Chapter 1: I have a Doctor's Appointment
Chapter Text
“Jess!” Lena calls out.
A few seconds later her assistant opens the door. “Yes Ms. Luthor?”
“Cancel the rest of my plans for this morning till one,” Lena announced, “I have to go.”
“To where Ms. Luthor?” Jess asked.
Lena paused, not really wanting to disclose that information, but then again- it was Jess. Lena cleared her throat, feeling that small itch that was the reason she was going in the first place.
“I have a doctor’s appointment this morning,” Lena answered. Jess’s mouth practically dropped open. Lena pursed her lips. “I know what you're going to say- but Kara is the one making me do this.”
Jess let out a small smile. Lena rolled her eyes at her and walked out the door, hearing Jess’s footsteps following.
“When will you be back?” Jess questioned.
Lena pressed the door to the elevator. “A little after 1:00, I’m having a lunch date with Kara.”
Jess nodded, “sounds nice, I’ll see you when you return.”
Lena entered the elevator and smiled at Jess at the doors closed. She felt the little itch in the back of her throat again, and coughed in an attempt to make it go away. Lena started to remember back to that morning when she had a minor coughing fit in Kara’s bathroom while she was doing her hair.
Of course, because of her super hearing, Kara heard. She had insisted Lena go to the doctor’s and even made an appointment for her. Lena had insisted she was fine, that she worked through sickness much worse than this alone at her office. Lena had to admit- looking back on it- that that was a poor choice of words to convince Kara to let it go.
Lena smiled to herself, then put her composure back in place when the elevator doors opened. A few of her employees greeted her as she left the building, where her driver was waiting for her.
“Good morning Ms. Luthor!” Al said with a cheery voice and a smile on his face. Lena really needed to give that man a raise. Everyday- rain or shine- he drove her wherever the hell she wanted, with a smile.
“Good morning Al,” Lena greeted back just as cheerfully. “How are the kids?”
Al opened the car door for Lena as he answered. “It seems like they never lose energy,” Al laughed, “George is turning 4 in a few days.”
Lena’s smile grew, “Wow, already? Tell him happy birthday for me!”
“Will do Ms. Luthor,” Al chuckled and shut the door once she was settled.
The drive was spent with Lena staring out the window imagining seeing her beautiful girlfriend flying through the sky, saving people’s lives. She must have sighed- or said something because when she looked forward, she spotted Al looking at her in the mirror with a big smile on his face.
Lena blushed then pulled out her phone.She was staring at the screen- but she wasn’t really looking at it. Instead of Kara flying through the sky, she was flying through Lena’s brain. The back of her throat tickled and brought her back to the present. She realized that they had arrived only after Al had opened the door for her.
She cleared her throat. “Thank you- Al.”
“No problem Ms. Luthor,” Al said. Lena could tell he was holding back a smile. “I will be here when you are finished.”
Lena waved her hand. “Nonsense, go home- be with your kids for a few hours. Kara will pick me up for our lunch date.”
Al nodded and went back to the driver's side. Before he climbed in he said, “have a nice time Ms. Luthor.”
Lena smiled and nodded, watching Al drive away before heading inside. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. ‘Let’s just get this done with,’ she thought. The waiting room was relatively empty, so after checking herself in, she took a seat by the far wall. There was a TV in her view, so she put her phone down and watched the news.
The slide screen at the bottom read, ‘Supergirl stops scientist trying to poison the lake with a strange black goo.’
Lena made a weird face at the screen. “A strange black goo.” Lena frowned, she had heard about that “goo”. Apparently if ingested it was supposed to essentially kill you from the inside, but it had a faulty chemical makeup- and the worst it would do would make you wish you were dead for a few days. A fool if Lena had ever seen one. That man was just a mad guy who wanted to leave a pointless mark on the world. But Lena suspected that contaminating the lake would probably kill people anyway, despite the goo not being dangerous.
Finally somebody opened the door and called her name. She gave the TV one last glance then followed after the nurse. She was led down a series of hallways into a typical looking hospital room. This one had windows that she could look out of, and it made the room seem less scary. The nurse took her vitals and then left, leaving Lena alone. She coughed to rid herself of the itch, but this time it didn’t go away the first time. After a few minutes of waiting, Lena was starting to become impatient, and when Lena was impatient she usually became snappy- or worse- paranoid.
The giant windows in the room weren’t helping with the feeling that something was wrong. She played with her fingers while sitting on the patient's bed. She picked up her phone, and was seriously debating dialing Kara and telling her that coming to the doctor was pointless. After another minute of nothing- Lena broke. She opened up her contacts and clicked Kara’s name. The phone rang for a few seconds before she heard the click that told her Kara had picked up.
“Hey Lena!” Kara greeted. “Are you at the doctors?”
Lena almost scoffed out loud. “Yea, I’ve been waiting for close to twenty minutes now, with no sign of the doctor. If I’m waiting for half an hour, I’m walking out, so you better be ready to pick me up.”
“I can tell you are annoyed,” Kara began. Lena snorted amused at the statement. “-but just be patient, I’m sure they will be in soon. Besides, you know I wouldn’t let you leave.”
Lena sighed. “Yea. Fine. But he better be in here soon.” She heard Kara laugh on the other end. “But- Kara. I’m going to be honest, I have a bad feeling.”
She could practically hear Kara’s eye roll. “Lena, you only think that because you have never gone to the doctor. It’s totally fine- well, I mean. I don’t really know- cause I haven’t been there, and Alex doesn’t go either…. But I’m sure it’s fine!”
“Uh huh,” Lena said sarcastically, “you definitely convinced me with that argument.”
Kara laughed again, “yea… but seriously, It will be fine. I’ll see you in a bit, love you!”
“Love you too,” Lena sighed. She heard Kara laugh one more time before she hung up. Fine. For Kara.
She tapped her fingers impatiently, trying to shake the bad feeling. Before she could get up and start pacing, the door opened- revealing an older man in a white doctor’s coat. Lena squinted at him. He had a strange resemblance to the mad man she saw on TV, but she chalked it up to her impatient paranoia.
“Well Ms. Luthor,” he said, his voice surprisingly light and cheery, “I haven’t seen you in here before, and I remember all my patients.”
Lena cleared her throat subconsciously. “Well, if I’m honest- this is the first time I’ve been to the doctor since I was little.”
The doctor looked at her curiously. “I’m Doctor Motar, and based on your very detailed symptoms chart-” he said that bit sarcastically “-you have a scratchy throat.”
Lena rubbed her throat without realizing, then quickly moved her hand away. “Yes.”
The doctor looked up from his papers. “Are you afraid of the Doctors Ms. Luthor?”
Lena scoffed, “why would I be afraid of the Doctors?”
It was his turn to look at her disbelievingly, “well for starters: You filled out the bare minimum of personal information, you wrote almost next to nothing about your symptoms, and when I walked in, you seemed close to jumping out the window. It seems to me like you don’t want me to actually know anything about you.”
Lena scoffed again- then realized she should stop doing that; it was making her throat hurt. “That’s very presumptuous of you, and besides you’re wrong.”
“Uh huh,” he said, “well, I’ll give you some medication and send you on your way.”
“Finally,” Lena muttered under her breath.
Lena watched Dr. Motar prepare something at the counter. She sniffed in annoyance at how long it was taking.
“You are a very impatient woman,” Dr. Motar commented.
“I’m a very busy woman,” Lena shot back.
Dr. Motar grunted in acknowledgement. He held up some sort of syringe gun. “This is going to make you feel better. It’s something I’ve been working on most of my life, and I’ve finally perfected it.”
The Doctor stepped toward Lena, and she basically jumped off of the bed and stepped away. “If you’re going to dose me with an experimental drug, I’m going to leave. I can make my own drug.”
Dr. Motar chuckled. “I promise it’s safe. It’s only meant to strengthen your immune system and rid you of the illness.”
Lena frowned at him. He took another step toward her, she took another back. He tilted his head and put his hands up. Lena bit her lip. She felt the pestering itch in the back of her throat and groaned inwardly. Against her better judgement, she sat back down on the patient's bed, and lowered her jacket so Motar could see her shoulder. He moved slowly to her, and pressed the cold metal against her skin. She braced herself for the pain as she heard a click. The gun pressed into arm, and she felt something break her skin. It didn’t hurt, but it felt strange; she could feel every drop of- whatever it was- flowing through her veins. Lena’s muscles tensed and in response she felt pain from her shoulder- where the gun was still injecting the antidote.
