Chapter Text
“Yes, but she’s not mine!”
The ensuing silence from the two women was deafening, and even the doctors still monitoring Laurel seemed to be keeping the conversation to a minimum. Letting out a shuddering breath, Lena wiped at her blotchy cheeks with her shirt sleeve. Kara was looking at her with confusion and uncertainty, not sure what to make of Lena’s words, and the doctor pressed her lips together as she absorbed the news in silence.
“What- I don’t … I don’t understand,” Kara haltingly said, her tearstained face crumpling as she frowned. “What do you mean she’s not yours? You’re her mother. You- you’ve had her since the day she was born. I was there. I saw you with her.”
Closing her eyes, Lena let out a slow, shaky breath as memories of that day came flooding back to her. It had been her most closely guarded secret for nearly seven years, entrusted to no one else, not even Kara. And it wasn’t because of a lack of trust, but because Lena didn’t know how to share that with someone. It had taken her a while to trust Kara, to let her in and be her friend, and by that point it was too late for her to be honest about her daughter. But now she had no choice.
---
She was back in National City for summer break, and was filled with relief at the fact that it was nearly over. Just a few more weeks and she’d be back at Yale, free from her family for another term, even if her brother sent one of his men to keep tabs on her. After weeks spent wandering around the city, trying to avoid being back at home, with her overbearing mother and her brother dragging drug dealers and petty thieves into the house, the muffled sounds of shouts and the dull thuds of his men beating them to bloody pulps drifting through the floor and the walls, depending on where she was in the house.
Most of her time was spent at the park her father used to take her to when she was younger. They’d always called it Duck Park, because they went there to feed the ducks, back when she was still naive to the truth about her father’s business. She walked around that park for hours, following the paths and watching the ducks glide across the surface of the pond, thinking about all those times Lionel had brought her there. Lex would come too, in those earlier memories, and it was with bitter fondness that she visited that place. It was one of the few places she associated some fond memories with.
At the time that her phone rang, she wasn’t at the park. She was sitting in her car outside of the house, waiting for her brother to leave for his nightly trips to the city’s most popular gambling dens and exclusive nightclubs, watching as he staggered outside, already half a bottle of whisky into his night, while a cluster of young women decked out in gifted jewelry and designer brands given to them by Lex, followed after him and his entourage. They were a rotating selection, content to be Lex’s playthings for as long as he spoiled them, and were dumped as soon as he tired of them. She was watching them all make for the limousine parked outside the front door when her phone started buzzing in her pocket.
“Lena Luthor?” an unfamiliar voice greeted her, shaking slightly.
“Yes?”
“Meet me at the- the park you walk in every … every day in twenty minutes.”
“Excuse me?” Lena spluttered, pulling the phone away from her ear to look down at the lit screen with the unfamiliar number.
The voice started talking again, and she quickly pressed it back against her ear, listening to the heavy breathing in between words. “It’s about … it’s- fuck , it’s about your family’s safety.”
A prickle of unease ran down her spine, and she hesitated for a moment, listening to the ragged breaths of the woman on the other end. “Who is this?”
“Twenty minutes.”
The line went dead after that and Lena was left staring at the break lights of the limo, before it pulled away with her brother inside. Lena wasn’t overly concerned with her family’s safety - they weren’t good people, so why should she care if someone had it out for them? It wasn’t like they didn’t deserve it. If she knew that her brother could be imprisoned, she would’ve turned him in herself, but she knew from a young age that people in her family could get away with anything. They had enough money to throw at all of their problems, so what was the point? She didn’t care anymore. She couldn’t stop them, and she certainly wouldn’t help them.
But there was something about the phone call that made her hesitate. Something about that voice seemed desperate, and scared, and Lena felt uneasy as she gripped her steering wheel, sitting outside her house and dusk fully turned into night. With the inner city traffic, it would take twenty minutes for her to get to the park anyway, and after a brief moment of pause, Lena started her car and sped off down the street.
It started to rain as she drove through the city, rain splattering her windscreen, growing steadily heavier, and she felt unease twist her stomach as she neared her destination. Parking outside the park, she climbed out and hunched her shoulders against the biting wind and downpour of rain. The trees were dark shadows against the night, and the night was quiet beneath the canopy, as if she was transported to somewhere else, and not in the middle of National City. Rain dripped down from the leaves, and she splashed through puddles as she wandered along the paths. Ducks quacked nearby, off in the darkness, and she looked around anxiously, wondering if this was one of her brother’s games.
