’t think if your head is everywhere at once.”

Lena leans down and presses her lips to Kara’s forehead softly. “I’ll be fine. I’ll rest once my work is done.”

Kara sighs. She already knows she’s not winning this one right now, so she turns her head until she spots Jess. “Hey! Can you make sure she rests soon, Jess?”

“You got it.” Jess gives her a thumbs up, pausing her sweeping to do so before going right back to cleaning up the broken glass.

“Thanks,” Kara calls out as she settles back down, turning on some soft music and trying not to think about how there are six people milling about the room around her.

Lena shakes her head at her softly, amused but also slightly annoyed by her actions. This woman is something else. Even after suffering through something that is definitely traumatic, she’s still trying to make sure she’s looked after too. If she could blush, she would be beet red.

“She’s not so bad,” Frank admits from his place on a random stool near to where Lena is standing.

“She’s not bad at all, and I’m just happy she didn’t try to have you kicked out of the room before she settled down.”

Frank hums softly. “She doesn’t like me very much.”

“That’s the understatement of the century.”

“I stand by what I did.”

“I know you do, but you cannot deny that what you did traumatized her deeply, just as my actions did the same to her. Our relationship has flourished since then, but it has not come without its trials and tribulations, of which I’m certain are not completely finished.”

Frank nods slowly. “I know what I did. I know what harm I caused. I know it’s not rational that I dislike her for not wanting to help you that day; she had every right and reason to refuse, but I care about you. I’ve been your driver for years, and you’re like family to me.”

Lena looks down, forcing herself to hide the tiny smile the old man just forced onto her face. “You’re like my family too. I just…can you try and get along with her? She’s lost a lot because of me and having you guys at odds just adds unease into her life that she shouldn’t have to deal with.”

“As you wish.” Frank nods. “I’ll be nice to her.”

“Thank you, that’s all I ask.” Lena squeezes his arm gently. “Now, why don’t you go and get Jess to find you somewhere to lie down too? You can call your family and let them know you’ll be home late and try to relax. At your age, you have to take it easy after something like what happened today.”

“Cheeky madam. I’ll be fine, but I suppose I should let Mandy know.” Frank grins at her before standing up and shuffling over to Jess, who eases the broom down before leading him upstairs so he can rest and call his wife.

She moves to her station where she was working on the synthetic blood, eager to see if any of her experiments she was working on have garnered any results, but her cold, unbeating heart shatters as she takes in the sight of it all strewn across the station and ground broken, her notes ripped to shreds. Whoever that woman was, she doesn’t want her to be working on this, and if she could tell what the experiment was just from her notes and the experiments, then she’s smart. Smarter than Lena would like her to be.

“Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Sam and Alex both wander over to come and look over her shoulder.

“Oh crap,” Alex mutters. “Is that the artificial blood experiments?”

“Yep, I guess this means I’ve got to start all them over again. Fuck. At least I remember what was in the notes, so I don’t have to start completely from scratch.”

Sam squeezes her shoulder reassuringly. “I’m sorry, Lena.”

“Me too, but it’s not the end of the world.” She ducks her head. “I’d rather it just be this than any of you.”

Sam nods. “Me too. Need a hand cleaning up?”

“No, I’m good. Why don’t you and Ruby go and hang out in my office? Ruby can nap there if she wants to. I’ve got this covered.”

“Translation: you want us to scarper so you can try and make sense of everything that happened.”

Lena rolls her eyes. “Yes, that. Now scram.”

“You’ve got it.” Sam turns on her heel and eases Ruby up from where she’s sitting to take her upstairs and away from here.

“Oh, and Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s another safe room in my office; use it if you have to.”

Sam nods at her one last time with a reassuring smile before the mother-daughter duo leave the lab, leaving only Lena, Alex and Kara.

Alex finds a box of gloves nearby, washes her hands and snaps a pair on before helping Lena clear up the mess left all over the place.

“You don’t have to.”

Alex shrugs, not stopping for even a second. “I know, I want to. You protected us today and this is what I can do to thank you. I don’t know what that woman wants with my sister, but I know you’re not going to let her do anything either, not to Kara.”

Lena’s lips quirk up. “That’s true. I won’t let anyone hurt Kara. However, I do have to figure out who that woman is. She had a hold on me that I’ve never felt before, and I need to know exactly how and why she was able to do it.”

“That sounds smart.”

“It means I won’t be able to work on my artificial blood project though. I can’t do both, but I need to.” Lena sighs. “If I don’t work on the blood, the supply will run low again.  I can’t risk becoming as starving as I was when I met Kara. If I work on that and put the research into this woman on the backburner then I’m opening us up to an attack. What do I do?”

“You’re a billionaire, right?”

Lena frowns, pausing to look over at Alex in confusion. “Yes, why?”

“Just pay someone to do it.” She shrugs. “You have a load of scientists in this building during the day. Just get a few to work on the blood.”

