Chapter Text
Lightning cracked apart the sky, the deafening boom of thunder not far behind. The wind was strong, bending trees sideways and making street lights dance. Rain pounded the earth, tapping away at concrete and glass, an indecipherable rhythm that was soothing nonetheless. It was Lena’s favorite kind of day.
HIgh above in her office, she looked out the window to the world below. Lights from other buildings shone just barely in the heavy storm. Below, there was little to no movement, only the occasional car slowly making its way through the slippery streets. She sighed contentedly as she reclined in her chair, taking a small sip of the lukewarm coffee she held in her left hand, her right hand tapping out a rhythm that only she could hear.
She loved storms like this, always had ever since she could remember. She loved it because when she was little, she was scared of thunder, especially thunder like this, cracking across the sky too loud to even hear herself think. But her brother, Lex, would hide with her under her bed, reassuring her that everything was alright. He always said he loved the stormy night, because the next day it seemed the sun was brighter than ever, determined to cast its light despite the heavy clouds. She grew to like storms too. Lex is gone now, has been for many years, but Lena swears that she can hear his booming laughter when it rains.
Lena also loves storms like this because her meetings are cancelled, her work load lessened, both in caution of the rain and because she likes to sit, sometimes for hours on end, watching the patterns of drops hitting her windows. It gives her time to relax, time to find some peace despite the raging chaos outside.
“Lena?” Jess’ voice calls from the phone on her desk, the late hour deeming that Jess is past formalities now. “Your driver is here.”
“Thank you Jess.” Lena murmurs, not wanting to disturb the peace, turning to her desk and gathering her things, throwing the empty cup of coffee in the recycling bin before she heads downstairs, bidding Jess a soft goodbye.
Her driver is waiting outside the car, a huge black umbrella thrust in her direction when she steps outside. It’s only drizzling now, if the occasional drop of rain that falls could even be considered that, but Lena thanks him anyways, throwing her bag across the car seat and sighing as he closes the door for her, elbow propped against the window as she looks outside to the rained out streets.
Her eyes are unfocused, glazed over slightly with exhaustion that she's not ready to admit to herself yet, and she finds herself thinking of her bed at home, and how she's glad tomorrow is sunday because it’s the only day she actually allows herself to rest in the week.
The car is stopped at a red light when she spots it, a small black mass shivering on the sidewalk, hidden under a scraggly bush that offers no protection from the elements.
“Stop the car!” Lena yells, a moot point since they weren’t moving anyways, but her driver dutifully sets the car on park, throwing her a confused look through the rearview mirror as Lena scrambles out of the car.
She doesn’t even look before crossing the street, unworried about any cars since it was one in the morning and the likelihood of any kind of traffic after a storm was definitely zero.
The puppy is shivering madly, and when she slowly steps closer to it, she can hear the pitiful whines it lets out, curled in on itself to try to find some warmth in the cool breeze the rain left behind. He’s absolutely soaked, his black fur weighed down from the rain, and she can see how skinny he is, his ribs visible underneath his fur. Her heart breaks for the little guy, and she bends down beside him, prodding the area around his neck in search of some kind of collar, but there’s nothing.
“Fuck.” She swears under her breath, then apologizes to the puppy as if he could understand her. Something about him makes her want to be careful. Maybe it’s how small he is, no bigger than the handbag she has, or maybe it's the little whines, or his big brown eyes that look up at her.
She has nothing to pick him up with, no blanket or towel in her car, but she quickly sheds her coat and wraps him up in it, holding the bundle close to her chest. She can feel him shivering in her arms and she holds him closer.
Her driver only raises an eyebrow when she gets back in the car. “Hold on a sec.” It’s hard with the puppy in her arms, but she manages to pull out her phone and google’s the nearest vet. By a miracle the one closest to her is open twenty-four hours, and she directs her driver to it, the puppy in her arms shivering less, but she still worries. She’s never had a dog and doesn’t even know where to begin to care for him. Much less one she just found, who knows how long he had been in the storm and the streets. She just hopes she wasn’t too late.
The vet hospital is open, and she asks her driver to wait as she steps inside. It’s warm and she’s grateful for it, feeling the cold now that she no longer has her coat on, but of the two of them the puppy needed it more.
“HI, what can I do for you?” The receptionist asks, a bright smile on her face.
“Hi.” Lena walks over, the puppy hugged to her chest. “I found him on the street. I don’t know anything about dogs so, um, I just wanna help him.”
“Sure, we can help.” The receptionists hands a clipboard over. “Just fill this out please, you don’t have to give him a name, but it’s just for our records. Once you’re done just leave it here and feel free to walk into room one.”
Lena thanks her and takes the clipboard and puppy over to one of the plastic chairs in the waiting area. It’s still a little hard, but she works one handed to fill out the paper, pausing at the questions of the puppy.
“Name? I don’t know what your name is.” Lena says, mumbling to the dog. He just whines softly, wiggling closer to her warmth and she smiles. “How about Humphrey?” The puppy just sighs as if resigned to the name and she laughs. “Don’t look at me like that, that’s the street I found you at, remember?”
