Of Knights and Aliens

Chapter 81

Kara looks Lena up and down, scanning her with her weaker than normal X-ray vision. The bullet passed right through Lena's shoulder and is embedded in the wall behind her. Lena's paler than normal as she stares at Lillian, slumped in the chair, her eyes wide and unseeing.

"Lena." Kara breathes out and Lena blinks, turning towards her girlfriend as if she forgot she was there.

"Oh. Um." Lena shakes her head, trying to clear up her muddled mind. "One second. I'll get it."

Kara watches her with confusion, wondering what she's talking about. Lena walks on shaky legs at round the desk and presses a button. The green tint to the room fades and Kara can feel her strength returning. Lena walks back around the desk and Kara gently places her hands on Lena's arms. She moves slowly so she doesn't startle her.

Lena finally meets Kara's eyes and winces at the empathy there.

"That's not what I meant, Lee." Kara says softly. "How are you doing? I mean, I know you're probably not doing great, considering everything but... I'm just going to cut myself off there." Kara stops herself before she really starts nervously rambling.

Lena lets out a shaky breath. "My shoulder hurts." She admits.

"Okay, I can do that." Kara murmurs.

She scans the drawers of the desk and the surrounding area, knowing Lillian likes being prepared. She should have something to clean and wrap Lena's wound... Aha! Kara uses her superspeed, happy when she realizes she's getting faster. The Kryptonite exposure did a number on her, but she knows it would've been much worse without her tiara thing.

Kara heads back to Lena. "Lee, I'm going to need to take off your armor. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Lena answers.

Kara gently guides Lena until she's sitting on a nearby uncomfortable chair that Lillian probably used to intimidate the people that dared to come to her offer even more. She's facing away from Lillian now and her shoulders sag slightly in relief.

Kara carefully helps Lena get out of her chest piece and sets it down onto a nearby small table. She uses a washcloth soaked in alcohol to gently dab at Lena's wound. The front first, then the back. Lena hisses but remains still, trying not to agitate her shoulder. Kara cleans the wound, wincing in sympathy every time Lena makes a pained noise or grimaces.

Kara makes sure there's no part of the bullet still in Lena, knowing that it could make her very sick if anything stays in there. There's nothing and Kara thanks Rao for that. She doesn't want to have to dig around in there to find a tiny piece of metal.

Kara carefully wraps Lena's shoulder, glad that Alex took the time to teach her how to do it.

Lena stands up once Kara's done, and Kara fights the urge to push her back down onto the chair. Lena's paler than normal and looks exhausted.

"Come on." Lena says, looking down at Kara, who's still crouching in the same position as when she was bandaging up Lena.

Kara stands, her brows furrowed. She watches as Lena puts her chest piece back on, stepping in and silently helping her after Lena winces a couple of times, trying to put it on and not hurt her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're ready to go?" Kara asks softly.

Lena can feel how loaded that question is. She nods. "Yeah. Can someone take her out of here? When I come back here to search through her files, I don't want to see..." She swallows, her throat tight with emotion.

Kara nods and gently squeezes Lena's hand. "Of course. Let's go out. You can wait outside this room and I'll talk to the agents, okay?"

Lena nods and kisses Kara's cheek. "Thank you."