“Relax, Lena,” Dr. Motar instructed, “it won’t hurt if you relax, it’s almost….done!”
With a click and a snap, he pulled the gun away. Lena gasped in surprise, her arm felt terribly sore. She was about to rub her arm, but the Doctor quickly slapped her hand away and applied a bandage before Lena could even look at the damage to her arm.
She gave him a look as he finished applying the bandage. He looked up at her, “I’m sorry about that. I wouldn’t take your bandage off for at least a day, but I would move your arm as much as possible, it will feel a lot less sore later.”
Lena nodded and made sure he saw that she was rubbing her arm. She wished that she wasn’t so stubborn sometimes, because rubbing her arm was only making it hurt worse. Dr. Motar raised his eyebrows at her but said nothing. Lena got up to leave, but before she closed the door fully, she saw Dr. Motar smiling at her. His face sent shivers down Lena’s spine, and she shut the door abruptly. She felt sick to her stomach, and it wasn’t because of the mystery drug.
Lena noted to herself to run tests on her blood the second her lunch date with Kara was done. She walked back down the same hallways as before, but this time it felt like everybody- patient, doctor, and nurse alike- were watching her. She tugged at her purse around her shoulder nervously. She picked up her pace- heels clicking echoed through the hallway.
Fortunately as soon as she exited the building, Kara was there waiting for her. Lena smiled as she walked to her girlfriend. Before either of them could say anything, Kara’s hand whipped out from behind her back holding a big swirly rainbow lollipop, one she dreamed of having when she was kid.
Lena laughed loudly. She took the lollipop and smiled so brightly she felt like she was the sun. “Kara- I-” she couldn’t seem to find the words.
Kara shrugged like it was nothing. “Patients always get a lollipop after going to the doctors… or so I’ve heard.”
Lena pulled Kara into a hug. Tears welled in Lena’s eyes, but she wiped them before Kara could see.
“Thank you!” Lena said, “this means a lot.”
“It was nothing,” Kara reassured, “now let’s go get some lunch.”
Lena nodded and climbed into the front seat of Kara’s car. Lena cringed slightly when she felt a crunch under her shoe. She looked down and saw a half full water bottle- amongst some other bottles and trash.
“I’m so so sorry-” Kara apologized quickly when she got it. She threw a water bottle from under her chair into the back. “I don’t use this car a lot- and obviously I haven’t cleaned it in a while. I can pick it up quick it you want- or we can walk-”
“Kara,” Lena interrupted her, “It’s fine, really.”
Kara smiled sheepishly and then put the car into drive. They started off smoothly until Kara slammed on the brakes before they made 2 feet. Lena threw her hands out in front of her- which caused pain to flair in her shoulder. She let out a yelp the second time Kara did it- managing to at least get out from behind the car in front of them.
“Sorry!” Kara shouted. She adjusted her glasses.
Lena let out her breath and leaned back- still ready to catch herself if Kara slammed on the brakes again. This time Kara made it to the hospital lot exit, but she wasn’t slowing down.
Lena assumed that she would start slowing down soon, but when she didn’t and they were almost at the stop sign she shouted, “KARA SLOW DOWN!”
Kara physically jumped in her seat and Lena heard her foot slam down. She threw her arms in front of her face when the seatbelt caught her from impacting the dashboard. The whiplash made Lena’s head spin.
“Sorry! I’m so so so sorry- I forgot- that’s oh my, I’m so sorry!” Through Kara’s rushed and rambling apologies Lena heard her shift the car into park.
Lena slowly turned her head to look at Kara, her eyebrows raised. Kara was looking at her like a deer in headlights when Lena spoke. “How about I drive?” She suggested. At first Lena wasn’t sure if Kara heard her- but then she nodded quickly.
Lena unbuckled her seatbelt- which was practically hugging her- and got out of the car. When Kara got out she gave Lena a big hug.
“Sorry,” she chuckled nervously.
“It’s fine Kar- I think I can see why you don’t use it very often,” Lena commented.
Kara blushed and smiled awkwardly. They both got in the car and Lena shifted the stick into drive. She looked both ways then turned the car onto the road. The drive was smooth, and fun even as Kara blasted some Katy Perry and opened the windows. Lena and Kara both sang along, and the last song that played was ‘Fireworks’ as they pulled up to Noonan’s. They ordered their usuals and sat down at a booth by a window.
“So how did the doctor's appointment go?” Kara asked before sipping her coffee.
Lena grabbed her arm and tapped her pointer finger twice before putting her hand down. She shrugged, “it was going fine.”
Kara perked up, “...going fine?”
Lena shifted uncomfortably, unsure how to explain it. “He gave me this… new drug. It supposedly strengthens the immune system and cures your illness or whatever.”
Kara sat back. “You’re going to run tests aren’t you?” Lena nodded. Kara rolled her eyes like she knew that was coming. “Then what?”
Lena swallowed her bite of sandwich. “Well, the weird part was when he actually administered the drug. It was like I could feel it coursing through my entire body…and it seemed like it went on forever.” Lena paused for a moment. “Then I was done, and when I tried to touch my arm and slapped my hand away and bandaged my arm so quickly I didn’t even get a chance to see the bruise he said I'd have.”
Kara was looking at her all concerned like, and Lena felt like she had to continue.
“As I left… he gave me the weirdest look. I mean I guess it wasn’t weird, per say- but creepy. He just watched me go, with a giant smile on his face. It scared me a little, Kara.”
Kara pursed her lips, took a sip of coffee, then scrunched her face in thought. “Well, I’m not really sure what to say. I mean you were waiting for a while and we both know how you can get. I bet he was just being nice.”
“And slapping me?”
Kara raised her eyebrows, showing that what she was saying was a possibility even though she didn’t believe it. “Maybe he just didn’t want you to hurt yourself?...”
One of Lena’s eyebrows raised quickly in acknowledgement. She didn’t feel like talking about it anymore. “How is it going at Catco?”
This time it was Kara’s turn to be shy about what she was saying. “Fine.”
“Kara.”
“Ugh. FiNe!” Kara slumped in her chair. “It sucks. Our new boss is even worse than Andrea was when we first met her- but like in a different way! He’s so. SO- ugh- condescending! And arrogant! And he thinks he’s the best writer there!” Kara voice was raised. Lena kept her amusement to herself and looked at Kara like her problem was the only one on planet earth.
“And I’ve seen his work! It's AVERAGE at BEST!” Kara punctuated her statement by sitting back in her chair dramatically.
Lena choked on her coffee. She laughed a little once she could breathe again. Kara gave her an annoyed look. “I’m sorry my misery is funny to you.”
“No no-” Lena chuckled again. “I’m sorry. That does sound hard. It’s just…”
Kara sat forward in faux interest.
“You’re just so cute when you're mad,” Lena finished with a shrug.
Kara’s face lit up and she crossed her arms. “Awww. You really think so?”
Lena almost choked again. She nodded as she coughed inside her mouth. Kara took a happy bite of her sandwich and stared out the window. After a moment she sighed and said, "I guess I can go back to work knowing that you think I’m cute.”
Lena spit out her coffee this time. Kara laughed loudly as Lena let out a series of coughs and wheezes. The hot coffee burned her previously scratchy throat as she tried to collect herself. Kara grabbed a napkin and started wiping Lena’s mouth, but Lena slapped her hand away.
“I can do it myself,” she rasped.
Kara kept laughing at her as she cleaned herself up. Suddenly Kara’s watch started beeping.
“Oh no! I have to get my story in or Patrick will KILL ME!” Kara scrambled to collect her things. She gave Lena a peck on the cheek and shouted, “I love you!” as she left.
She chuckled to herself and ordered a cup of water. She checked her own watch and noted with a sigh that she would be back at the office half an hour early. Thankfully Al was waiting for her, with a meal of his own sitting on the hood of his car. When he saw her exit Noonan’s and packed his meal in a plastic bag, and put it into the paper one. He wiped his mouth quickly and opened Lena’s door.
“Thanks Al,” Lena said, climbing in.
She watched all the cars pass by as they drove back to L-corp. The rest of the afternoon consisted of numerous phone calls, one board meeting, a mid-day coughing fit, and a muffin for dinner before Lena headed down to the labs for the night. She had already texted Kara that she’d be home a little later, and got to work.
