23. Collecting them all

The second time Kara woke up naked with Lena Luthor was less of a shock. It was still a little bit of a shock, because not only were they naked; this time she knew exactly why they were naked. They were on-purpose naked. Within seconds of opening her eyes Kara was burying her face in her pillow to hide her blush as memories of the how joined the who, what, where and why of the situation. She wasn’t embarrassed exactly, it was just... new. Exciting and wonderful of course, but new and a little overwhelming.

Behind her, Lena was just beginning to stir. Without any of Kara’s self-consciousness, she stretched, yawning, before snuggling closer to press sleepy kisses between Kara’s shoulder blades.

“Good morning...” she murmured against the back of her neck.  

Kara made an inarticulate noise into the pillow, and Lena chuckled, smoothing a hand up Kara’s back. “On a scale from one to ten, how much are you freaking out right now?”

Kara shrugged.

“Hmm... “ Lena dropped another kiss on her shoulder.  “Should I close my eyes so you can get up?” she asked teasingly.

Kara shook her head.

“Do you want to get up?”

Kara shook her head again, reaching back to take Lena’s wrist and drawing her arm around her waist.

Lena flattened her hand against Kara’s belly and pressed a kiss behind her ear. “Use your words, darling. What do you want?”

Kara could feel her cheeks getting even hotter, but she turned her face out of the pillow and put her hand over Lena’s, urging her ever so slightly downwards. “I want you.”

“Good answer,” Lena breathed, sliding her hand between Kara’s legs and stroking her delicately.

Kara arched into the gentle touch and sighed, closing her eyes. Lena had explored and experimented with her thoroughly last night, and she was applying everything she’d learned now, winding Kara up slowly with just the barest swirl and sweep of her finger tips. It felt amazing, but it wasn’t quite enough. Kara squirmed, a sigh catching in the back of her throat.

“Would you like more?”

“Please...”

Lena took her hand away, catching Kara behind the knee before she could protest, and pushing her leg up and forward. Her fingers were slick against Kara’s skin, making her shudder as she drew them slowly and teasingly down her thigh before sliding into her from behind.

Kara gasped, clutching at her pillow. The new position came with new sensations, and Lena’s touch was alternately firm and sure and then light and teasing. She kept Kara off balance, varying speed and pressure, and refusing to give her any kind of rhythm.

“Lena...” Kara whined.

“Yes darling?”

“You...” Kara tried to push her hips back to get a little more of what she needed, but Lena was spooned up against her too tightly for her to move.

“You know what I want to hear,” Lena teased, circling her fingers before pressing deeper again.

“I’m not... Mmmm.... going to swear for you...”

“I can wait.”  Lena curled her fingers and lowered her mouth to Kara’s shoulder, kissing and nibbling her way up her neck to that spot she’d found last night, just under her ear, sealing her lips against Kara’s skin and sucking gently.

Kara didn’t mean to do it. She didn’t. There was no rational thought involved, mostly because she didn’t have any left, but somehow, faster than the thoughts she didn’t have, thanks to a judicious use of super speed, they ended up flipped, Lena on her back and Kara straddling her with Lena’s fingers still buried between her legs. Lena pulled back reflexively, but Kara caught her wrist, rolling her hips experimentally.

Lena’s eyes widened and Kara stilled, unsure, her fingers loosening around Lena’s wrist. “Is this... okay?”

“Fuck yes,” Lena breathed, her free hand finding Kara’s waist and urging her to start moving again.

Kara blushed, but she was too far gone to let a little inexperience stop her now. Bracing her hands against her thighs she moved tentatively at first, speeding up as she got the hang of it. The slide and drag inside of her was indescribable, and watching Lena watch her... Kara shuddered, eventually closing her eyes and throwing her head back as stimulation became too much, and she slipped over the edge with a cry before riding Lena’s fingers to a slow shaky stop.

As soon as she stilled, Lena hooked a hand behind her neck and dragged her down, crashing their mouths together without a trace of her usual poise or expertise. She was trembling, her heart beating a staccato rhythm, and her breathing harsh and fast. She bucked up against her, groaning when Kara caught her hips and held her still. 

