The Vampire Woman - Chapter 26
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As it turns out, sharing privileged information about vampires is a dangerous affair.
None of them could have expected this, not when they’re in Lena’s apartment, one of the safest places on the planet, and none of them know how someone has managed to get to them.
As soon as Sam had opened her mouth to start answering some of Kara’s questions after she had woken up, something hit them. Lena, Sam and Kara keel over, their hands clutching their ears in an attempt to block out the agonizing noise attacking them.
Kara drops to her knees, the least experienced with her advanced hearing, thus unable to try and cut off the incessant high-pitched ringing that is assaulting her from seemingly every angle.
Soon enough, the noise turns to words, or rather, one word.
“Hush.”
The way one single word can make a vampire’s already cold blood turn to ice is horrifying, terrifying, and everything in between.
Lena and Sam’s eyes lock onto each other as the noise stops, freeing them from the prison of pain they’ve found themselves unexpectantly trapped in. For the most part, Kara is just trying to catch her breath, stunned by what just happened and barely holding herself together as the fear catches up with her, her brain processing that she was just in a considerable amount of pain, and now she’s not.
“What the fuck?” Sam had just about curled over out of the chair she was sitting in when it happened, and now, she leans back, making a conscious effort to rid herself of the tension that wound up around every muscle in her body.
Seeing Sam compose herself and ease the strain out of her stiff shoulders, neck and spine, Lena follows suit. With the tightness there, she almost wonders if she got rigor mortis a few centuries too late.
“We need to move somewhere else, somewhere safer.” Lena pants out, barely catching her breath.
“Like where?”
“I’m not going to say, clearly, we’re being listened to,” Lena says, not bothering to lower her voice. It won’t do any of them any good.
Kara is still on her knees, her eyes firmly fixed on the carpet, her mind reeling. Her panic, anxiety and fear are scuttling around under her skin like a thousand tiny bugs burrowed away inside her. It makes her itch but she can’t seem to make herself move; she doesn’t have the energy after that.
Alex rushes to her side. She and Ruby were giving the three of them some space by sitting in the kitchen while the vampires and hybrid have their discussion, but upon hearing the pained gasps and grunts, they gave up on their stations in favour of making a beeline for their loved ones.
Dropping down before her sister, Alex’s hands brace along Kara’s jaw, cradling her head in her soft, worried embrace. “Kara? Kara, are you ok?”
Kara nods weakly against her palms, very obviously not ok.
“We can’t go anywhere yet, it’s too light out. What do we do?” Sam asks, her eyes darting between Lena and Ruby. “If it’s not safe here, I don’t want Ruby here. Maybe you can get Frank or Jess to come and get her so we can send her somewhere she’ll be better protected.”
“Sam, nothing is going to happen to her. We all know that a hundred vampires could break in here right now and nothing could come remotely close to hurting her because we would rip them to shreds if we had to. Besides, for us to be heard, that means another vampire knows where we are, and they must be strong. However, no vampire can walk in the light of day unscathed.”
Sam shakes her head before pointing at Kara, raising an eyebrow at Lena.
“No, a hybrid wouldn’t have enough power to hear us from the ground, and there’s no way they’re inside the building; the security is too tight. I built this place, and I have safeguards in place to prevent outside ears from listening in. I have no idea how they got around it, but I need to figure out how they did it so I can stop it from happening again.
Alex manages to shuffle Kara up and get her on the couch. It’s clear she’s not doing well, and while she’s doing her best to remain stony-faced, unshed tears are making her eyes glisten and her clenched jaw gives away just how disturbed she is by what just happened.
Her breathing is ragged; Lena can hear it clear as day, and her hands are clenched into fists atop her knees. Lena reaches out to unclasp it, hoping to relax her somewhat, but she tears herself away, stretching her back out until it clicks and shrinking in on herself.
“Kara?” Alex tries again, and seeing the way Kara winces at the sound of her sister’s voice, Lena realizes what’s happening.
“She’s overwhelmed. I fear the audio attack we’ve just faced may have momentarily tipped her over the edge. There are headphones on the nightstand in my room. They’re noise cancelling and should help her regain her senses once again, would you mind fetching them for her?”