She picked up her recorder. “Test one. I drew my blood and found a black liquid mixed in. I can only assume that the substance is the magic drug. I extracted it from my blood and have started analyzing its properties.”
She put the recorder down. It would take a few hours to get results, but she wanted to test one more thing. She put her arm in an x-ray machine of her own making. It showed an image of her veins and arteries and she could see the drug running its course. Lena narrowed her eyes when she saw that the substance started to dissolve.
She gasped when all traces of it disappeared, which caused her throat to itch and she coughed. The cough turned into a fit, but in the middle- the urge suddenly went away. She felt fine- better than fine. She rubbed her throat and bit her lip in thought. Maybe it was really a magical drug.
She shook her head and cursed herself for being foolish. “There is no such thing, Lena,” she whispered to herself.
She took one last look at the machines analyzing the drug before shutting off the lights and heading home. She knocked on the door of Kara’s apartment even though she knew Kara knew that Lena was here. She walked in, dropped her bag and kicked her shoes off.
Kara was sitting on the couch watching tv and didn’t look away from the car chase when Lena walked in. “Hey babe!” she called in between chews of popcorn.
Lena smiled and joined her on the couch. She crawled under Kara’s arms and laid on a pillow on her lap. One of Kara’s hands offered her popcorn- which she took- while the other stroked her raven hair.
“How did the testing go?” she asked.
Lena sighed and turned to look up at Kara. Kara looked down into her green eyes. “Fine I guess. Maybe I was wrong.” Kara raised an eyebrow. Lena sat up and leaned against the opposite arm rest. “The drug dissolved into my blood, and in the middle of a coughing fit- suddenly it went away. And now I’m fine.”
“Well that's good!” Kara exclaimed.
Lena shrugged. “I guess. I still have a few tests running on the drug itself so hopefully they provide some insight.”
Kara smirked. “Well in the meantime…”
Kara scooted over next to Lena so fast and kissed her on the lips hard. Lena cupped her face and kissed her back. The next moment suddenly Lena was running away from Kara- who was trying to tickle her.
“KARA!” she screamed playfully.
Lena managed to get to the other side of the island in Kara’s kitchen and that started with the cat-and-mouse chase around the table.
“I’m gonna get you!” Kara cheered.
Lena laughed, then screamed when Kara jumped over the island. Lena barely got away before Kara's hands could grab her. She ran into her bathroom and shut the door, locking it. She kept her back to the door as she caught her breath. Maybe it was because she hasn’t run in awhile, but she was finding it hard to get enough air.
“Leeeeeenaaaa!” Kara taunted, “you can't stay in there foreverrrrr.”
“Haha- try me!” Lena said breathily.
Lena stopped leaning on the door and grabbed a cup of water. She took a big gulp, then wiped her mouth. Her breathing was still a little erratic- but she would live. She smoothed back her air and grabbed the watergun Kara kept under her sink. Time to round two- but this time it was Lena’s turn to be the cat. She opened the door- and Kara screamed.
Chapter 2: "Please Come get me"
Notes:
Hey! I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter! I love Supercorp and wish it was an actual thing in the show! Leave a comment! Let me know you're alive lolll!! Love to all!!!
Chapter Text
Lena woke up and felt pain in her stomach. This was new. She got up with a grunt. She walked to her bathroom, hunched over slightly. Maybe she was starting her period. She looked at her calendar posted next to her mirror. She still had a week. Lena frowned, maybe she had a stomach bug- or maybe it was just a cramp.
Lena straightened, determined not to let anything stop her from working. The second her perfect posture was back, the cramp went away. She rolled her shoulders confused, and pressed her abdomen gently. Nothing.
“Well, that was a nice way to wake up on a Thursday morning,” Lena said to herself sarcastically.
It had been a few days since her doctor’s appointment, and while her throat had stopped bothering her, she had barely eaten since. Her tests on the drug weren’t particularly helpful in determining what it did to her, much to Lena’s frustration. As she left her apartment to go to work, she grabbed a blueberry muffin from her counter- knowing full well that she wouldn’t eat it.
Lena decided to walk to L-corp today; it was a nice morning and she could use the fresh air. Lena dialed Kara’s number as she walked.
“Hey Lena! What’s up?” Kara asked, “have you eaten anything?”
Lena groaned inwardly, of course she’d ask that question. She stared at the muffin in her hand before answering. “I took a blueberry muffin. But that’s not why I called, I just wanted to hear your voice before work.”
“Aw, but you know I’ll see you at lunch right, or have you forgotten?” Kara teased.
“I haven’t forgotten- but before our lunch date I have to deal with a bunch of egotistical business men who can't tell the difference between their ass and their ears,” Lena mentioned.
Kara laughed loudly on the other end of the phone. “You’ve got a good point there. Well, I wanted to hear your voice too.”
“Okay- well I just got to L-corp, so I’ll let you go. See you later, love you,” Lena said.
“Love you too!” Kara punctuated the end of her goodbye with a smooch sound.
Even though the call ended Lena did it back. She shoved her phone into her purse and strided into L-corp. The front desk man- Gabe- smiled at her.
“Beautiful day eh?” he noted.
“Gorgeous,” Lena agreed. She looked at the muffin in her hands. “Here Gabe.” She tossed the muffin and he caught it with both hands.
“Thanks Ms. Luthor!” Gabe took a bite as Lena walked to the elevator.
While in the elevator with two other employees, the cramp in her stomach returned. She bit her tongue to hold back a whimper, and had to focus her attention on keeping her posture perfect. Nothing would ever break her mask- except Kara. The two men said goodbye to Lena as they got off two floors before her. The second the doors closed, she broke.
The pain was stabbing, and she couldn’t stay upright anymore. Maybe it was her period starting early- cause it sure felt like it. She decided she’d take some Ibuprofen once she got to her office. The elevator chimed, signaling that she’d arrived at her floor. She bit her lip as she stood up straight again- but relaxed when the pain disappeared… again.
Lena rolled her eyes. If she had to deal with it all day she might just punch one of the egotistical men. Jess greeted her with a smile and a ‘good morning’ when Lena walked into her office, and Lena returned the greeting with only half the enthusiasm.
Jess gave her a look, and opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but closed it- knowing better. Lena glanced at the clock on her wall. Only 3 hours till lunch with Kara. She could do this.
Lena did a double take at the clock. She had an hour before she had to be anywhere in particular. She reached into her purse and wrapped her fingers around a small stick with a heavy end. She lifted the giant rainbow lollipop out of her purse and stared at it in amazement.
This lollipop was the epitome of her dreams as a little girl. She had always wanted to have one, but her mother always said no. Lena smirked ruefully at the rainbow swirls. She pinched the red tie holding the wrapper on. Lena was about to untie it- but her phone rang.
Lena sighed in annoyance. She picked up the phone, and with a not-so-non-annoyed voice, said, “Lena Luthor, what is it?”
“Ms. Luthor there is a man from Metropolis who wishes to speak with you,” announced Gabe, “he says his name is Mr. Philis.”
Lena scowled. “Tell him I’ll meet him down there in 2 minutes.”
“Yes, Ms. Luthor.”
Lena rubbed her temples. That jerk wasn’t supposed to be here till 4. Lena grabbed the lollipop and put it delicately in her desk drawer. She grabbed her purse and left her office. In the elevator she pulled out her pocket mirror and fixed her lipstick. After admiring herself for a minute, the elevator doors opened and Lena snapped the mirror shut and shoved it into her purse.
Mr. Phillis was tapping his foot impatiently while talking to- more like debating with- Gabe. Lena didn’t care enough to pay attention to what was being argued about, but she caught the word ‘baseball’.
“Mr. Phillis!” She greeted with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
It took a moment for Mr. Phillis to pry his eyes away from Gabe, but when he did, his face lit up. “Ms. Luthor! So sorry for showing up so early, I hope it’s not too much of an inconvenience- I just thought I’d spare us both an evening and come in the morning!” He sounded positively happy about his choice, and that ticked Lena off.
She smiled at him. “It’s not a problem, I am currently free for the next hour. I do wish you would’ve called ahead though.” Lena motioned for him to walk with her.
Mr. Phillis put his hand on her shoulder like someone would an old friend. Lena fought the urge to slap his hand away and kick him in the knees. “I do apologize, you are right about that. How rude of me!”
He kept rambling as they walked, and after a while- Lena lost interest, if she had any in the first place. She gritted her teeth and put on the best fake smile she had. This was going to be a long morning.
