Chapter Text
Lena's blood ran cold when she read that message, it was Edge and he was making his threat.
Her journey to the hospital had been eternal, her nerves were at their maximum, and fear ran through her body, even though Maggie assured her that it was nothing serious and Kara was fine, that text message... that threat, now she was really terrified.
When they finally arrived at the hospital she ran as fast as she could to ask for information about Kara but it was not necessary since Maggie was already there.
“Maggie” she approached almost out of breath
“They are fine, calm down, they are being checked. Kara only has a small cut on her forehead.”
“And Alex?”
“The impact was received on the driver's side, she has some bumps on her body and they are ruling out any bruises, she is still under observation but the doctor said it is not serious.”
“I'm glad about that, where's Kara? I need to see her.”
“Room 128”
Lena walked as fast as she could down the hall to Kara's room, when she finally saw the room number, she took a deep breath, luckily the door was open and she could see her straightening her sweater.
“Kara” Lena whispered with relief, Kara looked at her smiling and Lena threw herself into her arms squeezing her tightly.
“Hey, calm down I'm fine Lee” Kara caressed her back with her hand to calm her down.
Lena separated from her touching her face running her fingers over the patch on her forehead covering her wound.
“Oh my God, I was so scared.”
“I’m okay, look at me, don’t cry, Lee.” She wiped away a small tear and smoothed Lena’s hair.
“I’m just… are you sure you’re okay? Have they checked you out yet? Doesn’t anything else hurt?”
She checked her from head to toe to make sure.
“I’m okay, they checked me out, there’s nothing wrong, there are no fractures, everything is okay, they checked my heart and everything is normal, okay? I was scared, but I tried to deal with the situation. I was more worried about Alex.”
“She’s okay, Maggie said she only has a few bruises.”
“Yes, she was here and she told me.”
“What happened Kara?”
“We were leaving the cafe, we wanted to go buy some things at the mall before returning home and already on the road a car crashed into us, it was going very fast and Alex slowed down so that it could pass us and when it was level with us it hit us hard, pushing us out of the way, Alex tried to control the car but it crashed into the median strip of the road.”
“What happened to that car?”
“I guess it ran away, maybe it was drunk or it was scared.”
“I'm going to kill whoever did this” Lena's anger was finally coming out after all the worry.
“Hey, sweety it's ok, the important thing is that we're okay.”
“Come here” Lena hugged her sighing into her head, breathing in that familiar smell. “Let's wait for news from Alex and then go home.”
They waited a couple of hours until Alex was discharged, ruling out anything serious, so after they said goodbye Sam took Lena and Kara to her apartment.
“Hey babe, why don't you take a bath to relax while I make you some tea.”
“Yes, that would be great”
A while after dinner they both went to sleep, Kara was really tired that it didn't take her long to fall asleep, but for Lena it was impossible to close her eyes thinking about everything that had happened.
The next morning after breakfast Kara would stay at home and Lena went out to buy some things for lunch, but before that she went somewhere else.
“I'm sorry to come like this Alex, I know you want and need to rest but I really need to talk to you, can you tell me exactly how everything happened yesterday?”
“Well, we left the cafe and got in the car. Shortly after we moved forward, there was a car following us at very high speed. I thought it was a drunk guy and then I thought it was following us, so I accelerated and then I slowed down to be sure. And indeed it was. I didn’t want to tell Kara anything so as not to scare her. I continued at slow speed. The car caught up with me and that’s when it got me out of the way. I couldn’t see the driver.”
“Alex… if someone were following you… this wasn’t an accident… Look at the message I received after Maggie’s call.”
She took out her phone and showed them the message. Alex looked at her worried.
“What does this mean Lena?”
“Morgan Edge… he threatened me… for a long time now that he would hurt Kara if I didn’t associate with him… now that I put him in jail he is more than determined to carry out his threat.”
“Why the hell didn’t you say anything about this Luthor? Do you realize what happened here? They almost killed them!” Maggie raised her voice furiously as she stood up from the couch.
“Maggie, I know you’re angry and you’re absolutely right to be, I should have told you and gone to you, yes, I was scared for Kara but I thought I could control it on my own, I didn’t think he would carry out his threats until I spoke to Lex, I was stupid but it’s out of my hands now…”
Lena had to tell them absolutely everything, what Edge knew, what she had investigated, every detail of the family, of Eliza and Jeremiah, of Midvale, addresses, everything, more than scared they were very upset.
“I'm going to kill him, I swear... I'm going to go to prison and with my own hands...”
“Mags calm down.. you're not going to do that, we would put him on notice and it would be worse, my parents are involved and my sister too, we need to be very careful... Does Kara know?” Alex looked at Lena as she walked angrily around the room.
