Ghosts, Karma, and Coffee
“Anything, Supergirl?” Kara scans the streets, shops, and various buildings in National City near the docks. Kara sighs heavily.
“Nothing here, J’onn.” Since the Kryptonite incident at the docks two weeks ago, Kara, J’onn, and Alex have been combing the area for anything related to the person that attacked Kara. Despite their efforts, they have come up empty, finding nothing. Not even the shipping company that delivered the cargo boxes with the silver disc device in them. Fortunately, Winn used the security cameras to follow the person into one of the nearby buildings but has never seen them since and Kara has investigated the area thoroughly.
“Let’s head back to the DEO and get a fresh start,” J’onn says, clearly exhausted. Reluctantly, Kara has to agree. Everyone’s been working diligently to find this rogue. When Kara lands on the DEO helipad, Alex walks over to her.
“You okay, Kara?” Alex’s face pinches with worry. Kara shrugs, casting her eyes on the concrete floor. Everything seems off-kilter since the incident and the kiss with Lena. Like all the universe’s karmic energy came down onto Kara all at once.
“I’m fine, Alex.” Kara can still feel Alex’s gaze on her, but she walks off toward Winn. As a technical genius, Winn has access to several programs that allow him to use satellites to track people based on their DNA or appearance or something. Kara isn’t exactly sure how it all works, but as long as Winn does, it doesn’t matter.
“Winn, any updates?” Spinning in his chair, Winn faces Kara, his face saying everything. That there’s no update. Nothing. Like this person is a ghost.
“Sorry, Kara. I have nothing…” Winn looks dejected, his typically energetic energy dwindled. Kara nods, attempting to reassure her friend. J’onn and Alex come up to them, exchanging knowing looks. Kara cocks her head to the side.
“Alex? J’onn? What’s going on?” Alex looks once more at J’onn before clearing her throat.
“Well, uh, Kara, I need to tell you something.” Kara furrows her brow.
“What?”
“The only place someone could get Kryptonite is from LuthorCorp.” Kara takes a moment to digest the information. LuthorCorp has Kryptonite? When did that happen? How did that happen? Kara’s mouth gapes open and closed as she tries to come up with something to say. “Kara…” Alex tries to step forward to take her arm. She shrugs her off.
“I’m fine, Alex. I think I’ll pay a visit to Lena.” Kara turns and walks to the helipad before taking off into the night sky. Kara takes a few laps around the city before heading to LuthorCorp. She needs to cool off before confronting Lena about having Kryptonite in her possession.
Hovering near the 22nd floor of LuthorCorp, Kara looks through the windows, trying to spot Lena. She’s in her office typing frantically on her laptop while drinking a glass of whiskey. Even stressed, Lena looks gorgeous. Her long raven-colored hair is tied up in a tight bun and she’s wearing another pantsuit, the color of fresh fallen snow that accents her hair. Kara flies closer to the balcony that comes off the one side of the office before making a small noise so as not to startle the woman. Lena whips her head in the direction of the balcony, spotting Kara hovering a few meters away. Kara watches as Lena stands and, without her heels, walks to the balcony door. Unlatching it, Lena steps out and the soft breeze catches her jacket. Lena crosses her arms.
“Supergirl. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Kara hovers closer, landing on the other side of the balcony.
“Lena. I hope you are well. I am here because I have a question for you.” Lena nods, leaning against the balcony railing. “As you know, I was attacked by someone who had access to Kryptonite. The DEO and Alex have sources to indicate that LuthorCorp is the only place where someone could have gotten it.”
“What are you implying, Supergirl? That I had something to do with the attack?” Lena’s eyes narrow, her body language becoming defensive.
“No, that’s not…” Kara rubs her eyes exasperatedly. “Have you had any theft recently? After the fire, maybe?”
“No, nothing of the sort. My security is impenetrable.” Involuntarily, Lena shivers against the wind and Kara suppresses all urges to walk over to embrace her, warming her.
“Maybe it was an inside job?”
“Absolutely not. If you don’t have anything important or useful here, Supergirl, I have work that needs to be done,” Lena snaps angrily. Kara reels back like she’s been slapped. Lena’s anger comes unexpectedly, and Kara didn’t mean to upset her. Kara takes a step towards Lena but stops as Lena puts up a hand. “Don’t. I don’t want to see you ever again, Supergirl. Unless absolutely necessary.” She turns and stalks back inside, slamming the glass balcony door as much as she can without it shattering. Kara swallows hard against the tears beginning to form. Stepping back, she takes off from the balcony, heading anywhere but back to the DEO or her apartment.