…
Lena returned to her office feeling drained. “Idiots. How they have kept a business running is beyond me!” There was no one in the room with her, but she kept talking like there was. “God, I don’t know how much more selfless those dolts can be!”
“Probably more than you’d expect.”
Lena whipped around. Kara was carrying two drinks, and Belly Burger bags. Lena put a hand to her heart.
“You scared me Kara!” she exclaimed.
Kara shrugged and giggled. “Sorry. I assume that the meetings didn’t go very well?”
Lena’s eyes widened for emphasis. “As well as you’d expect I guess. I got everything handled- but it was a lot harder than it needed to be.”
“You can expect that from guys.”
Lena laughed heartily. “Tell me about it.”
Kara put everything down on the table by the couch in the middle of Lena’s office. She saw that one of the drinks was a smoothie- one of the only things Lena had any appetite for lately.
“You didn’t eat the muffin did you?” Kara asked accusingly, sitting down on the white couch.
“How did you know?” Lena questioned back defensively.
Kara adjusted her glasses knowingly. “I saw the wrapper next to Gabe.”
Lena’s lips thinned. She raised her hands in surrender. “Fine. You caught me, I wasn’t hungry.”
Kara looked at her sympathetically. “Lena, it doesn’t matter if you’re hungry or not, you HAVE to eat.”
Lena picked up her smoothie and took a sip. It was very refreshing. “I know, it’s just hard.”
“Maybe it’s something medical?”
Lena shook her head. “No. I’ve run tests- and besides I still eat.”
“Fruit.” Kara scoffed. “That can only hold you down so long Lena. I did though bring you a fruit cup with your Belly Burger if you aren’t up to eating the fries and burger- but you should still try.”
Lena eyed the fries. She did really want to, but her gut was telling her no. She shook her head and drank some more of her smoothie. Kara sighed defeated, but let it go. She picked up her own burger and took a big bite. Watching Kara eat the greasy burger, made Lena’s stomach start to cramp again.
It wasn’t a bad one this time, she could hide it easily. “Did Patrick like your story?”
That activated something in Kara. She basically threw down her burger and swallowed her bite quickly while standing up. “AUGH! THAT GUY!”
Lena chuckled, watching her pace the room dramatically; occasionally Kara would turn to stare at Lena while she talked.
“I mean what is his problem with me! Everyday it’s the same nonsense with him. She talks trash about my writing and then publishes it the next moment, making weird comments about it!” Kara was shouting now, “I- I can’t figure him out Lena!”
Kara dropped onto the couch again and shoved 3 fries in her mouth. Lena made a weird face- the goal: to tease and cheer Kara up. It worked. Kara took one look at Lena’s face, rolled her eyes, smirked, then threw some french fries at her.
Lena laughed as she tried to bat them away. Lena grabbed a slice of Kiwi from her fruit bowl and placed it in her mouth. The juice filled her mouth, and while satisfying, the cramp in her stomach worsened when she swallowed.
Time seemed to fly by and before Lena knew it, Kara waved her goodbye before closing the door to her office. Lena sighed and went to her desk to grab some more ibuprofen. She put two in her mouth and took a small sip of water to help it go down.
For the moment Lena thought she could try to get a little work done, but the moment she sat down she felt like her stomach wanted to explode. Lena dropped her head into her arms on the desk in misery. She got out of her office chair and moved to the couch. Kara’s scent still lingered on the fabric.
Lena lowered herself slowly onto the couch, back facing the door. She curled into herself, clutching her stomach, praying for it to go away. She tried taking her mind off of the pain, by thinking of her friends… of Kara.
Kara’s beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair. Her courage to face aliens everyday, and her kindness to even hated enemies. That thought lingered in Lena’s head longer than the others. Lena was a villain for a little while, but Kara never treated her badly. Sure, she called her a villain- but Lena basically treated Kara like one, so they were even. It took a lot of time to overcome their wounds, but in the end, they got together.
They had so many life and death moments together- that looking back on it- there was no way that they wouldn’t have ended up together. Lena remembered one incident- after an explosion in the field, Lena was impaled by a piece of debris, and the way Kara looked at her made Lena’s heart leap. Kara was the only reason Lena fought to stay alive.
A fresh wave of pain washed over Lena. She turned around to look at the time on her phone. It read: 2:03. Great. The day wasn’t even close to over. Lena thought that maybe drinking some of the smoothie would help.
It did not.
Lena felt like throwing up now. She screwed her eyes closed in response to the pain, but pried them open to look for her phone. She desperately scrambled for Kara’s number, but in the midst of her panic she dropped her phone, and her stomach hurt so much she could barely move to grab it. She hoped more than anything that Kara would pick up the first time.
She did.
“Lena?” She asked, sounding mildly distracted, “what’s up?”
“Please come get me,” Lena croaked.
She didn’t even hear the line turn off, but she did hear the whoosh of air that notified her Kara had arrived on her balcony.
“Lena!” Kara shouted.
She knelt next to Lena, and cupped her face. Lena was sure she felt sweaty to the touch. She was so hot.
“What’s wrong babe,” Kara pleaded, “what can I do?”
“Stomach- hurts,” Lena gasped. She closed her eyes against the pain.
Kara kissed Lena’s forehead. She quickly wrote something on a note for Jess in case she came by, and then scooped Lena up into her arms and flew out the balcony. Lena let her head rest in the crook of Kara’s next as the wind rushed around her. Oddly, being in Kara’s arms made the pain dissolve slightly- but only slightly.
They soon arrived at Kara’s apartment. Kara delicately laid Lena on her bed; Lena went back into the fetal position. Lena could hear Kara fussing about her to herself and smiled slightly. Being on a soft bed allowed Lena to relax and the pain slowly faded away into a throb. Lena carefully spread her body out to the edge of where she could stretch without it hurting.
“How do you feel Lena?” Kara prodded.
Lena sighed and buried her head in a pillow. “Fine.”
Kara bit her bottom lip. “I’m going to call Alex.”
Lena made a grunt of acknowledgement. She felt herself slipping into a restless sleep. She heard Kara say Alex’s name before she lost consciousness.
…
“She just lost consciousness Alex,” Kara fretted.
“I’m sure she’s just asleep Kar,” Alex reassured her.
“I know… she was just in so much pain. And you know Lena never lets anyone know when she is- much less call for help!” Kara stated.
“I will be over as soon as I can Kar,” Alex said finally, “just try and keep her comfortable. Take her temperature and try to get her to drink some water.”
Alex hung up and Kara started looking for her thermometer- which she only had for the days Lena got sick and Kara made her come home. Kara bit her nails nervously as she put the thermometer under the sleeping woman’s tongue. Lena didn’t have a fever, which was good.
Kara sighed in relief and put the thermometer on a table. She knew Alex said to give her water, but she didn’t want to wake Lena, so she grabbed a book and read nervously on the couch for the next hour.
Towards the beginning of dinner time, Alex finally entered the apartment. “I’m so sorry Kara- there was an emergency at the DEO,” she looked at Kara’s face of surprise then quickly explained the rest, “it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle. Anyways, where is my patient?”
Kara motioned to her bedroom. Alex walked briskly to her room with Kara on her heels. Lena was sleeping on her stomach, cuddling a pillow. Kara felt her heart explode. Lena’s mouth was parted slightly, and strands of hair lay across her face. Kara looked at her and thought she was the cutest person in the galaxy- and Kara had seen some pretty cute people.
Alex lay her hand loosely on Lena’s forehead. Lena moaned softly and buried her face further into the pillow.
Kara whimpered and covered her mouth. When Alex looked at her with amusement Kara explained herself. “She’s so cute.”
The corners of Alex’s mouth perked up. She focused back on the sleeping woman. She gently shook Lena. Lena tried to melt into the blankets, but Alex’s insistent shaking and cooing voice wouldn’t let her.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Mmm, Alex?”
“Hey Lena,” Alex murmured softly, “how do you feel?”
Lena sighed and sat up. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes before answering. “I feel fine now- like it never happened.”
Kara and Alex exchanged a glance. Alex turned back to Lena. “Kara says you haven’t been eating very well.”
Lena’s lips thinned. She narrowed her eyes at Kara accusingly, but Kara averted her eyes sheepishly. “That’s correct, although I could eat fruit.” Kara and Alex looked at each other again. Lena had a face of exasperation at the two of them. “Listen, I appreciate both of your help, but I’m fine now. I’ll stay here the rest of the day- but tomorrow I’m going back to work. It was probably just a cramp.”