Lena barely gets her question out before Alex is on her way to get them. She’s grateful to be given a task, something to do to make her feel useful because, quite frankly, she hasn’t got a fucking clue what just happened. All she knows is that they’re being listened to and that means she has to be careful with what she’s saying. Given that she doesn’t know what is classified as dangerous, she’s opting to say as little as possible.
She grabs the headphones and rushes back to the living room to fit them over Kara’s head, ignoring the blonde’s hands as she reaches out to take them from her. Once they’re firmly in place, she tucks a few stray curls out of her face and sits beside her, her brow furrowed in worry.
“I don’t have a clue what is going on but I need answers as to what just happened and I need to know that you’ve got a plan.” She stares into Lena’s eyes for a brief moment before moving over to lock eyes on the chestnut brown ones of the other vampire, who has her daughter tucked beneath her arm protectively, the younger girl’s head resting against her arm.
“You’ll have to let me figure that one out for myself before I can answer that, Alex.” Lena huffs, annoyed that she’s out of the loop. If there’s one thing she hates more than being threatened by a mysterious voice that is paired with the audio equivalent of being stabbed in the ears repeatedly, it’s not knowing something. Lena has to figure this out.
-
Lena’s senses are going crazy as she ushers everyone into the back of Frank’s car, and she has no doubt that Sam is just as on edge as she is.
They have been waiting all day for the chance to leave, waiting for the sun to go down just enough for them to get out of the apartment and get to L-Corp. At least there, they’ll know they’re safe. The only problem with that is their relative certainty that the person who sent them that message is a vampire too, a strong one at that. That means they could show up at any time, and all they can do is cross their fingers and hope they can get to L-Corp without meeting them.
“Frank, don’t dawdle. Take the fastest route and be on guard. If you see anything suspicious, you must let us know.”
“Of course, Ms Luthor.” Frank drones, his foot hitting the gas pedal before they’ve even had a chance to put their seatbelts on.
A horn sounds from behind them as they cut off some poor soul who’s probably on their way home from work. Kara flinches at the sound, and Lena pulls her into her side more firmly before making sure the cups of the headphones are over her ears properly. “Keep them on. You’ll be on edge for a while so it’s best to leave them on until we at least get where we’re going.”
Kara presses herself into Lena’s side more firmly, taking comfort in the tight grip she has around her shoulders. It’s steadying and makes her feel like nothing can touch her. Her right hand reaches over to grab Alex’s, who looks just about ready to jump into Sam’s lap with how wide her eyes are, constantly searching for the threat they can’t see. The only reason she hasn’t already done it is because Ruby is huddled so tightly to Sam already, Kara’s certain.
Frank makes the judgment call not to take the fastest route but the most populated, figuring that if someone or something is after them, then it’s best he uses the public as their safety blanket. No vampire wants to be exposed to the world, and no vampire is going to risk attacking them on Main Street, he’s pretty sure of that. Not unless the vampire is dumb or overly cocky anyway.
Lena takes note of Frank’s choice but doesn’t say anything. She understands why he did it, but she would still prefer it if he followed her instructions. Fighting over it now isn’t going to help anyone though. It’s already tough keeping everything moving smoothly when they’re all on edge. If she makes a fuss about it, that will scare everyone even more.
Closing her eyes, Lena listens out for any sound that could be coming from someone who wants to hurt them, her ears working overtime to try and find footsteps that aren’t matched by a heartbeat or the telltale sound of some supervillain cackling malevolently in some dark, abandoned building.
Frank pulls up around the side of L-Corp, bringing them to the same side door that Kara was first brought through by him long ago when Lena had him bring her to her. This time, nobody needs to get threatened by a gun to go inside, although Kara wishes she had one stuffed in the waistband of her pants so she could whip it out like she’s in an action movie and get her revenge on Frank.
They all scuttle through the door, their heads swivelling as they duck inside, trying their best to spot anyone down the alley.
