Chapter Text
Lena really wished there was more to the cell she’d been thrown in besides the uncomfortable bench/bed along the back wall. There were only so many times she could pace the small space without losing her mind. She’d reluctantly ditched her heels and undone her tight bun 15 laps ago. The same questions circled her mind on repeat with every new lap. Where did that replica ring come from? Who sent all those things to Kara? Why pretend to be Lena? How was Kara’s recovery now that the ring was gone?
Lena took another turn and stutter stopped at the sight of Alex in front of the glass. Lena couldn’t help but gulp at the sight of the older Danvers but the cycle of questions caused her to approach the agent.
“How’s Kara?” Lena asked, eyes trained on the floor and fingers playing with themselves.
“Seems to be recovering at the moment. She hasn’t woken up and we won’t know when she will. The green has left her veins so that’s a good start.” Alex responded while stepping closer. “It’ll be even better if you told us when you sent the package to her. We need to know how long her exposure was to kryptonite.”
“Alex, I didn’t send her any packages. I haven’t talked to Kara or even seen her since our first day in this new reality. I’ve been keeping my head buried in my research.”
“Ah yes, how is your mind control project going?” Alex jabbed back, crossing her arms.
“It’s not- It’s not mind control Alex!” Lena sighed after her outburst. “It was supposed to just help people not have to deal with the heartache of being lied to or betrayed. I scraped it after about a week of trying to work on it.”
“And now why would you do that? Realized it was exactly the kind of project your mother would work on? Or Lex for that matter?”
“Yes.” Lena sighed at the surprised look that flashed across Alex’s face. “Lex was really interested in my project and spent a lot of time encouraging me to continue it. After a week of trying to get it to work, and listening to him talk about it, I came to the conclusion that anything that Lex takes interest in has the potential of being used in contrast to how I intended it.” Lena stepped back a few paces and ran her fingers through her hair. “I was upset, Alex. I was hurt from learning that everyone that came into my life knew about Kara. I spent so much time with you all, between game nights and helping here at the DEO, but not one person thought ‘hey, maybe Lena should know the superhero running around is her best friend’. I didn’t want anyone else to feel that same kind of pain.”
“It wasn’t our secret to tell Lena,” Alex said. “Kara can choose for herself when and if she wishes to tell someone about her alien heritage and being Supergirl.”
“And you of course never had any reservation about her telling the youngest Luthor that had just happened to move to National City. You never told her she couldn’t trust me and my intentions to be her friend because I had to have an alternative agenda.”
Lena gained a small sense of pride seeing Alex’s jaw twitch from her clenching it. Lena walked back up to the glass and stared into Alex’s eye. “You never trusted me and you hated the fact Kara did. That even after all those times of helping the DEO stop my mother and brother, all the times you came to me to save Supergirl or the world, you hoped for the chance to prove that your distrust was well-placed. You were happy to use me when it suited you, Director Danvers, but you never wanted me to know who I was really helping.”
Lena and Alex had a stare off, neither one willing to back down from the power exchange. Alex was the first to look away, turning her back and walking away. She didn’t even look back as she called over her shoulder, “Dinner will be served to you later”. Lena slumped on the metal bench and finally allowed herself to relax. That was not a battle she was planning on having and it took more energy than she expected to keep up the indifferent attitude with Alex.
Lena woke to a sore back and a crick in her neck. It took her a moment to understand why she wasn’t feeling her silky sheets beneath her hands and why the light in her room was on at full power. When the events of the morning returned, she bolted up right and winced when she felt a pull at the junction of her neck and shoulder. As she rotated her left shoulder, a quiet cough alerted her to a visitor. Lena looked up to find Dreamer standing outside her cage with a plate of food.
“Sorry,” Dreamer spoke softly, taking small almost shuffled steps closer. “I just figured I’d bring you some dinner.”
Lena rose and stepped up to the glass. “I’m surprised Director Danvers even remembered. Figures that she’d send the other major superhero to make sure I don’t try anything.”
Dreamer quietly opened a slot next to the door and held out the plate for Lena. Lena was happy to see that the food at least looked better than the last time she was in jail. Lena raised an eyebrow when it was obvious Dreamer wasn’t leaving right away. “Something else you need Dreamer?”
Lena’s other eyebrow joined its partner when Dreamer fiddled with her mask for a moment before taking it off to reveal Nia Nal. The mild mannered reporter was on Lena’s list of possible Dreamer identities, but she didn’t expect the young woman to be so open about her identity.
“Mind if I join you for a bit?” Nia asked, her fingers busy turning her mask over and over.
“Not like I can do anything to stop you,” Lena retorted, her defenses rising quickly. She was surprised the woman wanted to stay and welcomed the company, but she wouldn’t let Nia see her vulnerability.
“If you said no, I’d leave Lena,” Nia responded. “I just figured you might like having company?” Nia’s voice lifted the end of her sentence and Lena noticed the young hero was just as unsure as Lena herself.
“Please Nia, stay. I would say take a seat but there’s not much I can offer in terms of comfort.”
“Oh that’s fine. I’ll find something; I'll make it real quick!” Lena had barely sat on her bed when the other woman sprinted back down the hall with a small chair in hand. Lena couldn’t help making comparisons between the eager girl in front of her and a certain exuberant blonde reporter. When Kara entered Lena’s mind, she pushed her food around her plate.