“But it wasn’t just a cramp,” Alex said, raising her eyebrows knowingly at Lena, “you ran tests on yourself, I know you did.”
“Did Kara tell you that too?” Lena muttered.
“No, I know you Lena. What did the results say?”
Lena rolled her eyes. “The results on my blood came back clean. The results on the actual drug were… inconclusive. Whatever that drug is made of, it’s advanced. I’ve been working on a more advanced machine that can actually read it.”
“That seems pretty suspicious Lee,” Kara chimed in, “maybe we should go talk to this Dr. Motar.”
“Fine, but I’m telling you I’m alright, kay? I’d like to go back to sleep now,” Lena announced.
Alex nodded reluctantly. She grabbed Kara by the arm and dragged her out of the room. “We should pay this Dr. Motar a visit tomorrow.”
“I agree, but Lena and I are having brunch in the morning, so let’s wait till after lunch so that I can see if she’s feeling better- or if she’ll even eat.” Kara instructed.
Alex nodded, “and maybe we could get Brainy to run some tests on the drug as well.”
“Good idea,” Kara said, “and Alex- thank you.”
Alex nodded, squeezed Kara’s arm comfortingly, then left. Kara covered her face for a minute with her hands, before running them through her hair. She sighed deeply and went to close the door to her bedroom. She peeked inside and saw Lena cuddling with one of the giant stuffed bears Kara had. Kara couldn’t stop from smiling at the sight. She shut off the lights and closed the door gently.
Before returning to her book on the couch, she grabbed a cheese stick. She nibbled on it absentmindedly while staring at Lena’s door. Suddenly, pain exploded from her finger, and Kara realized she bit it after finishing the cheese stick.
“Dang,” Kara whined. She put her thumb in her mouth for a moment; it allowed a little bit of relief. That momentary distraction allowed Kara to come to her senses, and she sat down on the couch and read her book.
Chapter 3: Black Lipstick
Notes:
I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! This chapter was interesting to write that's for sure. I'm honestly not sure where I came up with these ideas, but now they are out there, so be sure to let me know what you think in the comments!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lena woke up the next morning with her back hurting. She realized she had half her body laying on top of Kara’s giant bear, and the other half was stretching unnaturally at the angle. She slowly turned over onto her back- almost yelping when she felt something under her. She scrambled to sit up quickly and when she looked to see what she was laying on, she let out a sigh of utter relief.
Kara was snoring softly next to her, and seeing her was the only thing that slowed Lena’s rapid beating heart. Lena inched her way off of Kara bed, stretching in the process. She absentmindedly rubbed her stomach; a phantom pain radiated through it. Lena was combing her hair in the bathroom when she heard a snort and a confused ‘huh’ coming from the bedroom. Lena laughed to herself as she heard Kara fully wake up.
“Lena…” Kara called out mid yawn. Lena didn’t answer, wanting to see what Kara would do. “Lena?” Kara called out more strongly. No answer. Suddenly there was a crash and a loud yell. “LENA!”
Kara was now in the living room. “LE-”
“I’m here Kara!” Lena answered.
Lena stepped out of the bathroom. “Lena! Jeez, don’t do that! Why didn’t you answer when I first called?”
Lena shrugged. “I wanted to see what you’d do, and anyways, can’t you see through the walls- and literally hear me breathing?”
Kara blushed and played with the end of her hair. “Yea… I just got caught off guard. When you weren’t next to me, I just panicked”
Lena cupped Kara’s face. Kara leaned into her hand. “That’s very sweet, but you know I can take care of myself.”
Lena kissed Kara on the forehead to reassure her. When they pulled back, Kara grabbed both of Lena’s hands. “I know… but I hated seeing you in pain yesterday.”
Lena smiled comfortingly at her girlfriend. “I know babe, it was just a stomach cramp.”
Kara looked uncertain, but nodded anyway. Lena took that as the sign the convo was over and she went to grab a banana from Kara’s fridge. She was, in fact, in the mood to eat something.
“Do you feel better?” Kara asked nervously.
Lena nodded, taking a big bite of the yellow fruit. She swallowed and grabbed her purse. “I told you I’m fine Kar. Remember we have brunch today.”
Kara nodded. “I remember… Can I walk you to work?”
Lena looked surprised. “Won’t Patrick be mad if you're late?”
Kara waved her hands dismissively, “he’ll live. Besides, since I was gone yesterday, he put me on copier duty for a week.”
Lena’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, Kara! I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have called you, I-”
Kara put a finger to Lena’s mouth. “Lena, it's fine. You needed me, and he was only yelling at me anyway.”
Lena kissed Kara’s hand. “Alright, let’s go.” Lena opened the door and motioned for Kara to go first.
Kara did a formal bow, and put on her best British accent. “You first, my lady.”
Lena chuckled and did a small bow back. She kept walking even as Kara paused to lock the door. Again, she felt the phantom pain in her stomach. She bit her lip and noted it in the back of her mind.
“Come on Lee,” Kara said cheerfully.
Lena’s little thoughts of doubt were wiped away at seeing her girlfriend’s happy face. Lena got lost in Kara’s eyes as she took the first step down the stairway. She missed it.
“Woah-” Lena yelped.
“I got you!” Kara laughed.
Lena’s eyes were wide and she realized that she was basically horizontal in Kara’s arms, with the tip of her foot still on the top of her steps. She laughed loudly when the comedy of what just happened hit her. Kara flipped Lena in her arms, and Lena let out a shout of surprise. Before she knew what happened, Lena was being bridled by Kara down the stairs.
“Off to work we go!” Kara cheered.
…
Lena coughed into her elbow. She took another drink from the second bottle of water Jess brought her. Lena suspected that maybe her sore throat was coming back, but it didn’t feel like it. Her throat didn’t hurt, but at random moments, she was filled with the urge to cough and she couldn’t stop it. Lena cleared her throat.
This cough felt bigger. She placed a hand on her chest and grabbed a tissue; she coughed with her mouth closed until she brought the tissue up to her mouth. Something crawled up her throat. Lena screwed her eyes shut. It felt slimy and it slithered up her throat and out of her mouth onto the tissue.
Lena shivered before pulling back the thin white cloth and gasping when she saw a black blob of- she didn’t even know what- on the tissue. The black goo was like a void, the contrast was harsh against the white kleenex.
“Oh my God,” was all Lena could get out.
She sprouted out of her office chair and glided over to her personal bathroom. She placed the kleenex on the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. Her bottom lip was stained black, and when she opened her mouth, so was her tongue.
Lena clutched the roots of her hair, panic settling into her bones. “Maybe, maybe it’s the drug. Maybe this is the way the drug expels from my system.” Lena tightened her hold on her hair and tried to get control of her breathing. “Maybe- maybe it’s some parasite. Oh god-”
Lena’s stomach flipped upside down at the thought. Her stomach convulsed suddenly. She covered her mouth with her hand before whatever she had to eat- whenever it last was- stained the white carpet. She quickly flipped up the toilet seat, and coughed into the bowl.
As Lena coughed out her insides, her mind absently processed the weird texture. It felt slimy and smooth- like what she coughed onto the tissue. Once her stomach finished convulsing, Lena straightened. She almost threw up again when she saw that the water in the toilet was completely black and the consistency was that of slime.
Lena flushed and clutched her abdomen as she stood up. She grabbed her toothbrush and wet it under the sink water. Her hand was shaking when squeezing the minty toothpaste on her brush. She tightened her grip on the white brush and scrubbed her teeth and tongue ferociously.
While the bristles went to work in her mouth, Lena focused on calming down. Her heart was beating faster than a hummingbird could fly, and her mind was going in spirals. When she spit, it was black, but- so her relief- her tongue and teeth were back to their normal color. That was more than she could say for her lips though.
No matter how much she rubbed- with water, make up remover, or anything else- the color wouldn’t go away. “Shit.”
Lena strided back to her purse that she left on the desk. Her clock read 10:32. Fifteen more minutes until Kara would be coming for brunch. Lena took a deep breath. “Okay, you got this Lena,” she reassured herself, “you have fifteen minutes to get your act together. Get through brunch. Ah-ha!”
She pulled out some lipstick. She went back to the bathroom and applied it. Despite the layers she put on her lips, the stain still showed through- even though it was a deep red color. Lena studied her lips, trying to decide whether she could fool Kara with some story that she’d fabricate.