“But I can’t let anyone know I’m a vampire. That’s the problem.” Lena shakes her head.

“Do you really think only vampires need blood?” Alex laughs, amused. “The hospital is always in need of donations. Believe me, I would know.”

Lena’s eyes grow wide. “Oh, shit. I forgot you’re a doctor. How are you having so much time off?”

“They’ve been trying to get me to take my vacation time for years. So has Kara for that matter.”

“Sounds like something Kara would do,” Lena admits.

“Yeah, but as much as I like resting. I love the feeling of helping people and saving lives. Sometimes, I like to work with patients, and sometimes I do lab testing. I love it.”

Just like that, a metaphorical lightbulb shines brightly over Lena’s head. “Lab work, you say?”

“Lab testing. It’s different.”

“But you’re familiar with bloodwork?”

“No. Nope. Not going to happen. No.” Alex shakes her head. “I like my work at the hospital.”

“And you can still do that, I will just have you come here and also be part of the team working on this.”

Alex sighs. “How big would the team be?”

“Two?”

Alex’s eyebrows raise so high they almost merge with her hairline. “Are you nuts? Only two people?”

“Me and you.”

“Definitely not. The hospital needs the extra help with the testing, so I won’t stop doing that.”

“I’ll start up an initiative to train and send some more people their way then. That means you’ll have time to come over and help.”

Alex shakes her head at Lena. “Why do you want me so bad?”

Lena ducks her head, shuffling her feet against some broken glass. “Surprisingly, I trust you and know I can speak openly around you. I don’t have that a lot of the time and I’ve never had the opportunity to work with anyone in the lab on something so personal. I’d like to know how it feels to work with a friend.”

“We’re friends?”

Lena clears her throat. “Not to make it weird or anything. I just…you’re my girlfriend’s sister, but I also kind of like you. You’re not bad for a human.”

Alex smirks at her, her hip propped against the nearest surface. “You’re not too bad for a vampire, I suppose. You should definitely roll out that initiative for the hospital.”

“You’ll do it?” Lena’s head snaps up. “Really?”

“I’ll think about it, but helping the hospital is a great way to inspire me to agree.”

Lena grins. “I look forward to working with you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and clean, then we can get some of these experiments going again and you can rewrite those notes.”

Lena lifts a few of the ripped sheets of paper and tries to jigsaw them together. “Do you think that if we get some tape—”

“Rewrite them.” Alex cuts her off. “You’re going to be a pain to work with. I can see it now.”

Lena smiles up at her smugly. “Yep, but you can’t back out now.”

“Of course I can.” Alex disagrees.

“Nope, because I’m going to tell Kara you said yes, and you can’t say no to Kara. That would be like kicking a puppy.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Alex glares at her.

“Probably not, but it’s a good threat.”

Alex’s shoulders slump. She hates that she actually kind of likes Lena now. She still gets the odd spark of rage when she thinks about Lena back when she first met Kara and the harm she caused her, but seeing the pair so lovey-dovey and the way Kara grins when Lena’s around has done wonders for making her come around to the vampire woman.

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

They silently keep cleaning, Lena getting tired part way through and using her speed to run through the rest of the lab quickly.

Alex shakes her head at her, but it doesn’t last as her eyes focus on her sleeping sister. “Promise me you’ll focus on that woman. I’ll handle the blood; you just keep her safe.”

“I’ll do my best. I promise.”

“Thank you. That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Just for the record though, I’m not leaving the blood just to you. I trust you, but not enough for you to do it alone.” Lena bumps her shoulder into Alex’s, almost sending the redhead flying.

“Asshole.”

“Hey, babe.” She smiled as you sat down in her lap.

“Is that a smoothie?” You reached forwards and grabbed her black cup with the dark straw in it.

“No! No! Wait-” before Lena could take it away, you had a mouth full of the drink.

Instantly, a metallic taste filled your mouth and you feared you were bleeding as you dropped your jaw and the liquid spilled out of your mouth and onto the fabric of your jean and the bottom of your shirt and down your chin and neck.

“What the fuck.” You sputtered as you spit the remains of red content out, jumping up in shock.

Slowly, you realized that it couldn’t be your blood and you twisted the top off the cup seeing it half way filled with the thick red liquid.

“Is that blood?” You asked backing away from Lena a little bit.

“Baby, don’t look at me like that-”

“Lena! Is that blood?” You asked again, much sterner.

Her eyes looked terrified and broken.

“I..”

Everything clicked together.

Her “wine” obsession that you now realized probably wasn’t really wine at all, she always had a slight metallic taste to her mouth when you kissed her but you never thought anything of it, the secret fridge in the storage room that she didn’t let you go into.

“You’re a vampire.”

She nodded as she looked down at her now blood splattered shoes, tears filling her beautiful eyes.

