Chapter Text
Kara was cuddled into Lena on the couch when Alex and Maggie walked through the door, noting that the blonde was fast asleep on her brunette girlfriend. Lena was gently stroking the alien’s face along her cheek. It was barely three in the afternoon. The older Danvers shook her head with a frown, Maggie too noticing the irregularity. It had been almost eight months since Lillian and Lex had been arrested, and two months since they had been killed by someone in their own prison cells, not that Alex was disappointed. Lena looked at them as they quietly put the bags in the kitchen.
Nightmares, she mouthed.
Kara had been having nightmares since the whole thing so long ago. They had no idea what Lillian had done to her, but Alex could tell how traumatic it had been for her sister. Lena wasn’t able to stop the stress or the nightmares or the flashbacks, but she was enough to lessen them. At least, sometimes. It was hard to imagine what the poor girl had gone through in such a short space of time.
Kara snuggled closer to her cold pillow, for once peacefully. A rare but cute sight. Alex silently got Lena a glass of blood, knowing that the brunette will probably need some soon anyway and it wouldn’t do to disturb the girl lying on her. The Vampire nodded gratefully at Alex, mouthing a ‘thank you’ as Maggie divvied up the bags knowing full well how hungry Kara was going to be when she woke up.
Lena kept her hand stroking Kara’s face as the pair left. She knew she could simply stare at the girl all day and could do it a million more times without getting bored. She was glad Kara was finally getting some well-deserved sleep, there hadn’t been a night without the dreams that would inevitably wake everyone in the building because of the screams. Because Kara was unable to close her eyes without getting scared. It hurt to watch.
The CEO turned to look at the TV which was quietly running the news, not that she was paying attention to it. There wasn’t anything relevant on. Just more about heroes from around the world, sightings of The Flash in central city accompanied by the usual portals that came with him. He’d been helping out since Cadmus, along with this Sara Lance who Lena was not too fond of considering she was quite flirtatious with Kara. But she tolerated her, for Kara. Always for Kara.
She perked up when the anchor mentioned ‘Luthor’ before pausing the TV ad rewinding a few minutes to the beginning of the piece.
“Bodies were found outside abandoned labs early this morning. An official report names the labs as former assets of LuthorCorp, it is stressed that they do not believe L-Corp is involved, but the citizens in Metropolis are calling for Lena Luthor, head of L-Corp, to be brought in for questioning.”
Perfect, she was going to have to deal with this circus now. After all this time she was still dealing with the fallout of Lex’s actions. It was simply infuriating. But that was the world she lived in, but she wouldn’t change a thing. Before, maybe she would have. But now? Now she had the sleeping blonde in her world, and it made everything she endured worth. Even her family, may their souls never rest in peace. She would have to deal with the details concerning the Lab sooner or later, but right now she was more content to fall asleep with her arm around Kara.
****
It was completely dark. Not even her enhanced vision could make out anything. There was laughter, like always. Mocking her. Mocking her weakness. Her failure. A constant in sleep, plaguing her dreams like a rat. It scared her, because it surrounded her. She could never pinpoint its position, the dream always finished before she could find out where it was coming from. It made her heart race each and every time. It was the demon of her thoughts. The monster that always hid under the bed and came out only at night to torment her.
She looked around, trying to find a source of light. There was nothing. Just the dark threatening to swallow her, consume her completely without second thought. It would not how mercy if it managed to take a hold of it, she knew that. It was the only reason she was ever able to resist it, the thought of becoming a part of nothing. It was trying to tear her from the family she was trying to protect. The family she failed to protect eight months ago because in her weakness, she never even saw it coming like she should have. Why was she a fool to think she would waltz in and save the day? She was Kryptonian, not a god.
No, that was Lena.