Lena had one more idea. This time she fished through her purse and whipped out some black lipstick that she had been meaning to try for awhile. If she couldn’t get the stain to go away, she would cover it up. Lena went back to the bathroom and applied the lipstick, admiring how it matched her raven hair.
“This actually looks pretty nice,” she complimented herself. She pursed her lips and kissed the air before leaving the bathroom.
She took her spot at her desk again, determined to get a little bit of work done before Kara arrived. Lena opened up her laptop. She googled her symptoms: black vomit, coughing suddenly, lightheadedness.
The computer took a moment to load. The little circle finally disappeared. The screen was filled with websites and some pictures. The picture and website that caught her attention was the one of the man she saw on the news at her Doctor’s appointment. She clicked on it. Lena gulped nervously as she scrolled through the mirage of symptoms, photos, and stories from people who were subject to the “strange black goo”- which was apparently called: Motapar.
Lena narrowed her eyes at the name. Motapar. It looked an awful lot like the name of her Doctor. Dr. Motar. Lena kept reading through the article, keeping a mental list of everything she read. The more she read, the more sure she was that she was going to die- or come close to. If Dr. Motar gave her the same drug the man on the TV- his brother, Lena suspected- tried to poison the lake with, then Lena would only be in for a trip to Hell. But if Dr. Motar perfected the serum, Lena was sure her life would be cut short.
Why her though? Lena kept reading, thoughts on a merry-go-round. How would he know if his poison worked? Maybe he was expecting Lena to come crawling back to him because of her symptoms. She scoffed, he would be a fool if he thought Lena Luthor would crawl back to anybody because she had a stomach ache.
A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. She snapped her computer shut. “Kara!”
“Hey Lena,” Kara greeted. She waved some bags of food in the air. “What were you looking at?”
Lena waved her hand in dismissal. “Oh nothing, just work stuff. It’s boring. What did you bring?”
Kara took a seat on the couch. “Well, actually I made it.” Lena raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. Kara shrugged. “Patrick gave me a story that a baby could write. I finished it in like- 30 minutes, so I went back home and made some brunch. I pretended like I was still going out for interviews for the story so Patrick had no idea. Also I love you new lipstick”
“Thank you!” Lena chuckled, and swallowed the thought of why she was wearing the lipstick. Lena grabbed the bag from her girlfriend that was meant for her. Lena noticed with a smile on her face, that Kara wrote a note on her bag. It read, ‘Love you to the moon Lena Luthor.’
Lena blew Kara a kiss dramatically. Kara fell back onto the couch like she was shot– with love. While Kara erupted with giggles, Lena opened her brown paper bag. Before she saw what was inside, she looked up at Kara with an amused expression.
“It feels like going on a school field trip,” Lena commented.
Kara’s face lit up. “Oh my Rao, I LOVED field trips. Alex and I would share bus seats, and on my first field trip I sat in the aisle seat, but these ones didn’t have any rails or arm rests or whatever-” Lena had a feeling she knew where this story was going.
“- and we were on a gravel road, and well our bus driver was kinda speeding, and let me tell you, it did not end well,” Kara started laughing before finishing. Lena couldn’t help but laugh a little too. “And we hit this bump in the road and I went FLYING out of my seat!”
Kara was laughing so hard now that she looked like a folding chair as she bent over the table. The mix of the story and Kara’s laughs made Lena’s laughter- reserved only for close friends- bubble up to the surface. Kara was laughing so hard, tears flowed down her cheeks. Lena was laughing hard enough that she was running out of breath- but suddenly her wheezing wasn’t because of laughter.
Lena grabbed her throat. She made a choking sound and tried to cough. Kara’s eyes were shut and she must’ve thought Lena was still laughing. Lena’s stomach convulsed. She was cursing the world out in her head as the edges of her vision blackened from lack of air. Panic and fear started to settle into every fiber in her body.
“Ka-” Lena couldn’t finish her girlfriend’s name. Lena fell off the couch onto her knees and hands, and she dry heaved multiple times.
Lena heard Kara shout her name loudly and suddenly she felt hands on her shoulders. “Lena?! LENA! What’s wrong? Shit. Oh Rao, oh no no. I’ve got you.”
Lena was praying for Kara to do something, ANYTHING. She tried to talk, but another convulsion overtook her body, but this time something rose in her throat. Lena’s entire body shook as the black liquid- Motapar- burst from her mouth. Lena’s vision completely darkened to where she could only see through a tunnel. She vaguely heard Kara dialing a number through the sound of her own choking.
The black goo fell out of Lena’s mouth like a waterfall. Kara was talking to someone on the phone, but suddenly Lena was looking at Kara’s face. She watched her girlfriend’s mouth move, but had no idea what she was saying. Lena looked at Kara’s perfect lips one more time before her tunnel vision became completely black.
///
Kara’s abs hurt, she was laughing so much. She heard Lena laughing too; she was laughing so hard she was wheezing. Kara took a steadying breath- still full of laughter- and removed her glasses to wipe her eyes.
“Ka-” Lena choked out.
Kara just wiped the last tear from her eye and looked at her girlfriend. Lena was on her hands and knees gasping for air. Her body was shaking and she watched as Lena tried to throw up. Kara’s heart suddenly felt like someone was squeezing it.
“Lena?! LENA! What’s wrong? Shit. Oh Rao, oh no no. I’ve got you.”
Kara placed her hands on Lena’s shoulder, feeling the convulsions rattle Lena’s body. Kara didn’t know what to do. Should she take Lena and fly to the DEO? Call Alex? She didn’t want to move Lena, not until she knew what was wrong. Before Kara could decide, a giant wave rippled through Lena’s body and black slime exploded out of her mouth. Kara looked away quickly, before then cursing herself out and turning back to the light of her life.
Kara kept her eyes on Lena as her hands moved reflexively for her phone. She felt her fingers tapping away and before she knew it, she heard Alex’s voice on the other side.
“Alex! Help! I do- don’t know what to do! Lena- she, she was fine, bu-but now she’s throwing up this… black slime!” Kara screamed into the phone.
“Okay, Kara- uh, calm down. Once Lena seems stable, fly her here. FAST. I’ll have the med bay ready for her,” Alex’s panicky voice from the other side was not helping Kara’s racing heart.
Lena stopped vomiting and Kara saw this as her chance. She situated herself so that they were facing each other. She guided Lena’s face up to look at her. Lena’s head lolled and her eyes were glassy and drifting shut.
“I’ve got you Lena, okay? I’m taking you to the DEO.” Kara explained.
Lena made no motion of acknowledgement. Instead, her eyes closed completely; she slumped forward in Kara’s grip. Kara shuffled Lena around in her arms so that she could scoop her up into her arms. She stood up and flew out of Lena’s balcony. She scrutinized Lena’s face as she flew. The black liquid staining her chin and lips were a stark contrast to her paler than normal skin. Kara swallowed her fear and pushed herself to go faster.
The DEO was in her sight before she could blink. The distance between Kara and the DEO seemed like a never ending hallway, but finally Kara’s feet made contact with the cold floor of the DEO. Her ears were ringing as shouts, and alarms went off in the building. All of her focus was on the unconscious woman in her arms.
Notes:
Love it? Like it? Hate it? Leave a comment, they let me know you aren't a ghost lol. Love to ALL, have a wonderful life!
Chapter 4: Rule #1 of Horror Movies: Never go into the Basement.
Notes:
I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! As I was writing this chapter I kept adding on, and adding on- and I added stuff that I did not plan on at all, and so low key I'm on just as much of a ride in this story as you guys are. Tell me what you think in the comments! Love to all!!
Chapter Text
Everything was in slow motion. Lena’s slowing heartbeat setting the speed that time seemed to move. Too slow.
THUMP.
Alex pried Lena out of Kara’s arms and placed her on a gurney. Once Kara felt the weight of Lena out of her arms, she collapsed. Her knees hit the ground, sending out a small shockwave. Tears streamed down her face, hands gripped her hair, sobs racked her throat.
THUMP.
Someone was suddenly by her side. Multiple hands were suddenly on her shoulders and back, rubbing comforting circles. Those same voices were speaking in soothing tones, but Kara couldn’t make out their words.
THUMP.
Suddenly there was shouting, and louder alarms. People were running everywhere. The people around Kara were trying to talk to her, trying to pull her somewhere.