“She knows the kind of person he is but not everything about the threat.”
“You have to tell her.”
“And I will, I promise, after everything that has happened I don't want her to get upset, I just... I need to protect her, I can't let her be alone, not even for a moment I thought about hiring security but I still don't know what kind of people Edge has working for him, we can't trust anyone.”
“We can protect you.”
“You're in danger too.”
“Do you think that guy tried something else?”
“Alex, that accident was meant to kill you, it didn't go any further because you realized it and slowed down, but with the impact he wanted to get them out of the way.” Maggie was right and Lena hadn't even thought about that.
“Yes, and even though this was just a warning, she's already in too much danger being here.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“I have an idea but I need your help…”
.
.
.
.
After talking to Alex and Maggie and telling them about her plan, Lena returned home, it was time to talk to Kara and tell her everything, she couldn't wait any longer.
“Kara?”
“Here!”
The voice came from the room and she was sitting on the carpet with some boxes around her.
“What are you doing?” she asked curiously.
“I'm going through some pictures for the album we'll put up on the wedding day, and by the way I'm going to need you to give me some of yours, oh we have to put that one where you have that cute little hat! You look so cute.
I can't explain how excited I am Lee.”
“I can see that, it almost doesn't look like you were in a Fast and Furious movie yesterday.” She frowned with an adorable smile.
“Kara I want to talk to you, shall we go to the living room for a moment?” She extended her hand to help her up, both of them sat on the couch, Lena looked nervous and kept moving her hands, something that Kara noticed immediately, taking them to reassure her.
“What 's wrong?”
“I…”
The doorbell rang opportunely and Kara got up to open the door.
“Hi Kara”
“Sam!! Nice to see you, come in.”
“Am I interrupting anything girls?”
“Of course not Samy.” Lena approached to greet her.
“I wanted to stop by to see how Kara was doing, so I brought her some donuts.”
Kara approached her taking the bag with her eyes wide open.
“You're my favorite Sam.”
“Hey!!! Who do you think told her that donuts were your favorite?”
“Don't be jealous Lena, it's not a secret that I'm Kara's favorite, she can't fight my charm” said Sam giving her a punch on the shoulder. “Right Kara?”
“Definitely” she said while taking a huge bite out of a donut.
“Traitors, both of you. Do you want a coffee?”
“Yes, thanks Len”
They sat down to talk while having coffee, Kara told her how the accident had happened while Lena's mind was trying to forget for a moment what awaited her when she told Kara everything, the doorbell interrupted her thoughts again.
“I got it” Lena stood up and went to open it without expecting who she would find, being completely surprised..
“Andrea…”
“Lena..” she looked embarrassed, she barely looked her in the eyes.
Neither of them knew what to say until they heard Kara's voice.
“Andrea.. What are you doing here?”
“I... I just found out what happened on the news and I wanted to stop by to see how you were, but I think it was a bad idea, please excuse me.”
“No Andrea, it's okay, I appreciate you coming all the way here.” She looked at Lena perhaps to wait for her reaction, so she opened the door letting her in.
“Come in…”
If Lena could list the awkward moments in her life, this would be at the top. She didn't know how to react. Andrea's presence bothered her, but she knew that Kara had talked to her and made things clear, and she didn't want to behave like a jealous sick person, so she had to adapt to the situation.
“Andrea, this is Sam, Lena’s best friend. Sam, this is Andrea, my boss and the new editor of CatCo.”
“Nice to meet you.” They both greeted each other and she sat down with them to join the conversation. It was an afternoon of coffee and good conversation. Sam told stories about her and Lena during their college days and Andrea even told a little about her life.
Apparently it wasn’t as bad as Lena thought, she was even enjoying it, but of course, at all times she kept Kara’s hand in hers, to make things clear, just to be sure.
A moment later, a call came into Lena’s cell phone.
“Oh, excuse me for a moment, I’m going to answer.”
“Hello?”
“Lena, is Imra.”
“Imra, hello, what’s up?” Lena kept quiet to listen carefully to the woman on the other end of the line. Apparently Kara saw Lena’s face a bit disoriented as she approached slowly thinking something had happened.
“I'm on my way.”
“What's wrong, honey?”
“Katie's mother died... let's go to the hospital..”
The sad faces of both of them were noticed by their friends who understood that they had to leave. In the car they both went in silence, the only thing they could think about was that little girl who had just lost everything.
