Next of Kin Part 32- Detective Dimples

Brows heavily pressed together, Lena studied the information on her laptop. Her fingertips drummed out a steady beat with one hand while her others sat lightly against her left temple. The frown on her face seemed to be etched there. It hadn't receded in over an hour. Occasionally she'd pulled off her glasses to rub at her eyes, but that didn't make the information below on the screen any better, so the frown remained.

At this moment the glasses and frown were still firmly in place, but when there was a knock on the door, Lena pulled off her glasses and smiled slightly as she said, "Come in." As Kalia entered, the smile fell off Lena's face. "Oh. What is it now?"

Closing the door behind her with a click, Kalia replied, "Good to see you too, Princess. So, want to guess why I'm here again?"

"Kalia, please," Lena replied with a sigh. "I've got a situation at L-Corp that needs my attention. I'm much too busy for—"

"Anyone that isn't Kara?" Kalia said with a smirk.

Clearing her throat, Lena replied, "Anything that isn't critical. You took my vitals at the start of the shift. I'm fine. Are we done?"

"No, we're not done. You should have eaten an hour ago, and your nutrition is critical." The nurse dropped the menu on the keyboard of Lena's laptop. "Pick something out since you didn't do it beforehand. Since you bought roughly half this hospital, I bet they'll cook it for you."

"It's that late?" Checking the time on her laptop, Lena nodded. "I hadn't realized. Well, it doesn't matter. Kara is coming with food. We're eating dinner together. I'll wait for her."

"Right, you told me that when my shift started, and that was fine when she was going to be here at six o'clock. She's an hour late."

"She'll be here."

"I heard you the first time. It doesn't change the fact that if you don't eat you don't heal. So you're dinner—"

"Kara will be here," Lena insisted again.

After a few moments of staring match, Kalia made her way to the door and locking it before returning to pull up a chair. Arms crossed, she leaned back and said, "Okay, let's talk about her."

"There's nothing to talk about," Lena replied casually. "I agreed to have dinner with my friend who's running late. These things happen."

"Did she call?"

Through force of will, Lena managed to not look at the TV silently playing off to the side. The news was showing an earlier footage of Supergirl putting out a fire downtown.

"She let me know she'd be late, yes. I just didn't realize the time."

With a loud sigh, Kalia said, "Fine, so she's late. Still, an hour is awful late for your to be late for dinner. Something happen between you two? You sure she's still coming?"

"Why would you say friend like that?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake Lena. I'm on board, okay? I even encouraged this. You don't need to be defensive. If there's a problem, you can even talk to me about it. Just—"

"Kalia no, absolutely, no." Lena's hands swung back and forth quickly in front of her. "There is no...anything but friendship, all right? I need you to hear that from me and understand it. Do you understand?"

"Well, I hear you, but it's utter bullshit. You know I know that. What's the big deal?"

With a sigh, Lena pinched the bridge of her nose and took a moment before continuing. "Kalia, it is the truth. It's what I'm telling you, and it's the truth. Kara and I, we're just friends. She'll tell you the same thing too. If anyone asks you about us, that's what you need to tell them. Anyone."

As her eyes narrowed, Kalia leaned forward onto her elbows. "Is this an order?"

"Absolutely not. Orders can have counter orders. Higher ups can countermand what has been put in place. I'm asking a favor as a friend." Giving that a moment to sink in Lena added, "Kalia, please, Kara needs her privacy. She doesn't need to be messed up with the likes of me. She and I need to remain just friends. Give me this."

Taking one of Lena's hands in hers, Kalia said, "There's nothing wrong with you. You know that, right kid?"

Pulling back her hand, Lena replied, "Don't, just don't. Empty platitudes are wasted on the likes of us. I don't need your comfort. I need—"

"My protection," Kalia said as she stood, the feet of her chair scraping harshly against the floor, the sound reverberating off the walls and filling in the space around them. "You have that. You'll always have that. I should have saved him, but I didn't. I won't let you down."

Mouth opening for a moment, Lena shut it then nodded before replying, "And Kara?"

"You mean your friend Kara? She better get her ass here with dinner soon, or she's going to need someone to protect her from me. I'm losing my patience."

As Kalia reached the door, Lena asked, "You had patience?"

Looking over her shoulder, Kalia replied, "Frightening, right?" Winking, she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Sliding her glasses back on her face, Lena went back to looking at her laptop again. In short order, the frown and furrowed brows had returned. She hadn't even realized it until Kalia had left, but as annoying as the other woman could be, she was far less annoying than the issue at hand. Lena was less than five minutes into dealing with said issue when there was a knock at the door.

Snapping her glasses quickly away from her face, Lena just as quickly snapped, "What is it now!?"

"Lena?" Came a voice from the other side of the door.

"Kara? Oh, Kara. Kara, I'm so sorry. Come in," Lena said as she closed her laptop.

"Are you all right?" Kara asked as she entered, a large bag in one hand.

A not particularly convincing smile plastered onto her face, Lena nodded. "Yes. Of course. It was just...work was...Kalia had..." She sighed. "I apologize. It was just an avalanche of annoyances, none of which are important now that you are here. How was your day, besides the fire I mean?"

Kara closed and locked the door as she made her way to the woman in the wheelchair. Leaning down, the blonde lay a gentle kiss on Lena's cheek. "The usual. Snapper was a grouch. I suggested three articles I knew he wouldn't let me write so I could suggest an article he'd let me write, and then James covered for me so I could deal with—"

"Putting out a literal fire," Lena finished for the blonde. "It seems like you're getting better a handling Mr. Carr. Does he always reject your first three articles?"

Kara put down the bag of food as she made her way over to the windows. "He doesn't even listen to my first three proposals. He just says, 'Ridiculous. Pathetic. Do I really pay you to be a reporter, Ponytail?'" Kara said in her best Snapper imitation which wasn't very good but garnered a chuckle anyway. "Now that I know he doesn't listen and puts down my first few ideas out of hand, I can suggest a miniature Doberman tie-dying contest article every Monday, and the effects of Zero-Gs on Sea Monkeys every Tuesday. I've been doing it for three months now. I feel like he and I have really hit our stride as editor and reporter."

As Kara opened a widow, Lena's smile started to fall away as she asked, "What are you doing?"

"I have to get something. I'll be right back."