You had never seen your powerful girlfriend look so small, scared, and upset before in your life.

You wouldn’t lie and say you weren’t shocked but you weren’t scared either and you knew what was running through Lena’s head.

She feared you would leave her, but she was wrong.

“Show me.” You whispered.

Lena’s green eyes shot back up to you in shock.

“I.. what?”

“Show me.” You said again as you took a few steps closer to her to show her that you weren’t scared.

Lena’s eyes searched your own for a minute before she decided that this was actually going to happen.

She parted her lips and you watched as her canines and the teeth beside them morphed into sharp, knife like teeth. They were the size of her normal teeth, if not not slightly longer so they weren’t extremely bulky and obvious.

Her eyes went a little redder almost as if they were bloodshot and irritated and it made the green in them pop even more. The veins around her eyes protruded and darkened only adding to the color pop of emerald orbs.

You were mesmerized.

You never though something of nightmares would be so attractive to you.

Nervously, Lena morphed her face back to normal and retracted her fangs as she looked away from you expecting you to be freaked out.

You stepped forward and took her face in your hands gently forcing her to look at you.

“You’re so beautiful, Lena.” You whispered as you rested your forehead and nose against hers.

A moment passed and you suddenly had a question.

“So you feed on people.”

“No! No. I most stick with animal blood that I get from slaughter houses so I’m like a vegan vampire in sense but I do have to have to have human blood from the vein at least one a week or I’ll die.”

“Have you had any this week?” You asked tracing her lower lip with your thumb.

“No. I was planning on doing it tonight actually.” She admitted sadly pressing a kiss to the thumb that you were tracing her lip with.

“I..” You kind of froze.

“Please don’t be scared of me. I would never hurt you, Y/N.” Lena whispered as she gently placed her hand on top of the one you had on her face.

“Never. I’m not. But..” you trailed off not sure how to approach what you wanted to say.

“What is it, Love?” She asked searching your eyes and trying to figure out what you wanted to say.

“Feed off of me.”

You decided to be blunt about it.

Lena’s eyes widened as she pulled her head back to look at you, shaking her head no.

“No. I will not do that to you, baby. It’s too risky and if I lose control I could kill you and-”

You yanked her body towards you and captured her lips in a comforting kiss.

“Bite me, Lena.” You husked against her lips.

She took your arm gently into her slightly shaking hands rubbing the spot that she was going to bite with her thumbs.

She paused and looked at you.

“When I do this, you’ll be mine forever. You’ll be marked. No one else can have you.”

“Is that a promise?” You smiled at her.

You were so in love with this woman.

You’d do anything for her and this proved that.

Lena’s face went serious as she dropped your arm and she took your face into her hands, caressing it softly.

“You’re going to feel all of it, baby. It won’t be like the movies where it feels like sex. It will hurt a little, but afterwards, my saliva with help to close up your wound and numb it when my fangs get out of your skin.” She was honest with you but it didn’t scare you away and you just nodded ‘yes’ that you wanted this.

“I trust you.” You assured her.

She looked at you incredulously. She still wasn’t used to your unconditional love and it had been almost two years of being together.

Wordlessly, she moved back a step and took your arm into her hands again and kissed it over and over again.

You watched as her fangs descended and as her eyes went a little blood shot.

“Are you sure?”

She gently tangled your fingers in the hair at Lena’s neck and pushed your arm towards her mouth.

You watched as her face morphed and she slowly sunk into your arm.

A quiet whimper escaped your lips as the feeling of your blood rushing to her mouth hit you.

Your CEO, vampire girlfriend reached over and grabbed interlaced her fingers with yours on the arm she was feeding off of in a means of comfort.

It hurt,she was right. There wasn’t really much pleasure to it on your part. It felt like she was being stabbed by several small daggers, but the pull on her skin as Lena sucked on your arm wasn’t entirely unpleasant and the feeling of her tongue lapping at your arm made your stomach stir slightly.

The feeling of the blood loss was slowly starting to get to you as your head and body started to feel more and more weightless and you gently tugged on Lena’s hair to signal that she needed to stop.

She pulled complied instantly, pulling back and licking at your wound a little more and you could feel what she was talking about when she told you about her saliva.

After you numbed up a little bit, she placed the folded tissues onto you arm and held tight to allow her saliva to close up your bleeding wound.

Lena had a dribble of blood on her lip and you couldn’t help but stare at her.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked almost guiltily.

“You’re so beautiful, my love. I love you.” You admitted as you stepped forward, wiping her lip and then kissing her deeply.

You felt closer to her on a level that no one could understand at this point. You pressed yourself into her, still holding pressure to your arm.

As the kiss broke, you nuzzled your nose into your vampire girlfriend’s neck and pressed a gentle kiss to it.

“I love you too.” She hummed into your hair.

You were hers.

She had marked you and you now were completely and totally Lena’s.