————————
Wait. Kara couldn’t hear it. She couldn’t hear it. It was gone. She- was gone. Kara felt time rush back into full speed, and so did she. She was faster than the speed of light at that moment. All of her friends that were around her were sent flying backwards. The alarms rang loud in Kara’s ears, but the silence of Lena’s heart was far louder. She was in the med bay next to Alex before a fly had time to flap its wings.
Alex was next to Lena, hands in the middle of her chest, pressing down hard in a steady rhythm. There was sweat on Alex’s brow as she tried to bring life back into the raven-haired woman. “Come on Lena. You’re not dying today, do you hear me!”
Kara grabbed Lena’s limp hand in her own. She stared at her pale face. The doctor’s had cleaned off her chin and lips, but to Kara’s surprise- her bottom lip was still black. They were stained… something had happened to Lena before Kara had arrived. Kara’s heart rate spiked. Lena was suffering and didn’t say anything. How long had this been going on?
“Come on Lena!” Alex shouted, and put a little extra force into the next push.
Suddenly Kara’s favorite sound in the galaxy filled her ears again. Lena gasped loudly and arched up a little in response to the air coming back into her lungs. She thumped back down onto the gurney lightly, and Kara squeezed her hand tighter. Lena's eyes fluttered open slowly, and they locked onto Kara’s.
Kara let out a sob. “I thought I lost you.”
“I’m not that hard to get rid of,” Lena mumbled. Kara bent over the bed to wrap Lena in a hug.
Alex stepped back taking deep breaths and even chuckled to herself- a response to the stress. “God…Lena, how do you feel?”
Kara straightened, still holding Lena’s hand- like it was the only time she’d get to hold it again. “Mmm, feels like a train was dropped on me.”
Kara laughed despite herself, then sobbed again. She tightened her grip.
“Kara,” Lena murmured.
Kara’s head snapped to girlfriend. Her eyes were searching for something wrong. Lena glanced down at their hands. Kara blushed and wiped her tears with her hand, while loosening her grip with her other. “Sorry,” Kara said sheepishly.
Alex placed a hand on Lena’s forehead. “You don’t have a fever, that’s good.”
Lena lurched forward abruptly in a coughing fit. Kara cringed at the sound of Lena’s lungs coughing up something wet. Once Lena was finished she fell back against her pillow breathing heavily. Lena raised her hand lethargically so she could look at the black slime stain her hand. Lena dropped her hand like she was expecting to see that- but was still disappointed it was there. Lena coughed a couple times with her mouth closed and the next moment fell into a fitful sleep.
Kara’s heart jumped when Lena fell unconscious, but Alex was quick to reassure it was just exhaustion. Lena threw her head to the other side with a light moan. Kara Moved to the head of the bed so that she could stroke Lena’s hair. Lena melted under Kara’s touch; Kara was kinda flattered that Lena calmed down so quickly just from Kara’s gentle touch.
While Alex cleaned up Lena’s hand, Kara climbed into the bed with Lena and listened to her lungs. She was lightly wheezing, and Kara tried her best not to cry. Kara rested her head gently next to Lena’s, allowing their noses to touch. Kara pulled Lena closer to her, to allow Kara’s body heat to comfort her sick girlfriend.
Kara didn’t realize she fell asleep until Alex was gently shaking her awake. She opened her eyes slowly. She raised her head out of her spot by Lena’s neck and drowsily rubbed her eyes.
“What time is it?” Kara yawned.
“It’s 3:00,” Alex stated. “I scheduled an appointment with this Dr. Motar.”
At the sound of that name, Kara basically jumped out of bed.
“I have a terribly sore throat and a killer headache, okay?” Alex informed her.
Kara nodded. She took in the sight of Lena one last time, then followed Alex out of the Med bay. Alex was walking briskly, and Kara had to widen her stride by a good few inches to keep up the pace.
“What’s the hurry?” Kara questioned, “When’s the appointment?”
“In 20 minutes.” Alex answered.
Oh.
“Did you schedule this just now?” Kara wondered.
Alex shrugged in response. So that was a yes.
“Why can’t we fly?” Kara asked when they arrived at Alex’s car.
Alex was about to climb into the driver’s seat, but paused to give Kara a glare. Kara put her arms in surrender. Kara sat down and noted how much cleaner Alex’s car was. Kara looked at her watch, she guesstimated that they would arrive at the hospital with 5 minutes to spare- that is if traffic decided not to exist today.
Kara shuffled her bum in the seat to get comfy, but before she could settle Alex was SPEEDING out of the garage.
“WHOA!” Kara yelped in surprise.
Alex was driving like a maniac. Kara didn’t say anything, just gripped the seat tightly. She realized she was stupid to be scared, if they got into a crash- she knew she’d be fine, but Rao it was still terrifying. Alex screeched around corners and the entire ride Kara was questioning if any police were actually on duty. If Kara could get whiplash, she was sure she’d have it, x10.
The screeched to a stop in front of the hospital with close to 12 minutes to spare. Alex was out of the car before Kara could even say anything about how irresponsible she just was. Kara scrambled to unlock her seatbelt and climb out of the car before Alex entered the hospital. Alex was holding the door for Kara impatiently.
Kara opened her mouth to say something, but took one look at her sister’s face and thought better of it. Kara stopped a few feet behind the front desk. Alex stopped next to her for one second. She looked expectantly at Kara.
Then it hit. “Oh right- sorry.” Kara apologized and quickly scurried to the front desk. She saw Alex take a seat in the corner of her eye. “Um, appointment for Alex Danvers,” Kara stated. She cleared her throat nervously.
“One moment.” The nurse typed away at the computer for a few moments, then looked up at Kara. “A nurse will call you soon, if you would fill these out please.” She handed Kara a clipboard with papers and a pen.
“Uh, yes- okay… uh thanks.” Kara stuttered.
“Uh huh.” The nurse went back to her tedious typing.
Kara strided over to Alex and sat down. She took one look at the papers, then handed it to Alex, not even wanting to bother with trying to figure out how to fill it out. Alex let out a breathy laugh and then began to fill out her personal information. Kara watched the news, but didn’t really WATCH it. Her mind kept replaying the events of the morning.
Lena was fine. She was fine.
The key word being WAS.
When did she start feeling sick again? Why didn’t she call her? She remembered watching Lena hack up all of the black goo onto her white floor. Lena’s pale face seared into Kara’s memory. The worst part was that it had just happened this morning. It hadn’t even been a day.
Kara was snapped out of her reverie when a nurse came in and called Alex’s name. Kara and Alex exchanged a glance, then followed after the brunette haired nurse. They walked in silence through the seemingly never-ending hallways. A foreboding feeling was starting to settle on Kara’s shoulders, but that didn’t stop Kara from cracking a smile as Alex started clearing her throat dramatically to feign a sore throat.
Alex was doing that for a minute before the nurse finally gave a weird sideways glance to them. Alex paused for a moment before doing it again. The nurse finally stopped by an empty room and motioned them to enter. Alex took a seat on the bed, and Kara stood by her.
“So, sore throat, ey?” The nurse asked humorlessly.
Alex cleared her throat. The nurse glared at her while taking her blood pressure. “Yup,” Alex confirmed.
“And she has a killer headache,” Kara added.
“Uh huh,” the nurse grunted, “the Doctor will be in soon.”
She slammed the door as she left.
“I can tell she enjoys her job,” Kara commented.
Alex snorted, “she’s probably the employee of the month.”
Kara chuckled slightly, but her frown returned as she stared out the window in the direction of the DEO. She listened to Lena’s slow heartbeat, and her shallow breathing. Kara let out a frustrated groan.
“Why didn’t she tell me Alex?” Kara wondered.
Alex shrugged while playing with her nails. She got off her chair and rubbed a small circle on Kara’s back for comfort. “Maybe she thought it was just a bug.”
Kara rested her forehead defeated on Alex’s shoulder. “She knew. I know she did. Her lips were stained black.”
“That could’ve been from when you were there,” Alex pointed out.
Kara lifted her head and stared into Alex’s eyes. “She was wearing black lipstick when I was there. She was covering up the stain.”
Alex’s eyes softened. “I’m so sorry Kara.” They went back into the hug. “We are going to figure it out, okay?”
The door opening interrupted their moment. Each of them snapped to attention, Kara turning around quickly to hide her tears and place her glasses back on.
“Ms. Danvers?” the man questioned.
“Yes, that’s me,” Alex raised her hand a little.