Lena. Her reason to keep existing in the fucked up world that would chew you up and spit you out. A world she wanted to change for the better but knew that along the way she as well had been fucked up by it and would never be the same person. Like when Krypton died. It was the last time she’d had nightmares for weeks, until she began to accept Eliza and Alex and Jeremiah as her family. Then they faded, the weight of the planets death never vanished, but at least the nightmares did.
But that was the universe in which she lived. She didn’t even exist in Barry’s word as far as she knew, or if she did then it was looking as though that Krypton never died. It would make her counterpart many years her senior. And now the darkness was closing in, coming to claim her, to destroy her and all trace of who she was. It would win. It always did. She’d grown accustomed to looking like she was fine when she wasn’t. Although she was pretty sure that Lena knew she was lying.
But she was warm. There was a light with her, at least in her heart. It would never light up the place in which she was perpetually trapped in her nightmares, but at least she felt less alone. Maybe one day, she could fight off the Darkness and stop it once and for all. She had thought she was getting better. For a good while the darkness had been subsiding, then recently it had started up again, started to fight her again.
She needed to get out of here. She knew that much as she began to wander around, trying to find her merciful exit. The laughter was getting louder, but still she couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Her best guess was that it was everywhere, which was implausible because a voice can’t be everywhere at once. There needed to be a source. Perhaps if she found that, she could make it stop and she could actually concentrate on finding a way out of this personal hell she seemed to be in.
There was something else, mixed in with the laughter. Was that voices? She could hear them getting slowly clearer.
“Soon there will be nothing to stop us.” She knew that voice, that very male voice.
“Patient. We must deal with the blonde whore and that slut of a daughter of mine.” No, it couldn’t be.
“We’ve been at this for eight months. We will succeed.”
“I know.”
Kara’s head began to hurt as the voice melded. Others began to mix in, order was lost as they mixed.
“Deal with her.”
“There is always a choice!”
“You’re better than this!”
“You’re my sister.”
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“I am a GOD.”
“Where am I?”
“I turned you in.”
“I’m not your pet.”
“Help me.”
“Vampire scum.”
“I’m not her.”
So many voices. All speaking at once. And screams. What was this madness invading her mind?
“She cannot resist.”
“KARA!”
“LENA!”
NO!
****
“No! Ooff!” Kara groaned as she hit the floor. Lena was leaning forward gripping Kara gently, who was breathing hard, a sweat having broken out across her skin as the words from her dream bounced around her mind at full pelt with no signs of slowing. It was as if he couldn’t get enough oxygen in her lungs. She’d never had a dream in the past few months quite like that. There was the tormenting laugh yes, but otherwise it was only a rare dream of the darkness tying to take her.
“Kara? Are you okay?” Lena quickly got up in a flash to help pull her girlfriend up from the floor, concern clear in her eyes as she picked up the rapid heartbeat.
“Yeah I…that was…weird…” She shook her head trying to erase the now fading voices as she stood, gratefully accepting Lena’s help. “Not like the others.”
“What do you mean?” The brunette tilted her head as they sat back down on the couch.
“Voices but…it…it just felt strange. Like…they were…memories? But not…it’s hard to explain.” Kara sighed. Word eluded her on how to describe such a strange dream, it made her sound like a crazy person and that was something she was not. Lena looked at her with a small sympathetic smile, her hand brushing Kara’s cheek then cupping it. The blonde leaned into the hand and nuzzled it. Lena her found her so cute when she lacked the glasses with her hair up. Her smile widened when Kara pushed into the fingers with her own small smile, hiding into the palm.
“You’re such a puppy Kara.”
“I know.” Kara kissed the palm gently, Lena chuckled as she did so, the incident now forgotten.
“Would you like to come to work with me tomorrow?” Lena asked as she used her other hand to brush away a stray piece of blonde hair that had gotten loose.
“Don’t you have important stuff to do?” Kara kept nuzzling into Lena’s hand, the dream forgotten.
“I do but you know how I don’t like leaving you here alone. It distracts me more if we’re apart than if you’re near.”