The door clangs shut behind them, but none of them lose any tension from their shoulders. None of them release the breath they’re holding. Something doesn’t feel right.
“Everyone get down to the lab,” Lena demands, her ears straining to find anyone who isn’t meant to be here and coming up empty. Diving for her phone, she calls up the new head of security, someone she hired after Vasquez was murdered. She’s not sure if she likes her just yet but doesn’t get any negative feelings from her. “Ms Lane, I want a full head count and a list of everyone in the building please. Anyone who isn’t security is to be taken to the second-floor conference room. Once I’ve reviewed the list and checked on the staff, I’ll decide on further steps.”
“Of course, Ms Luthor. Is there anything you’d like me to prepare for?”
“Just be ready. We might have to move fast.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Lena shuts the lab door behind them firmly before heading straight for the safe room. “I know it’s not your favourite place in the world, but please just go in here for now. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I’ll be able to handle it better knowing you’re safe.” She swings the door open and gestures inside.
Ruby is the first to pass through the door after a not-so-gentle nudge from her mom and Alex is right behind her, quickly followed by Frank.
“You too,” Lena says softly, squeezing Kara’s hand. “You’ll be more protected from an audio attack in there, and I’ll feel better knowing there’s someone powerful in there to protect Ruby. I know Sam will too.”
“I will,” Sam confirms.
“Is Jess still here?” Kara asks, backing into the room. “Are you going to bring her down here?”
Lena’s eyes widen. “Oh shit. Sam, can you go and get her? I imagine she’s either already been rounded into the conference room or at her desk.”
Sam takes a second to enter the safe room, duck down to press a kiss to her daughter’s forehead, and then whisper a gentle reassurance to her before she darts off up the stairs, much quicker than the humans in the room were expecting, all of them left shell shocked by the causal display of power.
Kara moves into the room and waits just inside the door. “She should be back in just a moment, right? No point in shutting the door until Jess is here.”
Lena nods but looks around nervously. “I guess so, but it’d still make me feel better.”
“We all saw how quickly Sam just ran off, she’ll be back in no time.”
“They’ll be longer than you think. The day Jess lets anyone make her move that quick is the day a janitor is mopping up her puke from every step in the stairwell. It’ll be like a breadcrumb trail, except it’s just the regurgitated sub she had for lunch.”
Kara pinches the bridge of her nose between her fingers, wincing as she tries not to picture that. “Yep, thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome,” Lena smiles playfully, although it doesn’t feel completely genuine, the unease in her eyes overtaking the brief moment of joy.
“It’ll be ok.” Kara tries reassuring her but knows her thunderous heart is giving her away. She almost died the last time they were in a situation like this. Now someone else is threatening them, and she’s got to somehow not freak out.
Sam comes barging down the stairs at full speed, practically throwing Jess into the saferoom before barging Lena into there too before she slams the door shut behind them, locking them all in.
“What are you doing?” Lena exclaims.
“Shut up.” Sam commands, barely glancing back at the group, which now includes a very green-looking Jess. “They’re here.”
“What?” Lena whispers, almost inaudibly.
Not a moment later, a long, deep scratch can be heard from the other side of the door, trailing across it with a noise that makes them all raise their shoulders up in an attempt to protect their ears.
Alex notices Ruby quivering against the back wall and tucks her arm around the girl, noting how she immediately clutches her arms around her waist and buries her head into her chest.
Jess takes the other side of Ruby, joining in on the impromptu hug, a familiar figure for her to draw comfort from.
Frank just huddles in the corner, his necklace pulled out from under his shirt, the little cross held tightly between his clenched hands as he mouths the words to a prayer that won’t protect him.
“I hear you.” A dark voice sing-songs from outside. “I can hear your fear.”
Lena turns to everyone, a finger pressed to her lips to warn everyone to be quiet.
“If you think this adorable little room will protect you, you’re wrong. I know who you’re hiding in there. I know what you’re hiding in there. A beat. “Hybrid.”
Kara’s eyes are so wide she’s confident they might just roll right out of her head. Her hands clutch at the headphones, and to stop herself from accidentally breaking them, she shoves them back onto her head, regretting ever taking them off when they got down here.