Classifying Kara as an easy target was her biggest mistake. She charmed her way out of being bitten the first time and then fought her way out with impressive garlic-throwing skills the next. She survived a fight with a bunch of savage vampires outside of L-Corp and then killed Lillian to defend herself inside. She’s a force to be reckoned with and you wouldn’t even know it just by looking at her now, her pouty face all soft lines and her nervous hands twitching in an unfamiliar rhythm against her thighs.

“She’s going to be here soon.” Kara looks down at her watch and tells Lena. “I don’t know how to explain it all to her without lying but I think I might have to.”

“You don’t have to outwardly lie, Kara, you just have to omit certain truths. You can say people broke into your apartment, you can say that someone from that group hurt you and you’re recovering. Hell, you can even say that you killed one in self-defence and it would be fine, but I’m not sure telling your boss you killed someone is a great idea.”

Kara sinks even further back. “I don’t know how to feel about that.”

“About lying to your boss by telling very specific truths?”

“No, about the fact that I killed Lillian. I’ve been trying to be ok with it, if I hadn’t, I would definitely be dead right now, even more dead than I was before you saved me, but I killed someone and I’m not sure how I’m meant to deal with that.”

Lena pushes the lid to her laptop closed. She’s not going to get any work done now. “It’s normal to have guilt over someone dying, Kara. She might have already been dead but as far as vampires go, we do feel pretty alive. I just…I think the world is safer without Lillian in it but I wish the burden of that happening wasn’t put on you.”

“I deserve it.”

“Why would you even say that?” Lena frowns, the laptop now being moved to a side table so she can lean forward, her elbows coming to rest on her knees.

“I felt bad after I hurt her the first time. It was me that made you bring her inside and so it’s my fault she was able to kill people inside the building. I didn’t know Ted Carlson very well but he didn’t deserve to get bitten and die. Vasquez didn’t deserve to die either. She was nice to me and I could tell she was a good person but now she’s dead and I’m left here wondering why I’m still alive when three people are dead because of me.”

“They aren’t dead because of you, Kara. They’re dead because of Lillian. You felt bad for hurting someone, which certainly doesn’t make you a bad person. The bad person in this situation is Lillian and she’s responsible for the deaths of Carlson and Vasquez. You’re not to blame but I know you don’t believe me. I’ll keep reminding you though, maybe one day you will believe that I’m telling the truth.

Kara shrugs. “I hope so too because it hurts.”

Lena looks down at her feet. The pain within Kara is palpable and while it’s taken a while for it all to sink in for Kara, which is understandable given everything else she’s been dealing with on top of it all, and it makes Lena feel like the worst person on the planet.

She’s hurt far more people than Kara has. She’s killed far more people than Kara has and yet she’s here completely composed while Kara is shattering on the inside. Perhaps it’s because it’s been so long or perhaps it’s just because she’s so numb to the concept of death now that it doesn’t hold as much weight to her anymore, but either way, she’s sure she doesn’t feel even half the pain Kara’s feeling right now.

Kara sniffs and looks down at her watch again. “She’s probably on her way up now. She’s not one to be late for things like this. The only time she’s ever late is when she’s going to galas because she likes to make a point that nobody is worth her time.”

“That’s very Cat Grant of her.”

“It really is.”

Three knocks are all they get when Cat finally does arrive. Kara makes to stand up but Lena sees the shake of her arms and the struggle to do so. It’s not as bad as it was and she is slowly getting better but she hasn’t been out in the sun yet today so she’s not as strong as she can be. Lena pushes her back down onto the chair with a steady hand on her shoulder and goes to get the door herself.

If Cat is surprised to see her answering the door instead of Kara, she does a good job of hiding it because there’s not so much as a raised eyebrow or a twitch of her lips.

“Come in,” Lena mutters as Cat starts making her way inside before she’s even had time to start opening the door wider so she can get by without having to turn on her side to squeeze through the gap.

She doesn’t wait for Lena to show her where to go either, she just wanders through the apartment with her eyes searching for the woman she came to see, a woman who isn’t Lena.

“Kara,” Cat says, taking a seat on the couch that is at a ninety-degree angle from the chair Kara is sitting on. She angles her body towards her and places her bag and the laptop bag she’s brought with her on the floor at her feet. “How are you?”

“I’m getting better and I’ll be even better now I can get some work done, I’m going stir crazy not having anything to do.” Kara smiles but Cat can see how unsteady it is and the fake undertones to everything she’s saying.

Cat shakes her head. “You’re lying to me, Kiera.”

“Ms Grant—”

“Tell me how you really are.” Cat cuts her off.

Kara takes a deep breath and her head drops down so she can stare at the floor. She can’t look her in the eyes while she says this. “I’m struggling.”

Cat’s voice responds in a tone much softer than usual. “Thank you for telling me that.”

Kara nods and Lena walks in. “Hey, Kara. Do you want me to stay or shall I go and be busy somewhere else?”

