Rough and doodly ! But so nice to try my hand out with these three !
Itâs been a loooong time since I last posted, but I had some nudge and push to share these pieces over here. đ€Ł (so thank you! You know who you are)
Let me know if thereâs some activity on tumblr around our girls and what I should look up next to get on the fandom mood !
After a long time, I come here just to do an update of this amazing year of getting in into a comic book school, with so many experiences. One of which is that we had the chance to help the #sobd_paris to prepare it all before opening its doors to the public !
She seems so peaceful, her chest rising and falling with the slow rhythm of sleep. She canât see everything from where she stands, but she can spot the dark circles under the eyes, scratches on her cheekbone, and some bruises on her hands.
Nothing that can explain what happened.
âTell me again what happened exactly,â Lena asks with her gaze steadily fixed on the sleeping form.
She hears a sigh and ruffling papers from behind her.
âLena,â Alex said, trying to hide her frustration the best she could. âWeâve been over this for the last two hours. Do you think I would hide something from you?â
âWell, it wouldnât be the first time.â
Shit. The snarky comment had left her mouth before she could stop it.
âIâm sorry Alex,â Lena says, exhaustion creeping up in her voice. âIt was a low blow, even for me. Itâs just that I canât believe it. She looks⊠she looks so peaceful, so like herself.â
She can hear footsteps coming closer and is not surprised when two hands softly hold her shoulders to make her turn around.
Alex looks older than ever before. More than during those nights spent working in Lenaâs lab, intoxicated more often than not. More than in the mornings following those nights, when the CEO had to help settle the agent on the cot in the furthest corner of the room before waking her up with coffee when duty required her.
But more than that, she looks broken. As if the last hope that had kept her going all this time to bring her sister back had finally been snuffed out.Â
âOkay Luthor, but thatâs the last time for today. After that, I bring you back to your place so you rest. And please do actually rest, otherwise Kelly will have both of our skins.â
Thinking back on when the woman had left them two hours ago, exasperated beyond measure, Lena could absolutely imagine her coming for them and sedating them so they would finally rest. Or do something more permanent.
âThis is such a mess,â Alex grumbles to herself, rubbing her face.
âYou tell me,â Lena answers with an eyeroll.Â
âHey, no need to be a smartass. Everything went wrong and unfolded too fast for us to react immediately. Which is why you got injured.â
Lena softens her stance a bit.
âAlex, you have no reason to feel guilty over that. We had no reason to believeâŠâ
âItâs my job to anticipate danger Lena. Iâm trained to assess any situation that is alien related, and it was a gross oversight on my part to treat this one any differently.ââ
Taking a strangled breath, she adds ââI just never imagined Kara, my sisterâŠââÂ
Silence falls on them, the only noise breaking it being the regular beeping of the machines linked to Kara unconscious form in the other room.Â
Lena lets the minutes roll, leaving the other woman time to gather her thoughts, and giving herself time to burn every single detail of the broken hero in her memory.
Alex clears her throat, catching her attention again.
âKara came through the portal about a minute after it stabilized. She stumbled through it, immediately crumpling to the floor,â Alex said, her face distant, as if replaying the scene in her mind.
âOf course it wasnât really that surprising. I mean, we donât know what sheâs been through all these months. Did she have to defend herself, what access she had to food and water, âŠâ
The sun lamps in Karaâs room turned on at that moment, giving the sleeping hero the energy needed to keep the healing process going. And ensuring that Lena couldnât keep staring unless wanting a bad case of uveitis and a major migraine.
When she turns her back to the room, her stomach tightens even more.
Iâm failing her once more. What a great friend you are.
âYou were the first to rush to her side, barely had she touched the ground that you were kneeling next to her,â Alex explains.
âBut when you tried to help her up, things got wrong. Lena, I promise that we reacted as fast as possible, but you know Karaâs super speed.â
The brunette let out a dry chuckle at that.
âAs a Luthor, I canât say that many kryptonians have entrusted me with such knowledge.â
Alex doesnât gratify her jab with an answer.
âWhen we saw her holding on to you, we all thought it was for comfort,â Alex sighs, continuing her retelling.Â
âAs I said before, we knew that the phantom zone would have had some psychological impact. What we didnât see coming is the potential of aggression that would result from all that.â
Lena feels the bruises under her neck brace pulsing anew, as if Karaâs hands were still trying to crush her throat. And if Alexâs avoidance to look at her directly is anything to go by, Lena suspects that the marks are even worse than she has imagined.
Kara has attacked me.
Lena feels sick just to think that, the antithesis far more painful than any physical injury she has ever endured.
âIn the blink of an eye you were sprawled on the floor, Kara on top and throttling you.â
Alexâs complexion seems to go greener by the seconds as she finally reaches the plot twist of the events. And Lena feels almost bad to put her through this.Â
Almost.
âJâonn immediately grabbed her, dragging her away from you, but Lena she was feral. We thought at first that she was confused, delirious even, after everything she went through. But she was coherent. She knew our names, referred to past events, all while cursing and fighting us.â
Despite the blinding lights in Karaâs room, Alex steps closer, trying to conciliate what she had witnessed and the loving image of her little sister.
Lena knows what that feels like.Â
After all she had adored Lex, had put him on a pedestal for most of their life. He had been a kind and protective boy, and the only Luthor truly welcoming her in their now shared family. Until he wasnât. Paranoia had erased any trace of that brother who had stood up for her and protected her from any harm coming her way, and had replaced it by an irrational fear of aliens, and ultimately mass murder.
Itâs not the time to get lost in the past, get a hold of yourself Lena!
âWe had to sedate her, and decided that itâs the safest option for us all at the moment,â Alex continues. âShe will have time to heal, and may be her normal self next time she wakes up. Brainy is already working on the test results weâve got, but most will take a few hours more. And, I canât believe that I am saying this, it will also give us time to set up a room to contain her safely.â
Lena doesnât know what to say to comfort the redhead.Â
She feels sick at the idea of putting someone in a cage like a feral animal, ray-of-sunshine Kara all the more. But a rational part of her knows they donât have much of a choice, an uncontrollable kryptonian would cause innumerable damages and casualties. Her concussion, damaged trachea and larynx all agree by throbbing more and more acutely.
Alex finally looks at her directly, her eyes more red and blotchy than she has ever seen.
âLetâs get you home, for now we canât do anything but rest.â
Lena follows the redhead without a single protest.
âYou could say that, my girlfriend happens to be a recurring customerâ
Sliding the glasses up on her girlfriendâs nose, Lena leaned in and pecked her before offering that they called it a night, giving the hero slurring her words.