She made it to the closed ice cream stall in the middle of the park, and sat down on a bench, looking out at the inky surface of the pond. The water dimpled as rain pattered against the surface, and she curled in on herself as she listened to the muted sounds of the city and waited. No one came, and she was debating whether or not to leave, when she heard a quiet cry off in the distance.
Shooting to her feet, Lena brushed wet strands of hair out of her face as she peered into the darkness, her skin prickling as she looked around. It had sounded like a baby’s cry. Taking a slow step forward, she frowned, water running down her face, and took another hesitant step forward. There was another sharp cry, and she jerked her head towards the flickering yellow light outside the toilets. Quickly heading towards it, her curiosity piqued, she paused outside, before pushing the door open and ducking into the frigid air of the public toilets.
“Hello?” she hesitantly called out.
A muffled sob and a baby’s wail greeted her, and she frowned as she stepped further in, walking past two stalls with open doors and finding nothing inside. The last ones door was shut, and she could see a knee sticking out from beneath it. Reaching out, she gingerly pushed the door open, before it stopped against the woman’s leg.
“Hello?” Lena softly called again.
There was a shifting sound inside, and Lena hovered outside, waiting as the door was pulled open to reveal a woman with tear stained cheeks, holding a baby in her arms. She was oddly familiar to Lena, and she took a wary step back, her eyes going to the blood and the coat laying on the dirty toilet floor.
“What-”
“You probably don’t remember me,” the young woman said, her voice hoarse from crying. She held the baby slightly away from herself, and Lena was horrified to see that it was covered in blood and the white, greasy substance of a newborn baby.
Looking at the baby with wide eyes, Lena’s lips parted, but no words came out. Eventually, she looked up, meeting the woman’s dark brown eyes, and was struck with familiarity again. “I do,” she murmured, her eyebrows drawing together in a frown, “I don’t- I don’t know where … but I know you.”
“Your brother-”
Closing her eyes, Lena slowly exhaled, “you’re one of his girls.”
The woman pressed her lips together in a hard line, irritation flickering in her eyes, and she made a sound of annoyance at the back of her throat. “Yes.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Lena shivered in the cool air and gave her a sceptical look. “What do you want from me?”
“This is his baby,” the woman eventually said.
Eyebrows rising in surprise, Lena took a step closer, craning her neck to look down at the baby’s face, realising that the woman must've just given birth on the dirty floor of the public restroom. She knew her brother used and discarded women as he pleased, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’d managed to get one of them pregnant, but she failed to see how it concerned her. It wasn’t her baby.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth.”
The woman let out a strangled laugh, choking as she wiped her cheek as more tears ran down it, the baby nestled up in the crook of her elbow. “What have I got to gain by telling you?”
“Do you want money? Is that what you want?” Lena bluntly asked. “Are you too afraid to ask my brother? Or is it not his so-”
The woman blanched slightly, a look of anger running across her face, and she gave Lena a wounded look. “I won’t let your brother anywhere near her.”
“Then what-”
“I-I can’t- I can’t have her. You have to take her.”
Spluttering, Lena stepped back again, nearing the cracked porcelain sinks lining the wall, her wet shoes squeaking on the dirty tiled floor. “Me?! No, no. This is not my problem, lady.”
“If you don’t take her … he’ll kill her,” the woman said, her voice cracking. “You know what he’s like. You know what he’ll do to her, even if he takes her in. Should any child have to be raised around that?”
Lena’s sharp retort died on her lips, and she pressed her lips into a flat line as she was assaulted by dozens of memories. She flinched at the thought of men screaming, the sound of bones snapping, the feeling of her knuckles splitting as her father made her learn how to box, the sound of a gun firing, and the smell of gunpowder and metal clinging to her skin as she spent hours learning how to use different types of guns. That wasn’t the kind of life she’d wish upon anyone, even if it came with wealth and power. She swallowed the lump in her throat and numbly shook her head.
“But … what do you want me to do with her?”
“I don’t know,” the woman cried, a sob working its way up her throat as she held the baby out towards Lena. “But you have to take her. Y-you have to make sure he doesn’t hurt her. Please.”
Reaching out for the baby, Lena took her in her arms, the feeling unfamiliar and strange, and she gingerly held her in the crook of her arm, staring down at the brown eyes, identical to the woman’s, and felt a lump form in her throat. Tucking the woman’s sweater tightly around the baby, Lena looked up, a dubious look on her face. “And what about you?”
