Explosive Article With lauronica_mars

[countess_karnstein]

Carm knew that Laura was exhausted. The second she watched her girls head hit the pillow Laura did her usual think of wrapping herself around Carm and burying herself. Carm as usual, put her arm around Laura and held her close while she slept.

The middle of the night told a completely different story. Carmilla could tell when Lara had recovered as the two of them made up for a lot of lost time. She woke with a groan, a mess of black hair and covered in nearly healed bite marks which caused her to smile at memory of earlier that night. “Laura…” She could feel her girlfriends arm across her back and their feet in the usual tangled together position.

When Laura didn’t reply she twisted in her arms and placed a kiss to her cheek while her hand brushed back Laura’s hair from her face. Even after all these years together Carm couldn’t understand how this one person changed everything. “Laura, time to wake up.”

Carm found the remote for the TV buried between their pillows and clicked it on. The volume was low but every channel was covered with breaking news. Laura’s article had hit the news with such impact, exactly as Kara had predicted.

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[countess_karnstein]

Laura knew that her girlfriend loved it when she brought her fangs out. She whimpered at the pleasure of being nipped and before she had a chance to melt, Laura had vanished. “Every time.” Carmilla smirked, bringing a finger to her lip. Oh she would get her payback for that.

Inside the warehouse Lena still rested against the table occasionally moving to have another sip of coffee. Kara stood beside her a little nervous and wondering how Alex was doing. Winn was the only person left looking confused and anxious at the whole report situation considering he was now out of a job.

The three stood there silently until Laura seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“You made it!” Kara beamed, thankful her friend wasn’t attacked along the way. She watched Winn give a nervous half wave of hi before running to get his drink.

Lena remained at the table, unable to turn off looking like her CEO suited self. “It’s nice to meet you Laura. I’ve heard a lot about you from Kara.”

With one hand holding her bicep Kara looked a little embarrassed but all the things she had said about Laura were nice. “I might have said a few things. Not much. I just…well..I think you two would get along.” Kara’s body language was different with Lena in the room. She stepped up to the table and took a deep breath.

“Your article has gained quite the attention Laura.” Lena pressed her finger and thumb to the table and digital images of news reports covered the surface for all to read. But before she had a chance to get out her next sentence, there as a cloud of black smoke appearing between Winn and Laura and in that moment Carmilla appeared.

Only, Carm wasn’t dressed but wearing her silk red robe. Her long black hair in lose waves where she hadn’t bothered to tie it up. “Well I guess you were right about us being attacked at home.” She interrupted, cracking her shoulder into place. “Just when I thought this couldn’t be more over the top our apartment gets invaded? And what is Cadmus?”

[lauronica_mars]

"Thank you." Laura smiled and was about to say something when Carmilla appeared. "Carm!" She ran over to hug her girlfriend, not having expected her for at least ten minutes.

"Cadmus invaded us! Drat!" Laura frowned then pulled her phone out. "We should see what they are up to. And I hope I'm in time." She pressed a few buttons and looked at her screen, and it went black.

"LaF!" She was the first to make out the view on her screen, streamed from her phone; Lena could probably *break the encryption or trace it but she'd have to work. "When you said you'd put a self destruct in when you upgraded my laptop I didn't think you meant like *that." Because the laptop was not only a melted mess but there were a couple of people clutching their ears and there were scorch marks, and glitter covering the room.

She turned to Lena. "Sorry, first things first, operational security. And rules of engagement for Cadmus goons? And do we want a prisoner or two?" She thought Carm might enjoy the stress relief.

[countess_karnstein]

Although not being embarssed she wasn’t wearing anything under her robe, Carm tied another knot in front before catching the eyes of Kara and a woman she hadn’t met before. Her ears instantly tuned to the heartbeats in the room before being broken by the hug. Not caring anyone else was in the room she kissed Laura on the cheek and said she was okay.