“Is that a good or a bad thing?” She kissed the hand again before moving to press another kiss to her wrist.
“A bit of both I suppose.” Lena replied vaguely as Kara began to kiss up her arm, moving closer with each peck of her lips. “Mmm don’t stop…”
“I wouldn’t dare.” The hero chuckled as she began to make her way up to Lena’s shoulder, nipping and sucking on the odd kiss to draw those cute little draws of breath Lena made when the brunette closed her eyes. It was slightly annoying that Lena had no pulse, she knew she would have loved to mark the woman properly, but at least she could make marks. It claimed Lena as hers, if even only for a little while. Lena let out a shuddered breath when Kara’ made it to her collar bone, rolling a small piece of skin between her teeth in just the way that Lena loved.
“Kara…” she breathed as the blonde pulled away the strap of her top and kissed along to the neck, Lena extending it as Kara continued to nip gently. The blonde only giggled as she continued her teasing, slowly pushing Lena down onto her back, not that Lena resisted, she was all too happy to comply with the gentle demand. Kara began to focus on her neck, running her hands to softly pull the vampires hands up above their heads. There was a smile gracing Kara’s lips as Lena arched her neck up.
“Eager?” She giggled.
“Kara…” Lena warned.
“Okay okay…” Kara smirked as she used her teeth to tug at Lena’s top, not that she couldn’t rip it, but for now her goal was to tease and to do so relentlessly. She teasingly pulled at it again before nipping the skin underneath. A small purr came from Lena’s throat as she did so. “Are you purring?”
“Yes…now shut up…” Lena breathed. There was a soft gasp as Kara nipped over the vein in her throat before latching on and sucking for a moment. The moan it created was music to Kara’s ears as she went back to nipping. Lena growled, “Oh rip the damn shirt Kara.”
Her chest was heaving up and down as Kara took both of Lena’s hands in one of her own, using the other to teasingly tear the top off. She began to make her way down, pressing her lips against the skin of Lena’s chest before pulling off the dark green bra, carefully though, it was her favourite one and she was not going to ruin it. She threw it to the side and picked up the stiff nipple between her teeth, rolling it a little to elicit soft noises from her lover. She proceeded to move to the next one, pinching it also with her teeth. She heard a soft purr make its way up from Lena’s throat before moving down slowly, making a trail across the woman’s stomach, then her abdomen.
She had to let Lena’s hand go as she got lower though, her arms weren’t long enough to hold them in place. So instead she let her hands press firmly on Lena’s sides to reduce her movement at least somewhat. Lena let her as the blonde travelled down further, to the groin. There was a good feeling in Lena’s chest as she felt Kara’s breath down there, before a teasing tongue made contact with the small bud. She gasped, gripping onto the fabric beneath her as it was ticked again. Then Kara just had to turn her attention onto Lena’s entrance. She pressed her tongue into it, and the brunette at her mercy couldn’t help but release a small whimper.
“Ka-ra…for God’s sake…” She was frustrated at the teasing. Kara seemed to know just how to tease her to frustration in just the right ways.
He please were, thankfully, answered when she felt a hand travel down to join Kara’s tongue in thrusting in and out of her entrance. Together, they were slightly faster, a pace which continued to grow over time. Though the odd stops were quite irritating, but she knew it would be worth it. She could already feel it. Her back arched when she could no long hold onto it, the pleasure skyrocketing through her as her muscles convulsed. She could just about make out the giggle from Kara as the finger and tongue were removed.
“Seriously…where did you learn this stuff?”
****
Alex sighed as she worked through the paperwork from their last mission. Working for the DEO was all well and good, fun at times even. But she always seemed to end up with a pile of paperwork by the end of the day, and it was so tiring. She’d much rather be at home, with Maggie. She was most likely making herself dinner, waiting patiently for her to get home. After all, they had a stack of ready meals for when one of them was working late.