Lena holds her hands out to her, holding her palms out flat to reassure her that everything is fine. She’s not going to let anyone hurt her.
“Give me the creature and I’ll leave. Nobody has to get hurt here.”
A snarl rips itself free from Lena’s throat, her protective side coming out in spades as she thinks about what someone could possibly do to Kara. Obviously, whatever she is planning isn’t good. Nobody who has good intentions with someone calls them a ‘creature.’
“Ah, so someone in there has a pair of balls. I like that, and I’d recognize that sound anywhere. You made that sound back when we first met too. So feisty, Ms Luthor.” A sinister laugh travels through the door, muffled by the metal but no less terrifying. “Or should I say, Lenetta Kieran? I bet you don’t even remember; you low-levels never do.”
Lena’s lip curls dangerously. She knows that was her name. Her first name. It’s changed many times across the centuries, often whenever she moved from city to city, or even across the minimal number of countries she’s been to, but that’s one she’ll never forget.
Only one person she met during that time was a vampire too. One person who definitely shouldn’t be here. Someone that she was sure died so long ago. Someone who paid the ultimate price for their crimes but apparently managed to duck beneath Death’s scythe.
“You know me, don’t you, Lena?” The voice taunts, and all of a sudden, Lena is back in her chambers in England. She’s human again, her last moments of being a normal person. The final moment before her life is robbed of her.
Lena’s hand moves without her consent, reaching forward to open the door.
Sam grabs her wrist, fighting against her, shocked by the amount of strength Lena is using to reach forward. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
“Open the door for me, Lena. You know you want to.”
Kara wraps her arms around Lena from behind, trapping her arms at her side as much as she can, knowing full well that this isn’t a fight she can win. Lena has to resist for them to win this battle.
Sam clings to her wrist, a flame burning deep inside her. She won’t let her do this, not when Ruby’s safety depends on it.
“Don’t make me stop you, Lena.”
“Lena, open the door.”
Lena feels as though something has nestled deep into her brain, changing the wiring and drawing her closer to the person on the other side of the door, pulling her like they’re magnets attracting. She has the desire to resist it but also feels like her wants are not her own. A part of her wants nothing more than to open the door while her logical brain screams at her that it’s a trap.
“Lena, don’t,” Kara mutters in her ear, her arms pressing deep into her stomach as she pulls back on her. Her warmth is steadying against her back and helps guide Lena through the fog.
“I won’t,” Lena says, her tone lacking its usual bite. “You might as well go, you can’t hurt us in here and we’re not handing anyone over to you.”
A cackling laugh travels through the thick metal of the door. “Interesting. You’re stronger than I imagined you to be. Nowhere near strong enough, but you’ve got a little bit of bite to your bark. I like that.”
“Just go!”
“I can’t do that. Give me the hybrid and I won’t harm the humans you’re hiding. That’s the deal. I can smell them. I can smell you all. You have three…no, four. There are four humans in there, two vampires and the hybrid. One in seven isn’t a bad loss. Hand it over.”
Kara bites her lip and winces as nails once again scratch against the door, causing an obvious amount of damage. The door won’t hold forever. Lena made this one of the safest places on the planet, yet here they are, sitting piglets as the big bad wolf slowly taunts them as she blows their house down. “Maybe I should just—”
“Absolutely not.” Lena cuts her off, turning around in her arms and taking her muscled arms in her hands, holding her tightly as though she’s about to open the door after begging her not to do it just moments before. “You’re not doing that. We’re fine, we’re safe in here.”
“Not forever.” The voice singsongs. “How long do you think it’ll take for me to get through this door? A few minutes? An hour? A day? I can wait you out. I have nothing but time.”
“Are you a vampire?” Lena asks, unsure if she actually wants to know the answer, but in a much better state of mind than she was before, clearly the woman has stopped controlling her for now.
“You could say that.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Telling me.” Lena smiles through the darkness, pulling out her phone and tapping the screen with her fingers faster than the flap of a hummingbird's wings. She then shoves it back in her pocket and presses Kara’s headphones against her ears more firmly. “Sam, Kara, this is going to hurt. I’m so sorry.”