After aimlessly flying around National City for several hours, Kara finally heads back to her apartment. Of course, J’onn and Alex both tried to contact her, but she shut them out. Ignoring them is the best course of action for Kara at the moment. She needs space. She needs to figure out her life that’s currently spiraling out of control. Landing on one of the tallest skyscrapers in National City, Kara sits on the edge, dangling her legs off the side. The wind picks up, blowing her hair and her cape around her. She glances down at the symbol on her chest. In Kryptonian, it means ‘hope,’ but Kara doesn’t feel like she’s brought any hope to the city lately. Kara sits on the skyscraper, watching the clouds above her float around without direction. No, that’s wrong. In the direction the wind takes them. Willingly. Maybe that’s what Kara should do. Instead of trying to control and direct her life the way she wants, she should let the wind take her. Metaphorically, of course. Kara sighs, the weight of everything crushing her chest.
“How do you handle this, Kal-El?” Kara wonders aloud. Obviously, there’s no response because Clark is in Metropolis. Several hours later, Kara notices the sun beginning to peek through the dense morning clouds. National City will begin waking soon and she should get to CatCo. Taking off towards her apartment, however, Kara slips under the covers and tries to block out the overwhelming sense of dread she’s feeling.
“Kara! Kara? Are you in there?” Kara snaps awake to the sound of Alex pounding on her apartment door. Groaning, she rolls over to look at the time. It’s three p.m. “Kara, I’ll break down your door if you don’t open up!” Kara groans again, knowing Alex’s threat is real because it happened once. Another story for another time.
“Coming!” She calls from the bedroom. Dragging herself to the door, she peeks through the peephole to see Alex standing there with her hands on her hips. Unhooking the chain and deadbolt, Kara pulls the door open. Alex raises an eyebrow at her. Kara looks down, still dressed in her pajamas, her hair disheveled, and she’s certain there are dark circles underneath her eyes to compliment the look.
“Kara…” One look at her and Alex softens. Kara steps aside as Alex enters her apartment.
“What’s up, Alex? I was sleeping.” Kara closes the door, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as Alex begins making coffee.
“Why are you sleeping at three in the afternoon, Kara?” As the coffee pot begins gurgling out the bitter brown liquid, Alex pulls out two mugs from the cupboard before glancing at Kara questioningly. “And you better stop telling me you are fine. You’re clearly not.”
“I had a long night.” Kara sits at the picnic-style kitchen table, playing with the mug that Alex set down.
“Doing what?”
“Does it matter?” Kara instantly regrets her tone. “Sorry, I’m just… I don’t know. I feel…off, Alex. Like everything I’m doing is wrong. Last night is a good example.”
“What happened last night?” Alex asks as she pours the coffee, creamer, and sugar into Kara’s mug. Kara takes a sip before answering.
“I talked to Lena. About the Kryptonite.”
“And?”
“And…she never wants to see Supergirl ever again.” Kara sighs heavily, staring into the creamy brown coffee in her mug. Alex shuffles into the seat beside her, her mug filled to the brim with coffee.
“Oh, Kara. It’s okay. It’ll all be okay.” Alex begins running her hand on Kara’s back, making small circles like their mom did whenever one of them was upset. The motion almost always managed to make Kara feel better about any situation. “We’ll figure it out, okay?” Kara nods, taking another sip of her coffee.
The next day, Kara sits in front of Cat in her office. Several, large, TVs play various news stories on the wall behind Cat which becomes somewhat distracting to Kara as she attempts to pay attention to Cat.
“Kiera? Are you listening?” Kara redirects her attention back to Cat.
“Yes, Ms. Grant.”
“Good, then you will have the article done by Friday, yes?” Kara silently curses herself for getting distracted by the news alerts behind Cat.
“Yes, the article for…?” Cat sighs.
“Lena Luthor’s interview. The article needs to be done by Friday.” Kara nods quickly.
“Of course, Ms. Grant.”
“That’s all, Kiera.” With Cat’s attention no longer on Kara, she slips out of Cat’s office to her desk. Sitting down, Kara pulls out her notebook and laptop before digging for the voice recorder. Frowning, Kara empties her bag onto her desk. Completely unnecessary because she has X-ray vision. The voice recorder is missing. The last time she had it was in Lena’s office. Two weeks ago. Kara lays her head on her desk, unable to deal with the idea of facing Lena again. Minus the interaction with Supergirl two days ago, Kara hasn’t seen Lena as Kara since the kiss. Maybe she could send Nia… No. That’s not an option. Kara has to go herself.