“There’s nothing left for me,” the woman said, her voice trembling as she raised her chin slightly. “I told them what he did. The police. I told them everything I knew.”
Lena’s face turned paler, and she gave the woman a grave look. “He’ll kill you for that.”
“No, he won’t,” the woman firmly said, setting her shoulders as she evenly met Lena’s gaze. Her brown eyes were swimming with tears, and she gave Lena a wavering smile. “Look after my little girl for me, Lena.”
She didn’t see the gun until the woman had it pressed up under her chin. Lena’s eyes went wide as she took a lunging step forward, her shout of warning swallowed up by the sound of the gun firing. Too late, Lena squeezed her eyes shut, pressing the baby to her chest as she turned around, putting her back to the woman as she shot herself. The sound of the body crumpling to the floor was sickeningly loud, and Lena opened her eyes long enough to find the sink, before she vomited into it, her whole body shaking as she tried to ignore the choking smell of blood coming from behind her.
Alone, with a newborn baby in her arms, Lena started to cry. She cried until the baby started to cry, and with startling surprise, Lena looked down at the screwed up face and felt something break inside her. If this was her brother’s child, then she couldn’t let him anywhere near her, and if it wasn’t, then she had no idea who the father was, and the girl’s mother lay dead on the floor behind her. Cradling her protectively against her shoulder, Lena bit back a sob as she tenderly held the baby’s head in her hand, knowing that whatever happened next, she couldn’t just leave her. This was her chance to do something good, to show that she was different to the rest of her family. This was her chance to give this little girl the childhood that she’d never had, and that included a mother that would love her.
---
“She’s Lex’s,” Lena numbly told Kara, memories of that night still bombarding her, “or at least the woman who gave her to me said. I don’t know. I never got a paternity test. It never mattered. She just- she needed a mom … so I gave her that.”
Shaking her head, Kara looked at her with wide, blue eyes, her lips parted as she was left speechless. The doctor hesitantly cleared her throat. “Miss Luthor? We need to make a decision as quickly as possible. Do you- the father … do you know what his blood type is? Would he possibly donate?”
“He’s O. I-I … shot him. At the park. He might be dead.”
“What’s his name?” the doctor quickly asked, her eyes burning with determination as she grabbed Lena’s arm.
“Alexander Luthor.”
Letting go, she called one of the interns over and quickly sent them off to see if any new patients had been brought in with a gunshot wound from the park that Laurel had been transported from. He wouldn’t be far behind them if the paramedics had brought Lex straight to the hospital, and if he was going to die anyway, then at least his organs could be used for something good.
“Miss Luthor?” the doctor called again, “the father … do you know the family?”
“He’s my- my brother.”
“Your brother,” the doctor repeated with surprise, “oh, okay, well, um, if- if he’s in … bad condition, there may be a chance that we could use his liver. We would need consent from a family member. You.”
Nodding, Lena swallowed thickly, blinking back tears. “Yes. Yes, I consent.”
The doctor nodded and gently ushered her out of the room, and Kara pressed her hand against Lena’s lower back, both of them led towards the waiting room while the intern went to find Lex. If he was on the brink of death, and they couldn’t save him - which they’d have to try very hard to - he could be the organ donor, and Lena silently prayed for his death, not feeling even slightly remorseful for wishing it. Her brother was a bad person, and the fact that he might die didn’t change that. Him dying and his organs being used to save someone else would be the kindest thing he’d ever done in his miserable life. Lightheaded, exhausted and brimming with throbbing pain, Lena numbly sat on a chair, hand pressed against the slow bleeding wound in her thigh, and waited to find out the fate of her daughter.
She sat there for what felt like forever, but couldn’t have been longer than ten minutes, before the doctor reappeared, a grave look on her face as she came to a stop in front of Lena. Gingerly climbing to her feet, fighting back a flinch of pain, Lena gave her an expectant look, full of hope as her bottom lip started to quiver and tears threatened to prick her eyes.
“Miss Luthor,” the doctor softly greeted her, “paramedics rushed your brother straight here, but Alexander was down on arrival. Doctors attempted to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful.”
Glancing to Kara, who had risen and taken hold of her hand, Lena frowned in confusion, “that- that’s good, right? That means we can use his organs-”
She cut off as Kara started to shake her head, before looking back to the doctor, who was giving her a strange look at being so hopeful about her own brother's death. “Unfortunately he was down for too long. All blood supply was cut off, which means that the organs aren’t viable. I’m very sorry.”
“But … Laurel,” Lena said, her voice cracking on her daughter’s name.
