Chapter 81

Kara looks Lena up and down, scanning her with her weaker than normal X-ray vision. The bullet passed right through Lena's shoulder and is embedded in the wall behind her. Lena's paler than normal as she stares at Lillian, slumped in the chair, her eyes wide and unseeing.

"Lena." Kara breathes out and Lena blinks, turning towards her girlfriend as if she forgot she was there.

"Oh. Um." Lena shakes her head, trying to clear up her muddled mind. "One second. I'll get it."

Kara watches her with confusion, wondering what she's talking about. Lena walks on shaky legs at round the desk and presses a button. The green tint to the room fades and Kara can feel her strength returning. Lena walks back around the desk and Kara gently places her hands on Lena's arms. She moves slowly so she doesn't startle her.

Lena finally meets Kara's eyes and winces at the empathy there.

"That's not what I meant, Lee." Kara says softly. "How are you doing? I mean, I know you're probably not doing great, considering everything but... I'm just going to cut myself off there." Kara stops herself before she really starts nervously rambling.

Lena lets out a shaky breath. "My shoulder hurts." She admits.

"Okay, I can do that." Kara murmurs.

She scans the drawers of the desk and the surrounding area, knowing Lillian likes being prepared. She should have something to clean and wrap Lena's wound... Aha! Kara uses her superspeed, happy when she realizes she's getting faster. The Kryptonite exposure did a number on her, but she knows it would've been much worse without her tiara thing.

Kara heads back to Lena. "Lee, I'm going to need to take off your armor. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Lena answers.

Kara gently guides Lena until she's sitting on a nearby uncomfortable chair that Lillian probably used to intimidate the people that dared to come to her offer even more. She's facing away from Lillian now and her shoulders sag slightly in relief.

Kara carefully helps Lena get out of her chest piece and sets it down onto a nearby small table. She uses a washcloth soaked in alcohol to gently dab at Lena's wound. The front first, then the back. Lena hisses but remains still, trying not to agitate her shoulder. Kara cleans the wound, wincing in sympathy every time Lena makes a pained noise or grimaces.

Kara makes sure there's no part of the bullet still in Lena, knowing that it could make her very sick if anything stays in there. There's nothing and Kara thanks Rao for that. She doesn't want to have to dig around in there to find a tiny piece of metal.

Kara carefully wraps Lena's shoulder, glad that Alex took the time to teach her how to do it.

Lena stands up once Kara's done, and Kara fights the urge to push her back down onto the chair. Lena's paler than normal and looks exhausted.

"Come on." Lena says, looking down at Kara, who's still crouching in the same position as when she was bandaging up Lena.

Kara stands, her brows furrowed. She watches as Lena puts her chest piece back on, stepping in and silently helping her after Lena winces a couple of times, trying to put it on and not hurt her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're ready to go?" Kara asks softly.

Lena can feel how loaded that question is. She nods. "Yeah. Can someone take her out of here? When I come back here to search through her files, I don't want to see..." She swallows, her throat tight with emotion.

Kara nods and gently squeezes Lena's hand. "Of course. Let's go out. You can wait outside this room and I'll talk to the agents, okay?"

Lena nods and kisses Kara's cheek. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, Lee." Kara promises.

They walk hand in hand out of the room, Kara holding the door for Lena. The agents perk up.

"Ma'ams? How did it go?" One of the rookies asks enthusiastically.

"Lee, wait over there please." Kara murmurs to her, softly so that the agents don't hear. She knows how much Lena hates seeming weak in front of others.

Lena nods and walks away. The agents look confused. Kara quickly explains the situation and their faces screw up in sympathy.

"And guys," Kara says after she's finished. "Don't give her those sympathetic looks. She doesn't like being pitied, or thinking that she's being pitied. Treat her like you normally would, please."

The agents nod and then Kara leads them over to Lena. She reaches out her hand, allowing Lena to decide whether she wants physical contact or not. Lena holds her hand and they head down to the basement, where they know the others are meeting up. Two agents stay behind to 'extract' Lillian.