The loudest, most ear-piercing ringing booms through the entire building, ten times worse than the audio attack they suffered at the hands of the mysterious woman and strong enough that it knocks not only the vampires to the floor but also causes the humans to cover their ears. It’s not enough to hurt them, but it’s not comfortable.
They hear a piercing scream on the other side of the door, demonic sounding undertones to it reaching forth and battering the lab. They hear the faint smashing sound as beakers and test tubes shatter from the mixture of the scream and Lena’s defence system.
It pauses, and all goes silent.
They relax against the floor, loosening their stiff limbs from their foetal positions. Lena swallows harshly. “It’ll just keep going. The system will take short breaks every so often. It’s random too. It gives anyone affected a chance to leave. I’ll leave it on for as long as necessary. We can endure longer than you. We’re more protected in here than you are out there. We have the upper hand. Get out while you can.”
“No!”
The noise starts up again, and Kara cries out in anguish, the least able to deal with it out of all of them. Lena knows that, at least she does when she’s not also being assaulted by the noise. She just hopes that the woman doesn’t call their bluff. If she does, they really are screwed.
They tighten back up into their foetal positions, their hands covering their ears, and their eyes slam shut.
Another scream from outside the door.
Silence.
“We can do this all day if we have to. We’re not opening the door.” Lena pants. “Give it up.”
Silence.
“You can’t win.”
Silence.
“Why do you want her so badly that you are willing to endure this pain?”
“I’m not. I’ll be back, don’t worry. I’ll find you again, not that it will be difficult; your name’s on the building.”
The door slams.
Silence.
The screeching starts up again, and as much as Lena wants to text security and have them shut off the noise, she can’t make herself move at all through the assault. They have to wait for the next break in the noise.
It does come eventually, but it feels like it takes an eternity. As soon as it stops, Lena dives for her phone and submits the order. It’s over for now. If she’s really gone, that is.
They all unravel from their positions, slowly sitting up.
“Is everyone alright?” Sam asks, her eyes pinned on her daughter. “Ruby?”
“I’m ok, mom. Is she gone?”
Sam turns her ear to the door, listening for the woman.
Silence.
“She’s gone.”
“Are you sure?” Alex asks, her eyebrows furrowed and fear written across every inch of her face.
Lena wraps her arms around Kara’s shaking body. “We’re certain. I think you should stay here while Sam and I go out there and secure the building properly. We’ll come and get you once we’re sure that’s done.”
Nobody puts up a fight. Nobody wants to leave their little sanctuary, fear still coursing through their veins and taking over them.
-
Kara is still shaking over an hour later and it has everyone worried about her. She’s sure it’s just adrenaline, but Lena and Alex have forced her to lie down on a gurney—a new one. Lillian really did a number on the last one when she escaped from being bound to it.
“I’m ok.”
“I’m sure you are, but you’ve been through a lot today, and you were practically tortured by not only her but also my defence system. We believe we only got one over on her today because a person like that doesn’t think that people below them can have similar ideas to them. I installed the frequency emitters after the Lillian thing. I wanted to be sure that I have something to rid the building of vampires should the need arise.”
“Smart.” Kara shifts, moving to take the headphones off.
Lena gently bats her hands away, keeping them in place and instead connecting them up to her phone and offering it to her so she can play some music instead. “Find something relaxing, maybe try to rest for a while. Even if you can’t sleep, you should just try to relax your body and close your eyes.”
“What about you?”
“I have work to do.”
“You should at least take half an hour to yourself, maybe sit down and try meditating or something. You can’t think if your head is everywhere at once.”
Lena leans down and presses her lips to Kara’s forehead softly. “I’ll be fine. I’ll rest once my work is done.”
Kara sighs. She already knows she’s not winning this one right now, so she turns her head until she spots Jess. “Hey! Can you make sure she rests soon, Jess?”
“You got it.” Jess gives her a thumbs up, pausing her sweeping to do so before going right back to cleaning up the broken glass.