Lena receives a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll be fine, thanks, Lena.”

She grabs her laptop from where she left it on the side table and pats Kara’s shoulder on the way past her as she heads for her bedroom. She’ll go and hang out in there while Cat is here and give them some space.

Neither Kara nor Cat speaks until they hear the clicking of the door behind Lena, at which point Cat asks the obvious question. “So, you are now in a relationship with Lena Luthor?”

Kara flails for a moment. “I—I…No. We’re not together like that. We’re just friends.”

“But you want more. Don’t lie to me, you forget the way I saw you pine for James for a while before you finally clued into his mediocrity.”

Kara’s head rolls to one side in defeat. She’s never had the ability to hide her feelings from Cat, always either way too transparent or too easy for someone with impeccable reporting skills like Cat to read. “It’s complicated.”

“I doubt that,” Cat responds. “I think it’s actually very simple.”

“You do?”

Cat nods once. “Yes. You like her, that much is obvious and by the way I’ve seen her act around you, even for the few moments it was, it’s very clear she has feelings for you too.”

Kara’s eyebrows furrow, replaying her brief interaction with Lena in her mind. “I don’t understand.”

“She’s protective of you. She was protective of you on the phone when she tried to ban me from seeing you and she was protective of you when she came in here to ask you if you wanted her to stay. She likes you, Kara, don’t be blind.”

“Oh.” Kara’s eyes widen.

Cat rolls her eyes at Kara. “I thought we had gotten past the point where I have to hold your hand through life so you don’t miss it.”

Kara ducks her head for a second time. “Thank you, Ms Grant. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“Oh no, you’re not thinking about anything. When you think, you back out of whatever it is that scares you. As soon as I leave you’re going to grab that woman and kiss her because the tension in this apartment is so thick it’s suffocating. Got it?”

“I…” Kara hesitates.

“If you don’t kiss her, I will.”

“Ok, I’ll talk to her after.” Kara gives in.

Cat shakes her head. “I said kiss, not talk.”

“I can’t just walk up to her and kiss her.”

“Sure you can. Your lips work because you’re using them to argue with me and you’re wasting your breath. I’m helping you sort out your love life here, or your severe lack of a love life.”

Kara buries her face in her hands. “I’ll handle it, Ms Grant, can we please just move on?”

“I suppose it’s best we do because you look seconds away from having a stroke just at the prospect of having a life like an ordinary human being.” Cat shifts her weight, uncrossing her legs and then recrossing them the other way. “So, tell me about your apartment.”

Kara relaxes again, not fully but she’s back to the level she was before Cat brought up her feelings for Lena. She’s prepared for the questions about what happened to her, she was not prepared for the questions about her relationship with Lena. “What do you want to know first?”

“Just start at the beginning.”

Kara’s head moves in a nodding motion as she filters through what happened so she can try and pick out the parts she can talk about. “Well, my apartment got broken into and it was done by a group of people from Lena’s past. I think they were targeting her company because she’s got some really impressive stuff coming up, the articles I was going to write were going to talk all about them.

“Somehow, I think they must have found out I was going to write the articles and they targeted me. My apartment got trashed when I wasn’t there and I got attacked by one of them. I don’t know exactly who they are and neither does Lena but she recognises them.”

Cat gasps when Kara reveals that she was attacked by someone. She was expecting it but that’s nothing quite like having someone straight up admit to being assaulted. “You were hurt badly?”

Kara takes a sharp breath in. “Yeah. It was a bad fight.”

Leaning forward, Cat does something that takes Kara by surprise, she covers Kara’s hand with her own. “What happened to the person that attacked you? Were they stopped or caught or did they get away?”

“None of the above,” Kara replies, her voice tight. “I killed her.”

A heavy sigh is the only response she gets. The hand on her own doesn’t get pulled back, it doesn’t tighten, she doesn’t go tense, she just takes the information for what it is.

“It was a one-on-one fight. She tried to kill me and it was close but I won. I’m not so sure as though that’s something I should be happy about though.” Kara’s eyes fill with tears she doesn’t want to cry. She’s not sure she deserves to be able to cry.

Kara’s head shoots up when Cat stands up, pulling her hand back finally. She watches as Cat picks up the bags and is expecting her to leave her, probably out of disgust or something akin to it, but she doesn’t leave, she moves the bags and puts them on the other chair on the other side of the couch and moves over from where she was sitting before on the couch. “Come here.” Cat gestures to the space where she was just sitting.

Kara reacts quickly, so quickly in fact that she trips part way through getting up. In her rush to get to Ms Grant, she forgot that her legs are still shaky and she has to take it slow to her left leg buckles beneath her and she has to catch herself on the arm of the couch.

Cat’s arms dart out to steady her. “Here, let me help you.”