“I’ll do it,” Kara declared, stepping slightly forward, “my blood type is O.”
Head whipping around to face her, Lena looked at her with fear in her eyes. “What? No!”
Spluttering, Kara looked at her with surprise, “what do you mean, no? She needs a liver, Lena. She needs one now, or she’s going to die.”
“And what about you? Surgery is risky for anyone. Am I supposed to risk losing you too? I- I'll ask my mom, or- or-”
As hard as she tried, Lena started to cry again, tears streaming down her cheeks as she ducked her head down, too scared to even entertain the thought. Pressing her hand to her mouth, she bit back a sob and hunched her shoulders. They didn’t have many options, and Kara was offering up the easiest course of action, but it scared Lena even more than she already was. What if she lost them both? But even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew that she would be devastated if she lost Kara, but she would never recover if she lost her daughter. In Lena’s eyes, Laurel was hers completely. No one else’s. And she loved her more than anyone else, including Kara. It only made her cry harder to admit it to herself, but she knew that she had to let Kara to do this.
Cold hands cupped her cheeks and Lena was forced to raise her head as Kara gently urged her to meet her gaze. With a wavering smile, Kara rested her forehead against Lena’s. “I’ll be fine, Lena. I’m going to fix this, okay? She is mine too. She’s always been a little bit mine, and I couldn’t love her more if she was mine. So I’m going to do this for her.”
Reaching up, Lena pressed her bloody hand to her face, “I love you.”
“I know you do,” Kara whispered, peeling Lena’s hand from her face and pressing a soft kiss to her palm, “and you know how I’ve always felt about you. We’re a family; let me make sure that we stay that way.”
Nodding, Lena took a step back, her eyes on the floor, and she sat down hard onto her seat as she listened to Kara and Laurel’s doctor talk. Her vision blurred around the edges, and her breathing was loud to her ears as everything seemed to fade into the background. All too quickly, things were progressing, and she blinked in surprise as Kara cupped her cheek and gave her a chaste kiss, leaving her alone in the waiting room while she was escorted off by Laurel’s doctor.
A hollow feeling grew inside her, and she felt sickly faint as she swam in and out of consciousness, sitting slumped in her seat as people rushed around her. She wasn’t sure at which point she passed out exactly, but the last thing she remembered was darkness encroaching on her as she studied a woman sitting with her child on the chairs in the corner, fighting back the rising emotions inside her, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up on a hospital bed in the emergency room.
Leaden eyes peeling open to the harsh fluorescent strip light above her, Lena winced and recoiled back onto the thin hospital mattress, her eyes quickly shutting as they stung with tears. Her eyelids were painted red inside and she frowned as she realised that she was cold. Clumsily wrapping her arms around herself, she made a sound of annoyance as wires resisted the movement.
“Look who decided to finally wake up,” a voice to her right said, and Lena’s eyes flew open as she fully awoke.
Blinking slowly, she pushed herself up onto her elbows and took in the sight of Sam sitting on a low stool beside the bed, dark circles under her eyes, nurses scrubs on, and a relieved smile curling her lips. “Sam,” Lena croaked.
“Take it easy,” her friend warned her, rising to her feet to ease Lena back down onto the bed, “you lost a lot of blood. You nearly gave us a heart attack when Laurel’s intern came to bring us to you and you were passed out in the waiting room. Everyone thought you were asleep at first, but, well … I know you. You’re so stubborn you’d refuse to fall asleep until you knew if they were both out okay.”
“Are they?” she hoarsely asked, her heart rate picking up on the monitor as panic welled up inside.
Giving her a small smile, Sam squeezed her shoulder, “Kara’s out, but Laurel’s still going. It’s been about six hours.”
Trying to sit up, Lena stubbornly grit her teeth as pain flared up in her leg. She realised she was wearing a paper-thin hospital gown, and her right thigh was heavily bandaged where the stab wound had been stitched up. An IV was stuck into her left arm, and a bag of blood steadily dripped back into her. “I have to see her.”
“Oh no,” Sam laughed, “no, no, you have to stay right here. She’s in the ICU for now, so you can’t see her anyway. They’ll move her up to a ward in a few hours, and then when she wakes up they might let you in.”
Blinking back tears, Lena slowly nodded, falling back against the bed in defeat. Turning her head to the side, she looked at Sam and gave her a questioning look. “How long have you been here?”