Although a part of them already imagined that this could happen, it is difficult for news like this not to surprise you, especially when a little girl who is just beginning to live receives that kind of thing at her age. In less than a few months she lost her house, her father and now her mother. How is her life supposed to be from now on? What will she do every time she has a bad dream? Who will comfort her? When she fights with a friend, who will be there for her? Or when a boy breaks her heart, who will hold her?! It was impossible not to think about all those things. Life was very unfair sometimes. Kara looked at Lena a little more affected because she and Katie had had a connection since she met her and she knew she was thinking the same thing as her. What was going to happen to the little girl now?
When they arrived at the hospital they waited for a moment.
“Are you okay?” Kara asked.
“Yes, I am surprised maybe, I mean, we knew it could happen right? We didn’t give her much hope but, I don’t know, something inside me told me that maybe she would wake up, I feel really bad for Katie.”
“I understand you, for now we need to give all our support to that little girl, come on.” She nodded and they walked to the girl’s room and there with her was a woman and Imra, Katie was sitting on an armchair and the woman seemed to be talking to her. They entered the room, drawing the attention of the three and the girl quickly ran into Lena’s arms.
“Hello monkey.”
She took her in her arms and she clung tightly to Lena's embrace, seeming like she didn't want to let go and started crying.
“Shh, it's ok baby” she stroked her back softly.
“I want to see my mommy Lena,” she said, sobbing and wiping away her tears.
“I know, little one, come on, let's sit down.”
She held her in her arms and sat down, leaving her on her lap.
“Listen, Katie.”
“Imra told me that my mommy had gone to heaven, but I don't want her to, I don't want her to go anywhere, I want her to wake up Lena.”
It was a very difficult thing to explain to a little girl everything about death, and they tried to do their best to make her understand.
“ I'm going to be alone?”
Those words formed a lump in Lena's throat leaving her unable to say anything. Kara understood how difficult this whole situation was for her and approached the two, crouching down to be at the little girl's height and look her in the eyes.
“No little one, you'll never be alone, you know? Even though your mommy is in heaven, she'll be watching over you all the time, whenever you remember her, you'll keep her close to you right here” she delicately pointed to her chest right where her heart is. “And even though we can't see her as she was before, you'll be able to feel her in every beautiful flower you see, in every ray of sunshine, in the rainbow, in the stars, you'll know she's there.”
Despite what they were telling her, it was difficult for her to understand. She needed time to understand and it was difficult at her age. The little girl snuggled into Lena's arms while she cried a little more until she fell asleep.
Lena laid her down and they both approached the social worker and Imra.
“Now what will happen to Katie?” Lena asked, addressing the woman.
“We are going to do the necessary paperwork so that she goes to a foster home while her arm heals and then she will most likely go to an orphanage.”
“So she will go with another family in the meantime?” Kara asked.
“Yes, we will look for a capable family that has already adopted so that the girl can stay with them.”
“But Katie does not trust just anyone,” Lena told her, crossing her arms.
“That's what we have to do, Miss Luthor. I know it's hard for the little girl, but it's what the law says.”
“And can't she stay here in the hospital until her arm gets better?”
“The girl has already been discharged. We can't keep her here any longer. Now that her mother... is no longer here, the hospital can't take care of her,” Imra said, whispering the last thing so Katie wouldn't wake up.
“But I'm the owner of this hospital! And I have no problem making sure she's still here.”
“Lena. It's not healthy for the girl to be here all the time. Even if she's with other children, if she's better now, she needs to go out.”
They stayed silent for a few minutes thinking about a solution, an option crossed Kara's mind but she wasn't sure if it was really a good idea and she knew she had to think it over before saying it and talking to Lena but there was no time anymore and of course Kara's subconscious never listens to her…
“Then she'll go with us.”
The three women looked at her in surprise at what had come out of her lips, but Lena's face was definitely the most surprised.
“What??”
“Then she'll go with us, can't we do that? We can sign something or do the tests to be able to be her temporary home, whatever it takes” she said firmly, looking at the social worker.
“Well yes it's a process, it requires time and an interview and all that.”
“Well, let’s do it. I mean, Lena is the owner of the hospital. I don’t think there will be a problem on the financial side. You know her and everyone here does too. I have a job where I earn well. We are a stable couple and we are going to get married in a few months. Besides, you saw for yourself that the girl trusts us, especially Lena. That helps, right?”
“Yes, I don’t think there will be any problem. But…” The woman turned to look at Lena, who was still in shock, staring at Kara.
“Lee?”
“Kara.. Can we talk for a second please.. Excuse me.” She took her by the arm and they moved away from them a little. “What are you doing?”
“What are you talking about?”
“About this!, about Katie.”
“You don’t like the idea?”
“No!, I mean, it’s not that, it’s just that, I really don’t think it’s a good idea right now.”