“Thanks,” Kara calls out as she settles back down, turning on some soft music and trying not to think about how there are six people milling about the room around her.
Lena shakes her head at her softly, amused but also slightly annoyed by her actions. This woman is something else. Even after suffering through something that is definitely traumatic, she’s still trying to make sure she’s looked after too. If she could blush, she would be beet red.
“She’s not so bad,” Frank admits from his place on a random stool near to where Lena is standing.
“She’s not bad at all, and I’m just happy she didn’t try to have you kicked out of the room before she settled down.”
Frank hums softly. “She doesn’t like me very much.”
“That’s the understatement of the century.”
“I stand by what I did.”
“I know you do, but you cannot deny that what you did traumatized her deeply, just as my actions did the same to her. Our relationship has flourished since then, but it has not come without its trials and tribulations, of which I’m certain are not completely finished.”
Frank nods slowly. “I know what I did. I know what harm I caused. I know it’s not rational that I dislike her for not wanting to help you that day; she had every right and reason to refuse, but I care about you. I’ve been your driver for years, and you’re like family to me.”
Lena looks down, forcing herself to hide the tiny smile the old man just forced onto her face. “You’re like my family too. I just…can you try and get along with her? She’s lost a lot because of me and having you guys at odds just adds unease into her life that she shouldn’t have to deal with.”
“As you wish.” Frank nods. “I’ll be nice to her.”
“Thank you, that’s all I ask.” Lena squeezes his arm gently. “Now, why don’t you go and get Jess to find you somewhere to lie down too? You can call your family and let them know you’ll be home late and try to relax. At your age, you have to take it easy after something like what happened today.”
“Cheeky madam. I’ll be fine, but I suppose I should let Mandy know.” Frank grins at her before standing up and shuffling over to Jess, who eases the broom down before leading him upstairs so he can rest and call his wife.
She moves to her station where she was working on the synthetic blood, eager to see if any of her experiments she was working on have garnered any results, but her cold, unbeating heart shatters as she takes in the sight of it all strewn across the station and ground broken, her notes ripped to shreds. Whoever that woman was, she doesn’t want her to be working on this, and if she could tell what the experiment was just from her notes and the experiments, then she’s smart. Smarter than Lena would like her to be.
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Sam and Alex both wander over to come and look over her shoulder.
“Oh crap,” Alex mutters. “Is that the artificial blood experiments?”
“Yep, I guess this means I’ve got to start all them over again. Fuck. At least I remember what was in the notes, so I don’t have to start completely from scratch.”
Sam squeezes her shoulder reassuringly. “I’m sorry, Lena.”
“Me too, but it’s not the end of the world.” She ducks her head. “I’d rather it just be this than any of you.”
Sam nods. “Me too. Need a hand cleaning up?”
“No, I’m good. Why don’t you and Ruby go and hang out in my office? Ruby can nap there if she wants to. I’ve got this covered.”
“Translation: you want us to scarper so you can try and make sense of everything that happened.”
Lena rolls her eyes. “Yes, that. Now scram.”
“You’ve got it.” Sam turns on her heel and eases Ruby up from where she’s sitting to take her upstairs and away from here.
“Oh, and Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s another safe room in my office; use it if you have to.”
Sam nods at her one last time with a reassuring smile before the mother-daughter duo leave the lab, leaving only Lena, Alex and Kara.
Alex finds a box of gloves nearby, washes her hands and snaps a pair on before helping Lena clear up the mess left all over the place.
“You don’t have to.”
Alex shrugs, not stopping for even a second. “I know, I want to. You protected us today and this is what I can do to thank you. I don’t know what that woman wants with my sister, but I know you’re not going to let her do anything either, not to Kara.”
Lena’s lips quirk up. “That’s true. I won’t let anyone hurt Kara. However, I do have to figure out who that woman is. She had a hold on me that I’ve never felt before, and I need to know exactly how and why she was able to do it.”
“That sounds smart.”