With the help of Cat, Kara manages to sit down carefully beside her without becoming out of breath. “Thanks.”

“Kara, I want you to look at me now,” Cat announces, her voice as commanding as she can make it. Once Kara meets her eyes, she holds her gaze, unblinking. “You are not to blame for that woman’s death. Killing someone in self-defence isn’t murder and she’s the only person to blame. You deserve to be happy and live the rest of your life knowing that you deserve it.”

Kara tears her eyes away from Cat’s. “I don’t know how to do that, Ms Grant.”

She’s pulled into Cat’s embrace in a flurry of movement and the physical comfort is everything she needs for the dam to finally break and the tears to spring free.

“Oh, Kiera. You’re much too innocent for this world. What you do is you keep going. You hold your head up high and you live your life in a way that makes you happy. You can be sad and you can mourn and you can get stuck in the past but what does that achieve other than to destroy one more life? You can add so much good into this world if you live up to your potential and you will have people with you every step of the way, of that I’m certain.”

Tears pour freely down Kara’s face and heaving sobs force their way free from Kara’s throat. She’s just so emotionally drained by this point that she doesn’t even know how to being to process everything that’s happened since she met Lena. She’s been attacked a whole bunch of times; a bunch of really terrible and traumatizing things have happened and the person that has brought all of this to her feet is super hot and she has a crush on her. It’s not ideal.

“God, I’m a mess.” Kara cries, her hands clinging to the back of Cat’s shirt.

“That’s ok. We’re all a little messy at times.” A hand rests on the back of Kara’s head, stroking gently.

They remain in that position until Kara’s tears stop and then she pulls back and uses her sleeves to wipe her face. “I’ll be ok.”

“You will. We’ll all make sure of it.” Cat holds onto Kara’s shoulders, the pressure an attempt to ground her. “You’re not dealing with anything alone. Now, this is very important, Kara. How is everything going with the police? Is there a threat that you could be charged with anything?”

Kara’s eyes widen. She didn’t think about that. “Um, I don’t…I’m not sure. Lena has dealt with everything, I’ve just sort of been recovering.”

Cat looks at her strangely, probably because it’s remarkably obvious there is truth being omitted but her focus is drawn away from it anyway. “Recovering from what exactly? What injuries did you get?” Her eyes travel down Kara’s body and it means she’s got to come up with something quickly.

“I…well…”

“She got a bad head injury,” Lena answers, strolling casually into the room. “Sorry to interrupt. I just forgot to grab something.”

“I see.” Cat watches Lena closely while she moves through the room over to the chair where she was sitting earlier and then eases up when she pulls a notebook from beside it since she didn’t fully trust that she was telling the truth before.

“Her memory was shot for a few days and it’s left her weak. She’s seen a physiotherapist and has some exercises she does a couple of times a day. Other than that, it was mainly cuts and bruises which have pretty much healed at this point. The head injury was the worst one.”

“Hmm.” Cat sees her prey and locks on. “Kara couldn’t tell me anything about a police report, can you shed some light on that for me.”

Lena nods, her shoulders back to make herself appear as open as possible. “Yeah, I’m not surprised Kara can’t tell you much, I’ve tried to keep her out of it, it’s something she doesn’t need to stress about on top of everything else. There won’t be any repercussions against Kara since there was CCTV footage of the altercation, proving that she acted solely in self-defence. There are no worries there. I have my lawyers dealing with the investigation into the group and they are handling everything to do with the…altercation between Kara and the woman that attacked her.”

“And she wasn’t approached by the authorities for a statement?”

“She was approached in the hospital but for the first couple of days she was really out of it and her memory was all over the place. They didn’t try again for a statement after the footage was turned over, her injuries and the tape were enough to prove that it was self-defence.”

Cat leans into the back of her couch with her shoulder since she’s sitting at an angle. “That’s good. Let me know if you need more legal resources, I can have my team get in touch with yours if necessary.”

Lena smiles warmly. “I appreciate that. I think they have it covered but I’ll keep the offer in mind in case that changes.”

“Please do.” Cat moves her attention back to Kara. “So, are you still having memory issues?”

“No,” Kara answers quickly but then sees the hard stare Lena is giving her. “Well, not really.”

Cat’s eyes narrow. “Well, which is it?”

Lena jumps back in. “She’s mostly better, a few hiccups but most of the memory loss is from a couple of days before the attack and then for a couple of days after so other than that, she’s been pretty good. Honestly, I kind of think some of the post-attack memory loss is due to the confusion and meds she was on.”

“Makes sense.” Cat murmurs. “Well, is there anything I can do for you, Kara?”

In response, Kara shakes her head. “I really don’t think so. Just let me work to get my head away from what happened, even just the hour a day you’ve allowed me is going to help me out a lot.”