“Nice to meet you Carmilla. My name is Lena. I’m a friend of Kara’s and someone who wants to help. This warehouse has more than enough facilities to cater for long stay should you and Laura need it.” Lena gave a warm smile and Kara broke from the table to check on Carmilla.

She walked slowly around the back of the vampire as if looking for some tracing device. “So happy you’re okay. Were they carrying anything that looked like guns?”

Carm frowned. “No they didn’t. They had some sort of electric knife? There were three of them.” Her frown was then broken by Laura who at the mention of a prisoner, had Carm’s full attention.

Lena stood quiet for a moment. Thinking of the next best possible action to take. “It’s a shame we didn’t have Alex with us or at least Supergirl on our side.” It was at this point Kara nearly choked on her glass of water and Winn didn’t know where to look but told himself just to stare at the table and avoid eye contact. “I think the first course of action would be to discuss the impact of your article across the country. What was your goal Laura? Your motivation for sending it into the public eye?” She sounded fascinated on the honesty of the tiny blogger in front of her but had a serious of questions she wanted to get through before anything was mentioned on tackling Cadmus.

[lauronica_mars]

Laura smiled then blinked. "Lena as in Lena Luthor? You're not responsible for your own family of course." She smiled. "And my motivation? I won't say that part of it wasn't that I was furious about being kidnapped and wanted to make sure that that didn't happen to anyone ever again."

Her eyes flared with the sort of fire she'd tried to take on the Dean with. "But my main motivation was that you don't have secret prisons for people. Especially not ones based on how they were born."

She shrugged. "They think they are above the law. And no one is that. And yes, the person in charge has rules, but that's not how you make a system which imprisons people without trial."

[countess_karnstein]

Kara had never been so thankful that Laura and Carmilla didn’t mention anything about her being Supergirl. In all the rush with the media exploding she had forgotten to inform them that Lena doesn’t know.

“Carmilla if you prefer there are a change of clothes towards the back of the labs. Some of them are mine.” She smiled before looking down at what she was wearing. “Not all of them will be suits like this one, I promise.”

Carm was still in two minds about Lena, her defences up as they were with most people she meets. She gave Laura’s hand a little squeeze, her way of saying she’ll be right back and then vanished off into the distance. This gave Lena time to analyse their current situation. Winn and Kara opposite ends of the table looking at the news streams.

“From what my sources tell me when an alien prison ship landed here a lot of them escaped. The DEO has since tried to find and lock up all the aliens that would potentially do harm. I agree locking you up was a bad thing to do but with the DEO shut down have you thought about what will happen to them?” Lena’s voice was soft. She wanted to help and depending on Laura’s answer, would explain if need be that they can build holding pens for any aliens that are out of control.

[lauronica_mars]

Laura looked straight at Lena. "Right now I'm well aware that I've been used as an opportunity. The military have taken over far too fast for there not to have been plans just waiting for someone to give them an excuse. Which means that as an opening shot I've made things worse. Because I don't trust the military to release anyone."

She frowned. "My goal was to put full civilian control over the place, making it effectively a normal prison with human rights whether or not the inmates were human. I expected that I'd start a conversation and politicians would still be talking about it in six months."

[countess_karnstein]

Lena listened. Occasionally looking over at Kara who had her arms folded across her chest. Lena had picked up on this being a sign she was nervous. “You should have that talk with them but in the mean time we have dangerous aliens running around on the street and a not so secret organisation looking to capture not only them but you and Carmilla as well.”

For the first time since they had arrived, Winn pepped up when a thought entered his brain. “Why don’t we make this a base of operations. We could find the escaped aliens and bring them to the correct branch of people to deal with them. At least let them have a fair trial. In the meantime if anything Cadmus comes up we can be ready?”

[lauronica_mars]

"The question is what to do with those that cause trouble. And whether Supergirl has a working relationship with the police and whether the police can have the holding cells they need."

She paled. "Of course she doesn't. This might be about getting to declare martial law over National City. Which means we've a lot of work to do even without Cadmus. But if it fails it will fail hard."