“Has Kara awakened yet?” Lena asked quietly, afraid of the answer.
“Um, no, not yet.” Nia whispered back. “But she’s under the sunlamps and the tests say all the kryptonite is out of her system. So really it’s just a matter of time before she’s back to herself. Which would be good cause Andrea is asking way too many questions at CatCo and I don’t know what to keep telling her. Normally Kara is the one that comes up with all the good excuses of where we’ve disappeared to, but I’m needing to come up with ones now. I mean, Dreamer is getting called out a lot more now and I never know how to excuse myself. Like earlier! I’m in the middle of a staff meeting and I’m getting an alert about a bank robbery but Andrea keeps glaring at my phone for going off. I finally pretended that it was Kara texting me about needing help with her recovery but Andrea was not happy at me leaving that quickly.”
“Not that I’m unhappy with your company Nia, but why are you telling me all of this?” Lena asked as the other girl took a breath. Lena was almost impressed but she’d seen Kara say more and say it faster in one breath. “I’m pretty sure part of a secret identity is to make sure others don’t know who you are...or what you do during your day.”
Nia played with her mask and shifted in her seat watching Lena closely. “Friends don’t need secret identities with each other. Besides, you know about Kara now and I figured you would piece my identity together pretty quickly. Brainy gave you a 87.95% guarantee of knowing I’m Dreamer by this point.”
“Only 87%?” Lena asked, raising her eyebrow. “I’m a little hurt by his 13% disbelief. Though if you asked me a few months ago, I would have given myself a less than 5% chance of even guessing all my ‘friends’ were leading double lives behind my back.”
“Brainy said the 13% was to account for your scientific drive and need for concrete evidence despite already knowing about Kara being Supergirl.” Nia offered a little smile before sighing. “And you’re right; we took so many crazy precautions just so you wouldn’t find out about any of us. I know Alex told you earlier that it was strictly Kara’s decision when she told you about Supergirl, but I know it must have hurt to find out that some of us knew when you didn’t. I mean, you two were best friends for years before I even moved to National City.”
Lena set the plate of food on the bench next to her. She wasn’t all that hungry and the topic of discussion caused her stomach to churn. “When did she tell you?”
“After my mother died.” Nia leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “Kara was kind enough to drive me home, to be with me at my mom's memorial. My powers aren’t just because of me being part Naltorian; these dream powers are passed from a mother to her daughter. I can remember my mother would spend so much time with my sister growing up, training her to be ready for the powers to pass to her. Except they came to me instead of of my older sister. She got so mad when she found out, and it was as we drove back that Kara told me. She listened to me complaining about being an alien with powers with a human sister. I even told her she would never understand the wedge my having powers would put between me and my sister. She pulled the car over, stormed out of it, and flew.” Lena could hear the awe in Nia's voice. She couldn’t blame the young woman; Lena was always in awe of when Supergirl used her powers so casually. “Kara was first and foremost my mentor at CatCo. Unfortunately we had to fall into her being my mentor as a superhero as well. I’m pretty sure if I wasn’t going through an alien/human sisterly crisis, Kara would have kept her identity secret from me. Who knows if I would have ever been told if not for me becoming Dreamer.”
“She would have told you Nia,” Lena assured the young woman. “Might have taken time, but she would have told you.”
“Just like it took time before she told you,” Nia raised an eyebrow. She held up a hand before Lena could respond. “I know your guys' friendship is different from mine and Kara’s. There are different circumstances and history surrounding your relationship, but Lena, she told you. I know it doesn’t help that it was after three years of friendship, but I hope you understand the importance of her actually telling you.”
Lena had no response for Nia. Nia didn’t understand the hurt that came from being in the dark, being the only one in the dark, for so long. But could she be right? Kara still told Lena about being Supergirl… Sure it came after her psychopathic brother already spilled the beans, but Kara still told her. Lena was pulled from her thoughts by the chair scraping along the concrete floor. She looked up to see the young superhero holding the chair in one hand, mask back in place.
“I’ll leave you to your evening Lena,” the woman said. “Would it be okay if I came back in the morning? I’ll bring you breakfast, and make sure it includes a decent coffee because anything that comes from here is not coffee. That is if you want company. I could just go straight to CatCo instead. Which now that I think about it, I probably should do that so Andrea doesn’t fire me. I’m sure one of the agents would be-”
“Nia, Nia!” Lena desperately interrupted the wild rambling. “I’ll gladly take you up on the offer of company and breakfast. Especially if it includes a coffee that actually tastes like coffee.”
Lena was blinded by the wide smile sent her way. “Great! I’ll be here bright and early with one black coffee and a doughnut! Have a nice night Lena!” The young woman winced after that sentence and the look Lena gave her. “As nice a night you can have with that bench as your bed. I could bring you some blankets and a pillow? That’ll make it slightly more comfortable. Nowhere near as comfortable as your own bed I’m sure.”
“Thank you Nia but I’ll be fine this evening.” Lena cut in before the next ramble could start. “Have a nice night and I’ll be here in the morning for breakfast.” With a sad, small nod the young woman left Lena alone with her thoughts and the little nagging thought that maybe she needed to see a therapist for her trust issues.