Reminded of why she’s here, Cat gestures to the laptop bag she put on the chair. “I brought you the laptop and some notes to give you a hand on getting the hang of editing a little more since you’ve only done it passively up until now. Don’t push yourself too hard and if it’s too much, just call me and I can either dial it down or we can postpone working for a while. Your job is safe, Kara, there’s no need to rush anything. That being said, I don’t want to be receiving subpar work, if you aren’t going to be able to do it well, don’t do it at all.”

“I hear you. Thank you, Ms Grant. I will keep that in mind and I’ll keep you in the loop. I promise.” Kara’s hands press together in thanks, looking like she’s about to start praying but she’s just so glad she can get some kind of normalcy back that she doesn’t care how pathetic it makes her look.

There’s a softness to Cat’s eyes that Kara doesn’t see very often and usually, she would dismiss it as Cat just being in a good mood but she can see now that it’s because she genuinely does care for her in the same way she cares for Cat. They have truly become friends over the years and that’s something Kara has questioned many a time because she couldn’t believe it but seeing the way Cat’s colder demeanour returns whenever her attention is drawn to Lena and then disappears when she’s talking to her is quite striking.

“One more thing before I go and let you rest, Kara.”

“Sure, anything.”

“I’m going to send some of the more useless people from around the building to do some work for once and handle your apartment for you. You’re in no state to do so yourself.”

Kara sighs and opens her mouth, her head already shaking to try and turn down Cat’s offer except it’s not really an offer.

“It’s happening. You focus on getting better. I told you, Kara, you have people around you who can support you, you just have to let them. I will get your things moved out of your apartment. Where should I have them sent? Here?”

Lena jumps in. “Here is fine. There’s no point in putting it in storage until you’ve got everything you need to last you a while. Just have them toss any broken furniture though, we can get you new stuff when you get yourself a place when you’re better.”

“Between the pair of you, I’m not going to have a choice in any of this, am I?”

Lena answers for both herself and Cat. “Nope, we’re here to make sure you don’t kill yourself just because you’re too independent to accept help.”

“Fine. I’ll let you help and I will be very grateful for it. I am very grateful for it.” Kara responds, not bothering to suppress her smile.

Cat looks between the pair and then leans in towards Kara, pulling her into another hug. Kara gasps, the movement taking her by surprise for a second but then she slumps into the embrace. She’s released quickly but the message is clear. Cat is here for her if she needs her.

As soon as she releases Kara from her grasp, she stands up and grabs her purse from the chair and slings it over her shoulder. Then she takes the laptop bag and puts it on the couch where she was just sitting. “Take a look, if it’s too much, don’t do it.”

“Ok. Thank you for coming and for everything else.”

“Of course. Take care of yourself and remember that promise you made about what you’d do when I left.”

Kara’s eyes go wide, looking between Cat and Lena, who is looking pretty darn confused. “I never promised anything.”

“Yes, you did, follow through, Danvers, follow through,” Cat says and then looks at Lena one last time. “You keep an eye on her. You hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Ms Grant and I will have my people in touch with your people over those articles.”

“You better. Have a good day, ladies, I will see myself out.” Cat says and makes her way to the door before Lena can argue about etiquette.

Lena and Kara exchange a look of amusement and Lena is the first to break into a laugh. “She’s really something.” She moves the laptop bag to the floor and sits down next to Kara who muses about how much the bag has been moved around in the last few seconds.

“I know. She’s got a soft, gooey centre though, as you just saw. It doesn’t come out very often though.”

Lena smiles. “I saw. Now, I think you’re meant to kiss me.”

Kara’s eyes bulge and her jaw drops. “What? You heard?”

Lena shrugs. “I couldn’t help it, I had to listen so I could help you out if you got stuck on any questions, I was quite shocked to hear her call you out for liking me although I will say that I am very happy to hear it because she was right about me liking you back.” She’s taking her chance now while she has it, she’d be a fool to pass it up and well, Sam was right when she told her she was a fool. She might have to watch everyone she cares about die but losing the people she loves isn’t as bad as never loving anyone at all.

For the most part, Kara is just speechless. She agreed to speak to Lena to get Cat off her back, she was never going to actually follow through with it. With everything on their plates at the minute, it feels a lot like bad timing. Now though, now it’s being offered up to her on a platter, how could she say no?

“I just messed up, didn’t I?” Lena asks, shrinking back into herself at the lack of reaction from Kara.

Kara’s hand shoots out to rest on Lena’s cold wrist. “No.” It comes out high-pitched and weird so she clears her throat and tries again. “No. I’m just…shocked, I guess. I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

“Oh, ok,” Lena says, her gaze flitting between Kara’s face and Kara’s hand, which is where Kara’s focus is drawn to as she thinks.

“Can I kiss you?” Kara asks, finally looking up into the green eyes that have held control of every breath she’s taken and every beat of her heart since she’s seen them, even before she knew what that meant.