“Why not?, why don’t we give this opportunity to her and us, it will only be while her arm gets better, I wouldn’t like her to go through that of going from family to family if she doesn’t adapt, we can’t allow her to go through all that, you know how difficult it is for her, and with you she already has that trust.”
“It’s just that… I think it’s something we have to talk about, please don’t make a decision now… I need us to talk about this at home.”
“Lena, I know it’s something we both need to talk about and I shouldn’t have rushed it, but please let’s think about her.”
“I do, believe me, that's what I'm doing, but we need to talk about it calmly and in private, please.”
“Okay, you're right.” Disappointed, she accepted without saying anything else.
They spoke with the social worker and she allowed Katie to stay a few more days in the hospital and they asked for those days to think about it, the expenses were more than covered, so there wouldn't be any problem, they both knew that an exception was being made for them and a couple of protocols were being broken, so they were grateful.
Lena thought about what Kara had said, she would never have imagined that she would have that idea, although to be honest when she said it she was very surprised but it was true that a part of her had also thought about it for a second, although that was before, before everything with Edge happened, now it was something impossible, Kara was in danger and she couldn't expose the girl to the same risk, she definitely wouldn't do it, and even though Kara's decision had been hasty she knew that if she had said it it was because she really wanted to, which made it even more difficult for Lena to tell her everything.
When they got home, Kara hadn't said a single word, a part of her was upset and another disappointed, she sat on the couch waiting for Lena to say something but when she didn't she took the initiative.
“Listen, I'm sorry for rushing into the idea of Katie, I shouldn't have blurted it out like that Lee, I should have consulted you privately first and not surprised you like that.”
“No, it's not that, you did surprise me but, you know perfectly well that I would never have refused, because I think it's a beautiful idea, I... I became very fond of Katie and I don't like the idea of her going from one house to another either..”
“I don't understand then... What happened?”
“There's something I need to tell you Kara…”
“You're scaring me.”
She sat next to her on the couch and took her hands.
“What happened to you and Alex wasn't an accident... It was provoked…”
“Provoked?.. why? By whom?”
“Morgan Edge.” Kara immediately let go of her hands and stood up, starting to pace back and forth.
“Morgan Edge? But… but he’s in jail, Lena.”
“Come on, Kara, you know that’s no reason for him to send someone to do the dirty work.”
“And how are you so sure of that?”
Lena remained silent while Kara impatiently waited for an answer.
“He threatened to hurt you for not accepting to be his partner..”
“Did he threaten you when you sent him to jail?”
“No... a long time ago…”
“How long ago?” Silence. “How long ago Lena!?!” she screamed exasperatedly.
“Since we got back from Midvale.”
“So we're talking about months.” She was already very upset and Lena just nodded.
“And why haven't you told me anything?”
“I was going to do it... when he came to my office to threaten me I was going to tell you, I was going to put people to take care of you and tell you, but then my mother kicked me out of L-Corp and that gave me the opportunity to be closer to you and protect you myself, plus I thought that way he wouldn't try anything since I wasn't in charge anymore, but he continued with his threat... and as I told Alex and Maggie I thought I could handle it.”
“They know?... So everyone knows that my life is in danger except myself.”
“They just found out, Kara, and they were also very upset with me... I'm not justifying myself for hiding it, I just... did it because I didn't want to worry you, we've been through a lot lately and I didn't want you to feel bad.”
“And do you think that's working out for you? Hiding things from me so I don't have to worry.”
“It’s not just the fact that I didn’t want to worry you, I thought I could handle it alone, okay? I couldn’t involve the police because he warned me, I didn’t want to risk your sister or Maggie too, but I realized that I made a mistake, it was stupid, I was terrified of what could happen to them because of me and I let myself get wrapped up in my own fears, believing that I could control it.
I know it was very immature of me, please forgive me.”
“It bothers me that you hide things from me Lena, just because I can feel bad, I don’t live in a bubble I know that, but you can’t protect me from all the problems… and I’m trying to be reasonable here and not act like a crazy person and storm off because you lied to me and I also try to understand your reasons, but it doesn’t take away the fact that it bothers me a lot that you don’t tell me what’s going on.”
“I know I was wrong in not telling you in time.. I trusted that his threat was just words and that I could take care of you, then when Lex told me what he was capable of was when I realized that he was not going to mess around, and after what happened to them I received this” she took her cell phone out of the coat and showed her what the message said.
“The fact that they came out unscathed doesn’t mean I failed, that was simply a warning… as long as you’re still close to me he’ll keep trying to hurt you and I have to protect you Kara… no matter what I have to do to keep you safe.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I need you to stay away from here…and away from me…”