Despite their leaders being incarcerated and then killed, there sure was a lot of activity from Cadmus. It seemed that someone had filled the void. Hence the paperwork from a raid earlier that day. Manns had been injured, which meant extra paperwork on top of the report and incarceration papers. She wouldn’t complain though. She knew how useless that would be. Besides, there would be plenty of time for that after she had completed the paperwork.
She signed off another piece of paper before moving onto the next one. Yes, she would rather ditch the entire pile but J’onn would probably drag her back until it was all finished. Her eyes flicked up to look between the two piles. One that needed to be signed, one that she would never have to lay eyes on again. Thank God. She was about halfway done, near as dammit anyway.
She would take a break after the next two reports, if only to save her sanity which seemed to be slipping very, very quickly. Maybe she would head to the training room, quick work out. Or talk to Winn. Something, anything. Not another emergency that required paperwork though. No, she couldn’t deal with the additional paperwork at this point. So she sighed and soldiered on. It was just so quiet, and with her brain going off track at every single moment she just knew that this was going to take a lot longer than she originally intended.
“Go home Alex.” A voice floated from the doorway. “Your thoughts are beginning to affect my ability to work.”
“Thanks J’onn.”
He smiled at her. “I expect you to be in early to finish off that pile though. It’s not going to do itself.”
***
When she got home, fear bolted through her when she noted the busted lock and open door. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she pulled out her gun and gently eased the door open. It’ creaks were haunting in the deathly silence that surrounded the hall. Getting a greater look, she could see the overturned furniture, the broken glass of the windows. Paper was everywhere, nothing had been spared the destruction here. Alex swallowed as she scanned the room once the door was fully open, even at the door there was the crunch of glass under her shoes.
Her eagle eyes noted the half-dried blood on the blue chair as well as the dark fabric of her couch, both of which had been carelessly tossed by the intruder’s obvious search for something that they so clearly thought she had. Or Maggie, since the detective had all but moved into her apartment, which she wasn’t going to complain about. That wasn’t the point.
“Maggie?” She called out carefully. There was no response, but she knew Maggie was here, there wouldn’t be blood otherwise. Who’s blood she had no idea, although she really hoped that it was the intruders. Partially because they’d have DNA, but also because it would mean that Maggie wasn’t hurt, at least to the point she was bleeding. She called out again. “Maggie are you here?”
Her heart was racing rapidly when for a second time she got no answer. By God if Maggie was dead she was going to hunt down the one responsible and get Lena to give him a really painful death while she watched. Although, even if she wasn’t dead, Alex was still going to hunt him down and nothing was going to stop her from doing so. Looking at the smashed table, she could see that some of the galls shards here were as well bloodied. The pit of her stomach fell lower, a sinking feeling permeated her being as she turned to head to the bedroom where to door there was in tatters.
She entered slowly, the light was off so she couldn’t see much, part from the motionless figure on the bed. She flicked the switch and swallowed. Maggie was laying there, deliberately placed and still as stone. Blood covered her head where something had made contact. The only comfort was the steady rise and fall of the woman’s chest. The blood on her head had long since dried but she needed to get her girlfriend to the DEO.
She put her gun away and shakily pulled her phone from her pocket as she sat down on her bed to get a better look at Maggie’s wound. The woman was paler than usual, which meant blood loss. There was the possibility of there being other wounds as well, which was a scary prospect. She didn’t recall pressing the call button, nor telling J’onn nor any of it. All that she remembered was Lena and Kara being there with a few minutes of her call with her boss ending. Lena in her leathers and Kara in her Supergirl Suit. It was all somewhat of a blur.
***
Seconds after receiving the text from J’onn, Kara and Lena were already flying toward Alex’s apartment. Her jacket fluttered in the wind as they flew around, checking for anything suspicious before heading up to the apartment itself. It took some manoeuvring but they were able to get through the window without compromising the evidence.