[countess_karnstein]

Lena looked at more and more news reports as they filled the screen of her table. Although not many could tell if something was ever up with her, Kara was always able to spot it. She placed her hand over the top of hers and gave it a little squeeze, controlling all the strength she had. “It’s alright.” Kara looked at her giving one of her smiles that Lena matched in return.

She stopped leaning on against the table and pushed the articles away. “I’ll be fine.”

Kara looked at Laura. “Alex is our best connection to the police. But I’m pretty sure if we saw Maggie she would agree with us.” She was careful not to use any reference to her being Supergirl although it she suspected it was going to slip out at any moment.

Eventually Carmilla returned now looking as if she was a business woman in such smart attire. Clearly it was taken from Lena’s wardrobe. “Okay, I’m getting bored. What’s the plan? And where is this Cadmus place? I’ll go there myself if it means they will stay the hell out of our apartment.”

“Might I suggest Laura running for mayor before we start heading directly into a organisation. We would be killed before we set foot in there.” Lena interjected, curious one Laura’s approach in this.

[lauronica_mars]

"I'm not a local." Laura frowned. "And I'd be a terrible mayor. I'm not a local and I don't have the patience for politics!" She then pursed her lips. "And would it be a good idea for Carm to collect some of those Cadmus goons in our apartment?"

Her voice continued meditatively. "We need a PR blitz, and we need Supergirl! And we also need to round up whoever's creating trouble right now." She looked at Lena. "Do you have anything Carm could use to even her odds against at least some of the possible threats?"

[countess_karnstein]

Lena nodded. “I have a lot of things left over from when my brother was determined to take down Superman. Although the gear might not be intended for him or Supergirl it would certainly provide a help. Carmilla?” Lena nodded for the vampire to follow her. Even though Lena knew what she was she didn’t appear scared. For a split second Carm thought she had lost her touch but she took Lena’s nod for her to follow her and reluctantly did so.

The second they were out of ear shot Kara closed the gap between herself and Laura in a hug. “Thank you thank you thank you. I was so nervous. I forgot to tell you Lena doesn’t know I’m supergirl.” Then her face paled. “What if Carm says something?”

Winn placed his hand on her shoulder and tried to reassure her it was going to be okay and that they had more important things to worry about. It took a few minutes for that fear to leave but when it did Kara pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. “Laura, we can’t let any of those aliens hurt people. I think you and I should fly and just scout the area for any signs of trouble. If we do patrols every night, we can hopefully limit the chances of anyone getting hurt. What do you think?”

[lauronica_mars]

"Why not?" Laura looked at Kara. "Don't you trust her? Carm won't say anything but if she's going to be one of the people organising this she can't do a good job without a clue what the basic tools she has are." She swallowed. "And I'm going to have to show her at least some of what I can do."

She paused. "It'll take more than just patrols if they have a plan and you've lost DEO backup. And Lena needs to know."

[countess_karnstein]

Kara instantly went red and got a little flustered. She started to pace, lowering her voice so that if Lena came back into the warehouse she couldn’t hear them. “It’s not like I don’t want to tell her it’s just, I never got around to it and then days turned into weeks turned into months and I got nervous. What if it changes something between us?”

Her heart was hammering in his chest but Kara kept rambling. “I mean, look what happened to Clark. Him and Lex used to be best friends and sometimes the greatest friends can become the worst of enemies because they know you. They know how to hurt you.” She finally slowed, her mind thinking back to Astra. “Like when you’re aunt doesn’t turn out to be the person you thought she would.”

By this point Winn had snuck away to go grab himself a coffee, feeling the need to let the people with the powers talk while he did his usual side kick duties and lurked.

“Do you think I should tell her? Like, would you tell her if you were me?”