Lena responds by pressing her free hand against Kara’s cheek and drawing her closer, her lips latching onto Kara’s as soon as she’s within reach. Kara leans into it and her hands move up to clutch the back of Lena’s neck, holding her close and not letting her go.

Their hands press onto each other insistently, both trying to get the other as close as possible but alas, the kiss has to break at some point, that point being when Kara runs out of breath. At first, when she tries to pull back, Lena doesn’t let her but when she pushes back on her shoulders, she’s released.

“You might not have to breathe but I do.” She grins, breathing deeply for a few moments before diving back in.

Lena shows her annoyance at having to stop by bringing her teeth out and dragging them along her lip softly, biting down with just enough force that it makes her lip tender but not enough to break the skin. It draws a groan from the back of Kara’s throat and she presses even closer, nipping back at Lena when she gets the chance, sans the sharp teeth.

They do eventually part, both of them looking a mess from the way they resorted to running their fingers through each other’s hair. “That was…wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” Kara pants.

“Me neither. I have no complaints.” Lena answers, a smile crossing her lips.

“I wouldn’t mind a repeat performance.” Kara throws out there.

Lena’s grin widens. “I wouldn’t either but it’s high time you got out in the sun for a while so go and get your ass out there. Take the laptop with you and do some work if you must but neither of us would have a good time if you faint in the middle of…it just wouldn’t be a good time.”

Kara tips her head to the side briefly in acceptance. “I’ll give you that. Let me just grab a drink first then I’ll go outside but first, one more for the road.”

Lena isn’t about to deprive Kara of what she so clearly needs, “besides, I did promise the mighty Cat Grant that I would keep an eye on you. I think keeping my lips on you will be a good substitute.”

“Oh god, you’re so corny.” Kara gasps but goes for another kiss.

Her quip is ignored and Lean focuses on making the most out of this kiss before she has to usher Kara away to go and sit outside for a while, somewhere Lena won’t be able to get to her, something that feels a whole lot like torture right about now.

Another minute goes by with Kara having no self-control and Lena barely clinging to the one rational brain cell she has left that is telling her she needs to part from Kara’s delicious lips so her health doesn’t suffer.

Lena pulls away from Kara, a hand at the base of her neck keeping her from following. As she does part form her though, she tugs on her bottom lip with her teeth, taking it with her for a moment before she lets it pop back into place.

“Ok, go, before you never make it outside.”

“I’m not complaining.”

Lena stands up, her head shaking at Kara, a mirth settling in her eyes. “Normally, I wouldn’t either but you have to get your vitamin D.”

“Oh yeah, I gotta get that D,” Kara snickers to herself.

“Oh, dear lord.” Lena facepalms. “You stay here and control yourself; I’ll go grab you a drink while you do that.”

Kara mock salutes her, a cheeky grin on her face, her mood lifted in light of the recent developments. She was not expecting that to happen just now but she’s certainly not complaining about it. It’s probably going to bring up a couple of problems here and there for them at certain points and there’s a lot they will need to discuss but she’d like to give it a go between them.

One of the things that she’s not looking forward to is the potential awkwardness surrounding them being roommates whilst potentially dating, which could get messy fast it if doesn’t work out. That’s saying that Lena actually wants to be in a relationship. Sure, she said that she has feelings for her but that could just mean that she wants to have a sexual relationship and Kara wants more than that.

“Here you go.” Lena wanders in and hands her the glass she just filled with water for her.

Kara takes it distractedly. “Thank you.”

Lena frowns. “Ok, what’s going on?”

“What did you mean when you said you liked me?” Kara looks up at her, her eyes imploring her to tell the truth.

Lena sits back down beside her and laces their fingers together. “I don’t know how I can be much more obvious than that. I like you; I want to take you out on a date sometime, preferably after dark.”

“Oh…good.”

“Why? What were you expecting?”

Kara presses her lips together tightly, rolling them once before pushing her embarrassment aside. “I thought you were about to ask to be friends with benefits or something and that wouldn’t work for me, I want to be more than that.”

“Me too,” Lena replies, a little horrified that Kara thought that. “I wouldn’t want to just be friends with benefits either. Want to talk about it in more detail later, maybe tonight after dark and you’re back inside?”

“I’d like that but I don’t like the subtle push to get me outside.”

Lena shrugs. “I think it was a good push.”

“Not very subtle though.”

Lena rolls her eyes and starts guiding Kara up by the hand she still has entwined with her own. “I wasn’t trying to be now go, take the laptop and your drink. I’ll be right in here, go try out the balcony.”

“Ok, ok. I’ll see you later.”

“Yes, you will.” Lena carries the drink and bag to the balcony door for her and only when Kara pauses to grab her phone does she have an amazing idea. “Want to talk on the phone through the glass like you’re a prisoner and I’m visiting you?”

“What makes you think I’m the prisoner and not you?”

“The key is on this side of the door.”

“Mean. Let’s do it though.”