“Four hours,” she replied with a shrug, “I was on shift when Alex called me to say that Kara called her and let her know what happened. I mean, it was a quick call so Alex isn’t even sure what happened, but … it’s a real mess. The police are here. They want to talk to you. Alex went to talk to them as your lawyer. And to get snacks. She hasn’t come back since.”
“You look exhausted. You should go home,” Lena sighed, her eyelids dragging closed again. They must’ve given her something for the pain, she assumed, and it must’ve been wearing off, because she could feel the burn in her leg, but her mind was foggy and her body felt heavy.
Quietly chuckling, Sam gave her a grim smile, “you should see yourself. I didn’t think you could get any paler.”
Snorting, Lena fumbled across the hospital bed, flipping her hand over and reaching for Sam, who rolled her stool forward to slip her hand into Lena’s, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’ve missed you.”
“Me too. You shouldn’t be allowed to go off on your own. You just get yourself into trouble every time.”
Lena winced as she laughed. “Alex has always been right about that.”
“Mm, well, she’s not blaming you for this one.”
“She should,” Lena murmured. “I was stupid.”
“It’s all going to be fine,” Sam quietly soothed her, rubbing her thumb over the back of Lena’s hand, “you just need to rest. Go to sleep and I’ll wake you up when Laurel gets out of surgery.”
The curtain was torn back and Alex stood on the other side, an armful of snacks from a vending machine held closely to her chest, and she gave Lena a half-hearted smile as she nodded. “You might have to hold off on sleep. Someone wants to talk to you.”
Further pulling back the curtain, a smaller woman was revealed, wearing a uniform and giving Lena a grim look. “Lena.”
“Maggie?” Lena said with surprise, wincing as she dragged herself up into a sitting position, dragging her leg with her.
“I, uh, I need you to answer a few questions,” the other woman said, pulling out a notepad and pen, looking a little embarrassed to be there after the way that things had been between the two of them the last time they’d met. Lena wondered how it was for Alex, who had broken up with her, and she cast a look at the other woman, taking in the furtive glances she kept giving the short cop. “I’m sorry, I know it’s not a good time, but-”
Shaking her head, Lena gave her a hard look, “no, no. It’s fine. I want to help.”
“Right,” Maggie said, hesitantly clearing her throat, before gesturing to her partner, who lingered behind slightly, and introducing him.
Stepping into the confines of the curtain, Alex tossed Sam a bar of chocolate and a bottle of soda and eased herself onto the edge of Lena’s bed, opening a bag of chips and handing them over to her. Giving her a small smile, Lena mumbled a thank you and plucked one out, watching as Maggie and her partner stepped in and drew the curtain around them.
They were blunt with their questions, both of them writing notes, and Lena tried to be as forthcoming as she could with her information, although she kept DEO information to herself. It hurt her to recount the events that had just transpired, things a little blurry or confusing with how fast it had all happened, and she was only half-focused on the conversation as her mind was occupied with thoughts of her daughter’s surgery, and thoughts of the woman she loved, unconscious somewhere else in the hospital.
Still, she did the best that she could, picking at the snacks that Alex fed her, propped up on the bed that Sam adjusted for her, and did her best to cooperate. They didn’t keep her long, and Maggie was apologetic about the intrusion, leaving as fast as she could, although Alex went after her, trying to justify herself to Sam and Lena as it being about ensuring that Lena wasn’t going to be held accountable for Lex’s death. Lena was too tired to care, and was mildly taken by surprise to remember that her brother had died from the gunshot wound to the chest she’d inflicted. It seemed surreal. He’d tormented her for years, trapping her with his threats and his games, and it hardly seemed real that she was free. Lena didn’t think she’d believe it for a long while.
By the time they’d gone, and a doctor had come by to check on her, removing the empty blood bag and detaching the IV, Kara had awoken, and Lena was eager to see her. Laurel’s surgery should be over soon, she’d been informed, which meant that she needed to see Kara before her daughter woke up. Shortly after she’d been permitted to leave her bed, but only under strict instructions that she stay in a wheelchair, she let Sam wheel her up to the right floor, while Alex carried the remainder of their snacks and followed behind.
Upon arrival at the private room they’d but Kara in, Lena’s eyes flooded with tears, although she’d known that Kara wasn’t injured, and she had to take a deep breath to steady herself before Sam wheeled her in after Alex. Propped up on the pillows, looking wan and tired, Kara gave Lena a faint smile as she entered, which quickly turned to concern at the fact that she was being wheeled in.
“What happened?” Kara gasped.
“It’s nothing,” Lena said, giving her a tearful smile as she shakily laughed.