The man motioned to the bed. “Have a seat. I’m Dr. Davis, and your chart says you have a sore throat?”
“And a killer headache,” Kara added in again.
Alex's face palmed. Dr. Davis chuckled, “well let’s see what I can do to make you feel better.”
“Um- wait,” Alex said.
The Doctor stopped what he was doing- which was putting gloves on at the current moment.
“It’s just, I thought my Doctor would be Dr. Motar,” Alex remarked.
“Oh, well he’s not working today,” Dr. Davis informed them.
“Okay… well do you know of the magic drug that he made?” Alex put on her interrogative voice.
Dr. Davis became serious. “What magic drug?”
Alex gulped nervously. She gave Kara a glance. “Our friend went in the other day, and she had Dr. Motar. He gave her something, but now she’s experiencing other symptoms.”
Kara could tell Alex didn’t really want to tell him, and that she was regretting even bringing it up.
Dr. Davis eyes them both suspiciously. “Are you even sick?”
Alex blushed, “well… I do have a headache.”
Dr. Davis frowned. “I can give you a prescription if you want, but some Advil will be fine. As for Dr. Motar- I can assure you there is no magical drug. Every medication used has to go through a chain of command here after that incident with the man who was trying to poison the lake. Dr. Motar is a good Doctor and I will not have patients accusing him of something illegal just because their friend got sick- how many days ago was she last here?”
“About a week,” Kara mumbled.
“Uh huh, well. If your friend is sick, send her to the hospital- don’t go blaming Doctors.” Dr. Davis threw the one glove he managed to put on his hand away and left.
“This is the most cheerful hospital I’ve ever been in,” Alex muttered. “Let’s go Kar.”
“Twenty dollars Motar is here.”
“What?” Alex inquired.
“He’s here. I can feel it. We just have to find him, and twenty dollars if we do,” Kara explained.
Alex quirked her eyebrows. “Deal.”
They left their cozy little hospital room and started wandering around the building. For the most part, nobody was in the hallways, and when there were some nurses or doctors, Kara and Alex acted like they were looking for the bathroom. The people they came across were a lot more cheerful than the nurse and doctor they were assigned; they even gave directions to the bathrooms, some offered to show the way. Of course they declined a guide, but they pretended to be super grateful for the directions.
They had been searching for close to twenty minutes, and had checked 7 floors before Alex called it quits.
“He’s not here Kar,” she said, “pay up.”
She held out her hand for the twenty dollars. Kara grumpily pulled out her wallet. Alex took the money and stuck her tongue out as she put it in her pocket.
“Can we just check one more floor?” Kara pleaded.
Alex shrugged, “Fine. But if he’s not there, we need to go. Lena needs us.”
Damn. For a minute Kara actually forgot her best friend was dying at the DEO. She and Alex hadn’t had a sister-night-out in a while, and sneaking through a hospital together was pretty fun. Kara frowned, her good mood now sullied by fear, sadness, and anger.
“What floor Kara?” Alex snapped her from her thoughts.
“Oh uh- why don’t we try the basement?”
Alex pressed the button. “I’m gonna be honest, this should’ve been the first floor we checked.”
Kara clicked her tongue. “Dang, yea. That probably would’ve been smart.”
The awkward elevator music played as the screen displaying the floors counted down from 10. Kara tapped her foot impatiently until the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Immediately Kara imagined herself in a horror movie. She clearly learned nothing from watching them. The number one rule: NEVER go to the basement.
The open doors revealed a dank hallway. The walls looked like they’d been there for centuries, mold and cracks adorned them. There were lights, but they were low on power, and most of them were flickering.
“Yup. This seems like a place a mad Doctor would hide.” Kara confirmed.
“Let’s find him fast, I don’t want to be down here any longer than I have too,” Alex ordered.
Kara smirked. Alex glided past her, settling into a brisk walk. “Are you scared?” Kara teased.
“Pfft no,” Alex retorted. “But if I breathe in this air for too long I bet I'll catch the Bubonic Plague,” she said in a much softer voice.
Kara held in her laugh. Then a loud clammer sounded from farther down the corridor, and she became much more serious. Alex glanced at Kara. Alex held her gun out in front of her, and stalked in the direction of the noise. Suddenly a rancid smell started to fill Kara’s nose. Kara plugged her nose with her fingers, while Alex buried her nose in the elbow holding her gun. Kara noted that the scent was one of a rotting corpse.
After what seemed like forever walking down the hallway, they neared a dark room. They couldn’t see anything; it was like staring at a void. Then, small white dots appeared in the dark, and Kara almost jumped out of her skin.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Everything went dark.
Alex screamed.
Kara felt something run into her.
A gunshot sounded. Crashing, grunting, and erratic footsteps filled the darkness. Kara spun around in circles, her super vision wasn’t working. Her heart beat sped up, and in the middle of all of the chaos, she could hear a deep, low, and menacing laugh echo through the void.
Kara couldn’t take it anymore. “Alex get down!”
She heard something hit the floor, assumed it was her sister, then unleashed all of her fear and anger into the laser’s shooting out of her eyes. She screamed at the top of her lungs, and through the blurry red vision all she could see was that her laser eyes weren't hitting anything.
They were just disappearing into the blackness.
…
Alex’s heart jumped into her throat when she saw the white eyes appear into the void like room.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Abruptly, every light shut off, which left Alex swinging her gun widely in every direction. Suddenly something pushed her against the wall, and despite herself, she screamed, and a gun fired, but she wasn’t sure if it was hers. It felt like a man pushing her against the wall, and what he was holding in his hand- which was trying to insert into her neck- felt like a syringe. Alex cursed to herself and pushed back as hard as she could.
Her and the man- she assumed Dr. Motar- both grunted with effort as they fought back against each other’s force. Alex shimmied her leg to a spot where she could kick him, and made his knee bend in. He fell to the ground, but when Alex tried to kick him again, there was nothing.
She heard Kara scream, and Alex tried to find her, but stumbled over her own feet in the dark and fell to the ground. It took a minute for Alex to realize why she kept falling after standing, and why she felt dizzy- but couldn’t tell if the room was spinning because she couldn’t see anything.
Alex’s hands dragged themselves numbly down her leg to right above her knee, where she felt blood running through her fingers. “Oh my God. Kara!?”
Kara was screaming now, loudly. Alex placed as much pressure as she could on the wound as she stood up. She listened to Kara’s screaming and walked in her direction, stumbling every now and then.
“Kara!” Alex called out.
She finally found Kara and though still in the dark, her eyes were adjusting a tiny bit, and she could see a fuzzy silhouette of her sister.
“Hey, Kara. Calm down,” Alex cooed. She grabbed her sister’s face and placed their foreheads together.
Before she knew it, Kara stopped screaming, and her breathing had evened out. “Alex…”
“Are you with me?” Alex whispered.
“Yea…” Kara sucked in a deep breath.
“Let’s get out of here,” Alex suggested.
She felt Kara nod against her head and they pulled apart. Pain momentarily forgotten, Alex stood, only to fall down again with a yelp of pain.
“Alex…”
Kara must’ve scanned her for injuries because the next second she gasped, “You're hurt!”
“I’m fine, it’s just a scratch,” Alex said through gritted teeth.
“Alex stop, I can’t deal with you and Lena hiding injuries, okay?” Kara's voice broke.
Alex groaned, “fine, yes okay? I was shot, now let’s go. I’ll be okay.”
Kara’s grip on Alex’s arms startled her, and when they sped out of the darkness into the harsh light of the mid-afternoon, Alex’s eyes ached. Alex and Kara took a long glance at each other. Kara had tear stains down her cheeks and her face and eyes were red. Alex was sure she didn’t look any better, but Kara’s state broke her heart, and Alex could only guess what happened to her in the basement.
The silence between them only lasted a moment later, then Kara flew them to the DEO. The rest of the day, Kara spent in the med bay, watching over her sister and girlfriend. Lena slept peacefully- well as peaceful as she could be. She still tossed and turned fitfully, and occasionally had a coughing fit that resulted in more black slime, but her vitals were stable.
Alex on the other hand, left the med bay as soon as she could walk without falling. It wasn’t pretty and she still leaned against the walls and desks with every step. Kara spent that night in bed with Lena again, praying they would find a solution.
Cela_Kuchen on Chapter 3 Sun 07 Sep 2025 05:49AM UTC
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FrostytrekSedai on Chapter 3 Sun 07 Sep 2025 12:32PM UTC
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