“It means I won’t be able to work on my artificial blood project though. I can’t do both, but I need to.” Lena sighs. “If I don’t work on the blood, the supply will run low again. I can’t risk becoming as starving as I was when I met Kara. If I work on that and put the research into this woman on the backburner then I’m opening us up to an attack. What do I do?”
“You’re a billionaire, right?”
Lena frowns, pausing to look over at Alex in confusion. “Yes, why?”
“Just pay someone to do it.” She shrugs. “You have a load of scientists in this building during the day. Just get a few to work on the blood.”
“But I can’t let anyone know I’m a vampire. That’s the problem.” Lena shakes her head.
“Do you really think only vampires need blood?” Alex laughs, amused. “The hospital is always in need of donations. Believe me, I would know.”
Lena’s eyes grow wide. “Oh, shit. I forgot you’re a doctor. How are you having so much time off?”
“They’ve been trying to get me to take my vacation time for years. So has Kara for that matter.”
“Sounds like something Kara would do,” Lena admits.
“Yeah, but as much as I like resting. I love the feeling of helping people and saving lives. Sometimes, I like to work with patients, and sometimes I do lab testing. I love it.”
Just like that, a metaphorical lightbulb shines brightly over Lena’s head. “Lab work, you say?”
“Lab testing. It’s different.”
“But you’re familiar with bloodwork?”
“No. Nope. Not going to happen. No.” Alex shakes her head. “I like my work at the hospital.”
“And you can still do that, I will just have you come here and also be part of the team working on this.”
Alex sighs. “How big would the team be?”
“Two?”
Alex’s eyebrows raise so high they almost merge with her hairline. “Are you nuts? Only two people?”
“Me and you.”
“Definitely not. The hospital needs the extra help with the testing, so I won’t stop doing that.”
“I’ll start up an initiative to train and send some more people their way then. That means you’ll have time to come over and help.”
Alex shakes her head at Lena. “Why do you want me so bad?”
Lena ducks her head, shuffling her feet against some broken glass. “Surprisingly, I trust you and know I can speak openly around you. I don’t have that a lot of the time and I’ve never had the opportunity to work with anyone in the lab on something so personal. I’d like to know how it feels to work with a friend.”
“We’re friends?”
Lena clears her throat. “Not to make it weird or anything. I just…you’re my girlfriend’s sister, but I also kind of like you. You’re not bad for a human.”
Alex smirks at her, her hip propped against the nearest surface. “You’re not too bad for a vampire, I suppose. You should definitely roll out that initiative for the hospital.”
“You’ll do it?” Lena’s head snaps up. “Really?”
“I’ll think about it, but helping the hospital is a great way to inspire me to agree.”
Lena grins. “I look forward to working with you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and clean, then we can get some of these experiments going again and you can rewrite those notes.”
Lena lifts a few of the ripped sheets of paper and tries to jigsaw them together. “Do you think that if we get some tape—”
“Rewrite them.” Alex cuts her off. “You’re going to be a pain to work with. I can see it now.”
Lena smiles up at her smugly. “Yep, but you can’t back out now.”
“Of course I can.” Alex disagrees.
“Nope, because I’m going to tell Kara you said yes, and you can’t say no to Kara. That would be like kicking a puppy.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” Alex glares at her.
“Probably not, but it’s a good threat.”
Alex’s shoulders slump. She hates that she actually kind of likes Lena now. She still gets the odd spark of rage when she thinks about Lena back when she first met Kara and the harm she caused her, but seeing the pair so lovey-dovey and the way Kara grins when Lena’s around has done wonders for making her come around to the vampire woman.
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
They silently keep cleaning, Lena getting tired part way through and using her speed to run through the rest of the lab quickly.
Alex shakes her head at her, but it doesn’t last as her eyes focus on her sleeping sister. “Promise me you’ll focus on that woman. I’ll handle the blood; you just keep her safe.”
“I’ll do my best. I promise.”
“Thank you. That’s all I needed to hear.”
“Just for the record though, I’m not leaving the blood just to you. I trust you, but not enough for you to do it alone.” Lena bumps her shoulder into Alex’s, almost sending the redhead flying.
“Asshole.”
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