She set Lena gently on the ground to go check on her sister as they went into the bedroom. Lena without question went to Maggie’s side, taking out a small vial of red liquid and dropping it into the detective’s mouth. Alex didn’t take her eyes off Maggie the entire time, she was almost catatonic from the sight of the unconscious woman, Kara could tell as she held her sister. It hadn’t taken long for her to reach this state, but she couldn’t blame the poor brunette at all. If their positions were reversed she knew the reaction would be the same.
“Come on Alex, deep breaths.” She encouraged, feeling her sister start to respond as Maggie gain a small amount of colour. Kara’s nodded a small thanks to Lena for thankfully have that vial of blood with her. “She’s going to be ok.”
Alex nodded as J’onn came to the doorway. They could all hear as Lucy gave orders to the DEO agents that accompanied them to start examining the apartment.
“I’ll go see what I can do.” Lena said as she stood up straight and walked to the door, shimmying past J’onn. There was a scent in the apartment, and she had to find the source. Lucy nodded a greeting to her as the CEO moved to look at the blood that was spotted around the room on different pieces of furniture. It was a slightly unpleasant smell, something she was not unused to. Especially when she was first brought to the council, something similar had been spilled many times when they taught her a good deal.
The blood of a new vampire, turned, not made through a ritual. Within the week she assumed, perhaps two at most. Why they would attack Sawyer she had no idea, even if they were after Alex they should have been able to tell the two apart. Although, she conceded, it wasn’t in the nature of new-borns to be so precise and calculated. They were more hit-and-run than older vampires. Which meant their creator didn’t care about collateral damage. She was glad that Lucy took sample of each, getting as much gathered as possible.
Who among her kind would want to try this eluded her. National City was, by rights, her territory and was between the factions was prohibited by the council unless there was good reason. Marius perhaps, he always did like to provoke her, well, try to anyway. He wasn’t turned by a ritual and was always jealous of the power she had over him. This was his style, but of course, he was in Italy. Now rest for the wicked.
“Miss Lane, there’s blood in the bathroom.” She mentioned as she followed the stronger scent. While Alex was observant, she would have only been able to see larger patches of blood in the light levels. What she missed was the small blood drops hidden by the mess the intruders had made, although she wouldn’t fault the agent for it. It was hard to see and covered up. But she had the nose for blood, an unfair advantage. She felt Lucy follow her as she opened up the bathroom.
It was red with bitter blood. The littlest Lane blanched behind her slightly at the sight of the blood on the walls. In the shower a figure was slumped. There was no pulse that Lena could hear, no was the chest rising and falling like it should have been. There were bites in his neck but his blood was so clearly that of a new-born. She theorised that the others had turned on him. She could see the three gunshot wounds. One in his shoulder and one in his knee. The other was right between his eyes, the skin around it minutely dishevelled. She recalled the stash of silver bullet she’d had made for Alex and Maggie, good to see they didn’t go to waste, at least she hoped.
“What the hell happened?” Lucy vocalised at last.
“Where’s Maggie’s gun?”
“We found it behind the kitchen counter.” She swallowed as her eyes got wider the longer she looked at the room.
“Hmm…why would they place her so deliberately on the bed?” Lena wondered out loud to herself as she moved to get a better look at the body. “They were new-born’s, everything about it suggests as much even the smell. They lust for blood within their first couple of months.”
“So what, they were hungry and ate the guy?”
“Vampire, they don’t go after those turned through a bite, if they were they would go for ones like me…which meant there was an older one here but I can catch any other scent.” She narrowed her eyes.
“So this one was a vampire and he was eaten by his own…that’s really messed up….”
“I need to do more research on this.” Lena frowned as she pushed his head to the side slightly, looking closer at the bite mark that marred his neck. It was savage, like the others, torn around the edges. She turned to look at Lucy. “Can you send me any simulations of what happened to me?”
“Not standard procedure but if vampires are involved then I think procedure is out the window to be honest with you.” She shrugged.
“Go check on Alex.” Lena sighed as she turned back to the body. Time to get to work then…