It was late. Lena could tell. Her vision was slowly blurring in the corners of her eyes and her head was throbbing, pulsing every second, but she had to finish. The Anti-Kryptonite suit had malfunctioned and Kara had fallen. Seeing her lay there- Lena shook the thought from her head. She had to finish, to ensure it would never happen again.
“You’re here late.” The three words shook the brunette out of her work. Looking up, she saw the very person she was working so hard to protect. The blonde just smiled, and sat down across from her.
“I have a lot of work to do.” She replied simply, smiling back, trying to act like she was perfectly fine. Kara frowned suddenly, noticing the dark circles under the CEO’s eyes and the peaky tinge emanating from her. Noticing her seeing this, Lena got up and walked to pour a glass of scotch, but she felt the super’s eyes follow her, the blonde walking up and grabbing the bottle.
“Lena,” Kara started, the brunette not looking at her, “When was the last time you slept?” It wasn’t accusing, underlined with judgement. It was soft, caring. Lena felt the blonde’s hand on hers, and began to tear up.
“Oh, sweetie, come here.” Kara whispered, wrapping the exhausted brunette in her arms, Lena snuggling right in, burying her head in the blonde’s neck, breathing in the calming scent of Kara. The super just kissed her gently on the top of her head. Lena shook her head, and pulled away from the blonde, muttering under her breath.
“Lee, it’s ok-” Kara began but was cut off almost immediately.
“It’s not fine, can’t you see that?” Lena snapped, almost yelling. “I’m not fine…” She paused for a moment, all the self hatred from the last couple of months coming to the surface. All the hatred from everyone who spit on her all her life for things she could never control.
“Lena, I thought you were doing better..” Kara trailed off, the brunette starting to cry.
“I didn’t want you to worry.” She said, her voice breaking, “You deserve better than having to worry about me.” Kara just shook her head.
“Lee, we’ve talked about this.” Kara whispered, “I will always worry about you, no matter what.” She walked up to Lena, the brunette till shaking her head.
“You shouldn’t care, okay? It’s not going to end well for you” Lena said, seeing Kara’s confused look at the statement. “Everyone that has ever cared about me, that I have ever cared about ends up dead, and I can’t have that happen to you.” Lena moved to go back to her desk, Kara stopping her.
“I’m not going anywhere. Not again.” Kara said. Lena just scoffed. She heard that before, in this very same office. As much as she wanted to believe Kara, the last time she said that, it ended with her being completely and utterly alone.
“I think you should leave.” Lena said, “And I don’t think you should come back.” With that, she went back to her desk and continued working, ignoring the headache that had worsened over the past ten minutes. Kara just stood, there, not believing that this was the same Lena she had spent the last few months with, laughing with, cuddling with, becoming close with in a way that she never had with anyone before. After just standing there for a few minutes, she saw herself out, tears slowly streaming down her face. Pulling out her phone, she sent a text off to Andrea, saying she wasn’t going to be in tomorrow. Leaving the building she flew into the sky, heading for the only people she knew would understand.
As soon as she left, Lena went and grabbed the scotch bottle and took a big swig. The last thing she wanted was to hurt Kara again, but it is better now than later down the road. She sunk into her desk, shoving her work aside, planning to spend the rest of the night drinking, trying to forget the fact that she had screwed up the best thing that has ever happened to her for the second time that year.
----------
----------
Alex and Kelly were having a quiet night in, cuddling on the couch when a knock on the door interrupted them. Getting up, Alex opened the door to find a sobbing Kara outside, immediately wrapping her sister in a hug. Kelly, seeing the interaction at the door shot up from the couch and headed for the freezer, pulling out three tubs of ice cream.
“I don’t get it, we were so good, and I just want to tell her everything, but she’s so fragile right now-” Kara rambled, still crying. Alex just hugged her sister tighter, Kelly wrapping her arm tighter around them both.
“Lena’s had a hard life,” Kelly said, “She spent her formative years with those terrible people, usually people that spend their childhood with people like that have a very hard time forming some if any close connections.” Alex just scoffed.
“So that gives her the excuse to trample my sister’s heart whenever she feels like it?” She exclaimed, standing up, “Now where’s my gun?” Kelly just rolled her eyes. Of course Alex would feel the need to give a shovel talk.
“I just don’t know how to help her. She keeps things bottled up and I just want her to be able to lean on me, to know that she’s not alone, that I’m really not going anywhere this time.” She whispered, grabbing an ice cream spoon. “It’s not her fault Alex, you know that.“ Alex just shrugged, and sat back down. She just grabbed a spoon and dug in, and they talked the rest of the night, helping Kara through this maze they were all stuck in. After a few hours, Alex was passed out from the sugar crash and Kelly was on her way out too. But she wasn’t done trying to help Kara.
“You know-” She began, stifling a yawn, “Lena may just be having a rough time forgiving herself for the past year.” Kara looked up suddenly, thinking about what Kelly was saying.
“But, she came back to me, and we’ve talked it through multiple times. I’ve said that I’ve forgiven her, how can she still be having trouble with it? Or maybe it’s not guilt about me she’s feeling.” Kara trailed off, and suddenly wrapped Kelly in a crushing hug. “Thanks Kelly, I know what I need to do now.”
With that, she sped out of the apartment, knowing how to fix things.