With a heavy sigh, Alex took a seat in one of the chairs up against the far wall and gave Lena a hard look, “Lena forgot to mention she got stabbed. We found her in the waiting room passed out from blood loss.”
“I’m fine,” Lena quickly assured Kara, who was about to scold her. “It was just a little cut on my leg. I got it looked at while you were being operated on. It’s nothing, really. Now, how’re you feeling?”
With a snort of laughter, Kara waved her hand, brushing aside the question. “They gave me pain meds. I can’t feel a thing. How’s Ducky?”
“She-” Lena faltered for a moment, “she’s not out yet.”
Kara paused for a moment, before a hesitant smile stretched across her face. “I’m sure it’s going perfectly. She has your stubbornness, so it has to, right?”
“Exactly,” Alex said, a look of worry in her brown eyes, even as she tried to be optimistic, for everyone else’s sakes.
Weakly chuckling, Lena nodded, giving Kara a strained smile, even as her eyes softened with love. "Thank you, Kara. Thank you."
With a dismissive wave of her hand, Kara gave her a dopey smile, and Lena knew that she would've done it again in a heartbeat. For Lena and her daughter, Kara would do anything, and Lena didn't think she could have loved her more at that moment. They were relatively quiet as they let Kara rest, keeping her company as they were all left alone with their thoughts. Sam was tired from a long shift, Lena was still feeling faint from her blood loss and fighting off her brother, and Kara drifted in and out of consciousness, high on pain medication. Lena’s thoughts were completely occupied with thoughts of her daughter, and it was nearly another hour before her doctor came and gave her a tired smile of relief, informing her that the transplant had gone well and that she should be fine.
If she had any more tears left inside her, Lena supposed she would’ve cried, but as it was, she was completely drained and was weak with relief as Sam wheeled her to the children’s ward to see her daughter as soon as she was allowed to. She left Kara to rest with a parting kiss on the back of her hand, and a quiet warning for her not to strain herself. Slinking down in her wheelchair, Lena was led through wide hallways, the smell of antiseptic making her slightly nauseous as her stomach already tied itself into knots, and she grew more anxious with each passing moment, until she couldn’t stand the thought of being away from her daughter for a moment longer. Sam led her to the ward they’d been given and opened up a door, revealing the dimly lit room covered in colourful patterned kids things.
Laurel was unconscious on the bed, machines monitoring her vitals, and Lena had to swallow the lump that rose in her throat as she took in the thin form of her daughter’s body beneath the covers. Sam wheeled her over to the side of the bed, and Lena took in the pallid look of Laurel’s tanned skin, the dark circles beneath her eyes, and the unusual stillness. She was normally so energetic, barely able to sit still, always laughing and asking questions, or asking Lena to play with her or take her to the park. It felt wrong to see her laying so still in a hospital room, all stiff and straight. She usually slept all splayed out, taking up a surprising amount of room for such a small person, and Lena choked on a sob as she reached out to brush dark curls out of her face, tracing the side of her daughter’s face.
At Lena’s insistence, Sam left to go home to her own daughter, and she sat in silence beside her daughter, watching her chest rise and fall and silently thanking Kara as her heart filled with an impossible amount of love. Things had gone from bad to worse in such a short period of time that Lena was having trouble trying to process everything, but all she knew in that moment was that she loved her daughter, and she loved her best friend, and both of them were safe. That was enough for her for now. They’d have to slowly piece things back together, possibly taking even longer than she’d originally anticipated, now that Kara needed time to recover from surgery, and she’d have to look after her daughter, but for the first time in what felt like forever, she felt safe. Despite the circumstances, she felt safe from the threat of her family, and felt like she had all the time in the world to figure things out now. Once everyone had healed, there would be time for it all. At the moment, all she cared about was her daughter waking up.
It was dark outside by the time that Laurel finally stirred, the room lit by the lamp on the nightstand, and Lena was quickly alert as she heard the rustle of the blankets, blinking back sleep as she sat up straight, holding her daughter’s hand tightly in her own. She gently squeezed the cold fingers and watched as Laurel’s eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks.
“Ducky?”
“Mommy?” her daughter slurred, eyelashes batting more rapidly before they managed to part to reveal almond-shaped brown eyes.
Lena’s face split into a smile as her eyes filled with tears, love welling up inside her as she let out a weak laugh of relief. Kissing the back of her daughter’s hand, she let go with one hand to gently cup her cheek and run her thumb over a high cheekbone. “It’s me,” Lena choked out, “it’s your mom.”