“Easy,” Kara murmured against her lips, gentling her hold when Lena nodded. Shifting the kiss into something a little less frantic, she dipped her hand between Lena’s thighs and stroked her softly. It didn’t take long, a few breaths at most, before she tensed, her grip tightening around Kara’s neck and her back bowing before she collapsed back into the pillows with a sigh.

“That,” she said once she’d caught her breath. “Really wasn’t fair.”

“If you wanted fair, you shouldn’t have married someone with super powers,” Kara quipped, sitting up with a smug grin. “Race you for the first shower!” She sped for the bathroom, leaving Lena cursing and the blankets fluttering in her wake.

*****

The library was busier than Lena had expected for a Monday afternoon, but the big colourful sign at the front desk, advertising Mama and Me Story time from 3pm to 5pm, explained the shortage of parking spaces and the crowd when she walked in.

She had nearly cancelled; her need to find the last piece of the talisman warring with her guilt about the pile of work remaining unfinished on her desk, but Jess had practically pushed her out the door at four, insisting that she was perfectly capable of forging Lena’s signature.

“You realize most bosses wouldn’t find that reassuring?”

“It’s a good thing you’re not most bosses then,” Jess said, handing Lena her purse and a cup of coffee. “Now, go! Before Ms. Danvers calls and I have to explain why you’re running late.”

Lena knew better than to argue. Jess had accepted the news of her upcoming promotion with her usual understated professionalism, but Lena could tell she was pleased, and since then the secretary had become even less subtle about bossing her around. Not that Lena minded. If this was going to work, she needed someone who respected her without being intimidated by her, so that they could be her, when Lena needed to be somewhere else.

Like today.

Lena followed the sound of laughter and animal noises through the new releases section, where an anxious looking man in clean, but ill-fitting clothes nearly knocked her over trying to escape the well meaning assistance of a bubbly librarian.

“Excuse me,” Lena said, stepping aside with a frown.

The man just kept going, shuffling awkwardly down the aisle like his shoes were too tight.

“I’m sorry about that, dear. Are you all right?” The librarian sounded genuinely concerned. “He’s been in every day this week, but he doesn’t seem to want any help. He hasn’t done any harm, but I can’t imagine what he’s looking for.”

“I can think of something...” Lena muttered under her breath.

“What’s that, dear?”

 “Nothing,” Lena offered her a reassuring smile. “I’m fine, really. Thank you.”

She let the librarian go back to work, leaving New Releases behind for a big carpeted area in the middle of the Library, where a loose ring of disinterested parents stared down at their cell phones, and a circle of kids gathered around a woman in a bright patchwork skirt with an oversized book in her hands. There were a few parents sitting on the floor with them, though Lena was pretty sure Kara was the only one actively participating. She stifled a laugh at the sight of her wife enthusiastically barking, meowing, mooing and clucking along with the story teller and about two-dozen kids, while Lizzy bounced happily in her lap. 

Lena took the opportunity to snap a few pictures with her phone, setting the best of them as her screensaver before joining them on the carpet in a lull between stories, glad she’d chosen pants over a skirt today.

“Mommy!” Lizzy reached for her as soon as Lena sat down.

“Traitor,” Kara muttered when Lena picked her up and she snuggled into the new lap without a backwards glance

“I still love you,” Lena assured her, leaning over for a kiss.

“Mmm...” Kara met her halfway. “I’m glad someone does.”

The story teller began handing out little felt puppet props for the next story, and Lizzy bounced right out of Lena’s lap again, running up to the front with another little girl who took two puppets, one for her, and one for her little sister who couldn’t have been more than six months, still a little wobbly where she sat in her mother’s lap, though she reached out for the felt duckling when her big sister offered it to her, closing her little fingers around it with a grin.

Lizzy, watched them thoughtfully for a moment, her own puppet almost forgotten. She climbed back into Lena’s lap and pointed. “D’at?”

“That’s a baby,” Lena said, “and her big sister, like your Mama and Aunt Alex.”

“Izzy baby?”

“No, you’re not a baby...”

“No.” Lizzy shook her head. “Izzy baby? Izzy ‘ster, Axe?”  

Kara blinked. “Um... is she asking what I think she’s asking?”