She succeeds in filling out the page, even with her limited knowledge of the dog, and when she sets the clipboard down for the receptionist, she’s waved over to a door that opens into a long hall with doors on one side. Room one is open and she steps in, thanking the receptionist and then sits on one of the chairs as she waits for the doctor.
Humphrey has probably decided he’s okay now and tries to get out of the coat, his little paws pushing against the fabric. Lena smiles and bundles him again, her mouth open to scold him when a soft knock interrupts her.
A blonde head pops in, the smile on the womans face bright as she steps in and closes the door behind her. She has her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, black glasses perched on her face and her scrubs have little cartoon ducks on them. Lena can’t help but smile back.
“Hey! My name is Kara, I’ll be helping you today.” She sticks her hand out and Lena shakes it, dropping it quickly to grab the squirmy creature in her arms. Kara immediately coos as she bends slightly to look at the puppy. “Is this little Humphrey? Oh look at you, what a handsome boy. Can you set him on the table please? I’ll be looking him over and ask you some questions.”
“Sure.” Lena sets the coat-puppy bundle down and helps Humphrey untangle himself. Once free, the puppy starts sniffing at the table, his little tail sticking out from his body. Kara whistles softly to get his attention and then lets the puppy sniff her hand before she grabs his little body, her fingers deftly poking and prodding.
“So, how did you two meet?” Kara asks, eyes looking at Lena but hands focused on the puppy.
“I found him sitting under a bush on Humphrey street. I couldn’t just leave him there, you know? He looked so small and he was shivering like crazy. And now we’re here.” Lena shrugs, not really able to offer up any more information.
Kara nods and looks at the puppy, gently flipping him on his back as she checks his belly, then listens to his heart and lungs with her stethoscope. Humphrey cries at that, trying to nip at Kara’s hands and she just lets him, unbothered by the tiny teeth.
“Well, he seems like he's in good shape overall. He’s a little thin but regular meals should help with that. You might wanna consider doing some blood tests to make sure he has nothing going on inside.” She let’s Humphrey go and the puppy shakes himself, his fur still damp but even so Lena can see that’s he’s fluffy. So fluffy.
“Sure. I really don’t know anything about dogs, so I think the tests are a good idea.” Lena said, reaching out the pet the little guy. He sits himself down in front of Lena, tiny pink tongue out as he looks up at her, his tail waggin madly and she can’t help but smile at him.
“Are you gonna keep him?” Kara asks, her tone soft.
“Oh! No, I don’t think so. I can’t take care of a dog, I’m too busy for him.” Lena frowns slightly, her hand pausing in the puppy’s fur.
“Oh, okay. Well, I’m sure we can find him a new home. He’s so cute. I’m gonna go grab some stuff for his blood test okay? Just sit tight.” With that, Kara disappears, leaving Lena with Humphrey.
The puppy is lying down now, little legs splayed out on the table, his eyes fluttering as he fights to stay awake even though he must be beyond tired. Lena just runs her hands through her fur, a little sad she won’t get to keep him. Part of her doesn’t want to give him away, in just the short time she’s known him she loves him already, enamoured with his feisty personality and big brown eyes that look at her with an unwavering fondness. She thinks how no one else has ever looked at her like that. But Humphrey does, little tongue sticking out between his teeth as he dozes.
The rational part of her brain tells her it’s not a good idea. She’s just too busy running L-Corp, and while she can definitely hire someone to look after him when she can’t it doesn’t seem fair. She knows all too well the feeling of people coming into your life and then leaving and she can’t bear the thought of little Humphrey going through that.
Kara forgoes knocking this time, stepping into the room with what Lena guesses are needles to draw blood. She’s right as Kara nudges Humphrey awake, then carefully draws some blood from his forearm, Lena wincing slightly as the puppy cries out in pain. It’s over quickly, Kara wrapping his arm with a purple bandage wrap, and Humphrey looks up at Kara with what only can be described as betrayal.
“Sorry little guy, you’ll be fine.” Kara pets Humphrey for a second before she leaves again, letting Lena know that the test results shouldn’t take long.
Lena’s heart breaks again at how tiny Humphrey looks and she scoops him up into her arms again, sitting down on the chair. She doesn’t know how much time has passed because suddenly she’s being nudged awake by an amused looking Kara.
“Looks like he’s not the only tired one, huh?” Kara says, a smile on her face. “Humphrey is a-okay. You guys are good to go. I’ll be sending some puppy food that will help him put on some weight and I wanna see him back in a week. He’s about six weeks old so he’ll need to get his shots next visit. You said you couldn't keep him right? So next time you bring him I’ll be taking him home until I can find him a better one.”
Lena blinks the sleepiness from her eyes and nods. Kara hands her a slip of paper to hand to the receptionist and bids her goodbye before walking into the depths of the vet clinic. Lena is careful not to jostle the sleeping Humphrey in her arms as she pays. A tech helps her carry the bag of puppy food to her waiting car, and once she’s ready, the puppy now in her lap her driver takes them home.
A week. Just one week that she had to take care of Humphrey. And then he was going to live with Kara until he could go to his forever home. Lena could do a week.