***

The basement is a sobering sight, with the first room Lena and Kara come across littered with bodies. Some the result of experiments gone wrong, but most as a result of a battle. Luckily, there are more Cadmus people dead on the floor than DEO.

They carefully step around the bodies until they reach the door to the next room. The basement is lined with lead, so Kara can't see through to make sure it's safe. She hears a lot of people on the other side but most of them seem to be moving slowly, like they're in pain. She can hear Alex's heartbeat nearby, but can't tell if she's right in the next room. She can hear Maggie's too, and Vasquez's. They all sound strong and regular, which is a huge relief to Kara. She murmurs her findings to the others with her and Lena, knowing they would probably like to know what's going on.

Kara opens the door, using her super strength to pull it open when she realizes that it was locked. The metal makes a terrible sound as she pulls the door open, causing all eyes in the next room to turn to her.

She awkwardly waves at the DEO agents she recognizes, noticing that there's a lot of people she doesn't recognize. Aliens and human alike, all looking at her warily.

"Kara!" Alex calls from the other side of the room.

Kara sees her carefully pushing her way through the crowd of people, rushing to get to her sister. Kara would rush forward, but she knows Lena and her both need to feel each other close right now. She squeezes Lena's hand and Lena loosens her grip like she's preparing for Kara to run towards her sister, but Kara tightens her grip instead. Lena surprised intake of breath is only audible to Kara. And maybe whatever other creatures have super hearing in here.

Kara beams as Alex bursts through the crowd and practically tackles her in a hug. If Kara were human, she would have fallen on the ground. Kara chuckles when she looks up.

"What is it?" Alex asks, her voice rough.

Kara squeezes her tighter, knowing that whatever has been going on down here is bad enough to shake her sister. "Maggie's so short that I didn't see her rushing after you until now."

Alex's body shakes with laughter and she lets a few tears slip out with it. She wipes the stray tears from her eyes and turns around to see her scowling girlfriend, but she has amusement dancing in her eyes.

"I'm not short, Danvers." Maggie protests.

"You are, Sawyer. It's cute." Alex taps Maggie's nose, making her break out into a brilliant, dimples-showing kind of smile until she schools her expression.

"Take it back, Danvers, or you're sleeping on the couch tonight." Maggie threatens, smirking victoriously.

"We're in the middle of nowhere, Maggie, there's no couch for me to sleep on."

"We'll just have to her creative, then."

Maggie and Alex begin a stare off and it ends when a shy looking alien interrupts them.

"Pardon me? Sorry, but did you say Danvers?" They ask.

"Yeah, I'm Sir Alex Danvers."

"The next in line for the throne. The Danvers Kingdom has saved us!" They cheer.

Once the others stop cheering as well, Alex speaks up again. "Actually, I'm not next in line for the throne. That's Kara, my sister. She's right there." Alex points behind her to where Kara's giving Lena heart eyes. "Kara's the next Queen, and she's an alien. Superman's cousin, to be exact. Her nickname is Supergirl, which she used when she's doing heroics. And it wasn't just the Danvers Kingdom that saved you. Right next to Kara is Lena Luthor, the adoptive daughter of Lillian and the Queen of the Luthor Kingdom. She helped take down her mother."

The people near Lena back away and she has a sad but understanding look in her eyes.

"How can we trust you?" One asks.

"Trust has to be earned. There is nothing I could say, no matter how true, that would make you instantly trust me." Lena says cooly, looking out at the room and making eye contact with those that aren't actively avoiding her gaze. "But I can start with one fact. Lillian Luthor is dead, and I'm the one that killed her."

Ooh, drama! Next chapter, this madness continues! And whoo, first week of college is almost over! Then, Labor Day weekend, where I'll see my family again! But not my brother (he has band stuff and hates traveling anyway) or my dogs :( I'm slowly dying a dog deprived death. I miss my puppies! Anyway. Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!