“I have no idea.”

Luckily the story teller chose that moment to start the story, and Lizzy was quickly distracted, leaving the question of babies and sisters for another day.

“Any sign of the talisman yet?” Lena asked quietly, relieved to change the subject.

Kara shook her head. “No, but we’ve been a little distracted,” she admitted. “The first story was about a tiger. I don’t think even I could have dragged her away.”

Lena chuckled. “And you’re not enjoying this at all...”

Kara shrugged, a sheepish grin tugging at the corner of her lips. “Maybe a little.”

“Well then I’m sorry to say that I may have spotted one of our bounty hunting friends sneaking around on my way in.”

“Of course,” Kara sighed. “The last piece couldn’t have been one of the easy ones.” She looked worried, and Lena didn’t blame her. No one had gotten hurt at the craft store, but only because Kara had moved the fight outside. There were a lot of civilians here, and half of them were kids.

“Do you want to call your sister?”

“Sshhh!” hissed one of the other parents.

“Maybe we should...” Kara indicated the back of the room with a tilt of her head, and Lena nodded.

She put Lizzy down on the carpet, getting only a half-hearted grumble of protest as the story teller finished and collected the puppets, handing out paper animals instead, and one of the Librarians brought over several baskets of crayons. The kids all ran over to claim a spot at the low tables, and Lena and Kara picked their way carefully out of the circle to the wall where they could speak more freely.

“Alex is already standing by with a team,” Kara said. “But I don’t want to call her in until we’re sure.”

“Fair enough,” Lena agreed. “Do you think you could tell whether or not he’s an alien if I pointed him out to you?”

“Maybe? I can try. Where did you see him?”

“This way.” Lena took Kara’s hand and led her into the New Releases section, but the strange man had moved on. “General Fiction?” Lena suggested, looking across the lobby.

Kara hesitated. “I don’t want to leave Lizzy alone. Maybe we should come back with Alex...”

Just then the general quiet hum of the library was split by a familiar shriek of pure fury, followed almost instantly by a collective gasp of horror. Kara spun around, yanking her glasses off her face, and vanishing in a blur of motion too quick for Lena to follow as children screamed and adult voices rose in fear and anger.  By the time Lena made it to the end of the aisle, people were fleeing for the exit, and she had to fight her way upstream towards the story circle.  

She broke free to find an eerie calm in the center of the storm.

The story teller was standing on one side of the carpet, Lizzy clutched to her chest. Her cheerful grin had turned vicious and predatory, and she had an alien looking knife pressed to the toddler’s throat.

Kara, face bare, but still in her slacks and button-up, stood on the other. She was so still she might have been a statue, but Lena could see her rage in the tight curl of her fists.

 “Let. Her. Go.” Kara’s voice was low and murderous, her eyes slowly flooding with red and frost lining the edges of her lips.

“I don’t think so...” The story teller took a step away, and Kara tried to follow, jerking back when she pressed the knife more firmly against Lizzy’s skin. “Ah, ah, ah... I have a delivery to make, and I’m not about to let you stop me, Supergirl.” The last was said with a sneer.

Lizzy’s arms were pinned to her sides, but she still struggled, kicking with her feet and squirming as best she could. One hand clawed at the arm holding her in place, the other had a tight grip on a pink crayon, blue fire flickering between her fingers.

“Lizzy, drop it!” Lena pleaded, wishing now that she’d asked Alex to finish those invulnerability tests.

Lizzy shook her head, but the Story Teller turned at Lena’s cry, her grip on Lizzy shifting.

“And who’s – Arghh!” she yelled, her knife clattering to the floor when Lizzy used that little bit of extra room to duck her head and sink her teeth into her wrist.

As soon as the knife fell, Kara was a blur again.

Lena staggered back when Lizzy was pushed into her arms, nearly missing the millisecond in which the Story Teller tried to run before Kara caught her, slamming her into the floor and holding her there with a hand against her chest, eyes blazing. 

“Kara don’t,” Lena whispered, knowing Kara could hear her, but afraid she wouldn’t listen. Lizzy was shaking and Lena held her close, shielding her from what Kara might do.

“She deserves it,” Kara growled, pressing a little harder until the Story Teller whimpered, scrabbling at Kara’s arm and gasping for air.

 “I know,” Lena agreed. It wasn’t a question of deserve. Lena could have cheerfully watched this woman die, her conscience clear, just so long as it was anyone other than Kara doing the killing. She knew, objectively, that Kara had killed before, but not like this, not in cold blood.

Sirens wailed faintly in the distance, and Lena half turned at the squeak of a boot on a polished floor. Alex gave her a questioning look, gun at the ready, her team arrayed in a fan behind her, but Lena held up a hand, shaking her head. Alex holstered her weapon, silently joining Lena at the edge of the carpet, her eyes widened when she saw the situation, and Lena had to catch her arm to stop her from going to Kara.

“Let me,” she said.

Alex nodded, taking Lizzy and getting her to drop the crayon into one of Winn’s little black bags so that Lena could cross the carpet to Kara’s side, kneeling down beside her and laying a hand on her shoulder. Kara flinched, but she didn’t pull away.

“Lizzy is fine and so am I,” Lena told her softly. “She didn’t hurt us.”

“She tried,” Kara gritted out between clenched teeth.

“She failed. Please Kara, let Alex have her, and take us home.” Lena didn’t have to feign the slight waver in her voice. Seeing Lizzy in danger had shaken her badly, though not quite as badly as Kara apparently.

Red light flared around Kara’s eyes and Lena held her breath, clasping Kara’s shoulder hard enough to make her fingers ache. Twin beams of fire blazed, and Lena closed her eyes against the wave of heat, her stomach rolling when the Story Teller screamed, but when she opened them again, the only damage was two neat holes burned into the floor on either side of the woman’s head, a whisp of smoke curling up from each one. The Story Teller herself had fainted.

Kara rose smoothly to her feet, pulling Lena up with her. She turned and walked away from the woman on the floor as if she didn’t exist, taking Lizzy out of Alex’s arms with a quiet thank you. Alex waved her agents forward, hanging back for a word with her sister.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Kara handed Lizzy to Lena as the wail of sirens drew closer. “Is Maggie going to need a statement, or can we go?”

“There were witnesses, so she’ll need something, but she can get it later. Get out of here.”

“Thanks, Alex.” Kara gave her sister a quick sideways hug before scooping Lena up and flying all three of them out of the building and up into the sky, faster than the human eye could follow.

*****

Lizzy recovered swiftly from her ordeal, mollified by the novelty of the flight home, chocolate chip pancakes for dinner and an evening of her favourite cartoons, snuggled securely between her moms, dog, tiger and shark arranged at her feet. If she noticed any extra attentiveness, she simply accepted it as her due.

Kara was trickier. She seemed all right on the surface, if a little subdued, but Lena suspected it was a front. They usually traded off on Lizzy’s bedtime routine, but tonight they did it together, neither of them willing to let her out of their sight. Kara hesitated before laying the drowsy toddler down in her crib, and Lena laid a hand on her arm.

“Let’s take her to bed with us,” she suggested.

“Yeah, okay.” Kara’s words were casual, but Lena wasn’t imagining her sigh of relief.

They tucked Lizzy in between them, curling around her with their hands linked over her back. Lizzy was asleep in seconds, but Lena and Kara laid awake, listening to her breathe.

“We could have lost her,” Kara whispered finally.

“But we didn’t,” Lena reminded her.

“I’ve lost so many people already.” Kara gulped, her fingers tightening around Lena’s.

Lena squeezed back. “I know.”

“I don’t think I could stand it if...” She sniffled, tears running down from the corners of her eyes.

“Shh...” Lena shifted closer, running her free hand through Kara’s loose curls and gently kissing the tears from her face. “You’re not going to lose anyone else.”

“But she knew who I was...”

“She’s in custody.”

“What if there are more of them?”

“Then the DEO will handle it. We found all the pieces of the talisman. This is their job now. There’s no reason for anyone to come after us. We’re safe.”

“Promise?”

Lena pressed a last gentle kiss to her forehead. “Promise,” she said, praying to any gods that might be listening, Alien or otherwise, that it wasn’t a lie.