[lauronica_mars]

"I think she's smart and part of her knows." Laura's tone was harsh. "If you tell her, apologise, and tell her you wanted to feel like a normal person and that your other friends had changed when they found out that you were Supergirl as well as Kara." Her eyes flickered after Winn, and Laura had seen how much Kara needed silliness in her life. "If she's who I think she'll get that. She'll be hurt, but she'll understand."

Laura paused. "But if she finds out herself she'll be betrayed that you haven't trusted her and have played her for a fool. That can't be repaired. If you tell her yourself you've got a chance."

[countess_karnstein]

Kara huffed and found the nearest chair to sit down. There she sat, quiet for a moment before looking up a Laura genuinely looking worried. “I didn’t end well with Lex and Clark. I don’t want her to look at me any differently.”

Carmilla came back into the room wearing what looked like a black leather all in one modified like one of the DEO special division suits. Rolling her shoulders and trying to get comfortable she walked over to the table. She could hear from Kara’s heartbeat that she was upset about something so Carm decided to not interrupt and let her fiancé handle it.

“I guess you’re right…” Kara slapped her hands on her thighs as she stood up. “Do you think I should do it now?”

[lauronica_mars]

"If not now then when?" Laura's tone was wry. "There will always be something you want to do more or an excuse to not do it."

[countess_karnstein]

“Trust me you don’t want to hide it. Be honest from the start or they might kidnap you and tie you to a chair.” Carm smirked at Lara. It might have been years ago now but it still made her smile how determined Laura was to find the truth. She was still the same way now.

“Ugnnn why is this so hard.” Kara looked between the two of them. “If this goes wrong I’m blaming the both of you.” She was playing when she said that but Kara was full of nerves. “Did you want to get a list of aliens together and try and track them down while I tell Lena?”

Lena’s voice was calm as she walked up behind Kara. “Tell me what?”

Her breath caught in her in her throat and Kara turned around. “Is there a place we can talk?”

She look concerned but hid it will. Carmilla recognised all the signs of putting up walls that she did when she was nervous. Lena and her were more alike than she thought, much like Kara and Laura. “If it’s important Kara then here is a good of a time than any.”

Kara closed the gap between them, taking off her glasses and letting her hair down from its loosely tied ponytail. “I don’t know the easiest way to tell you this and I’ve been wanting to for so long it’s just…I didn’t want you to look at me any differently…” Kara looked up. “I’m Supergirl.”

For a moment Carm wondered if Laura was using her hearing to pick up on how hard Kara’s heart was pounding in her chest. Lena’s although skipping a beat, slowed down and remained steady.

“Lena?”

Kara went to put her hand on Lena’s arm but Lena backed away. “I need a moment…”

Carm recognised that look of being hurt in Kara’s eyes and looked over at Laura, wondering if they should try and talk to them or get out of the room.

[lauronica_mars]

Laura, for once surprisingly tactful, chose to wait a few seconds to see how this unfolded and whether she should leave or step in. And quite deliberately floated an inch off the floor, possibly to give Lena something to distract herself.

[countess_karnstein]

Carm struggled to look. She felt awkward as it reminded her of a time long ago and hoped that Kara’s outcome wouldn’t mirror Carmilla’s own. If Laura had looked she would have seen Carm’s expressional fall a little and a tell that she found it hard to witness. It had taken a lot of convincing in the early stages of their relationship that Laura was okay with dating a vampire.

Lena almost looked frozen in time, she barely moved and with her glazed expression was suddenly piecing together all of her relationship with Kara and how it all made sense. It was only by Kara’s voice asking her if she was okay that the silence was broken and Lena noticed Laura flying of the ground.

“You’re Supergirl.” She motioned a hand towards Carmilla who was back by the table. “Carmilla is a vampire and Laura is…?”

Kara turned around to see Laura floating off the ground. She would have said a name but she didn’t know what Laura was. “A friend Lena, you can trust all of us.”

“Trust. Trust is a big word to use in a situation like this Kara.”

Winn peered around the room just enough for Laura to see him in the background. He motioned for her and Carm to follow him but did so quietly so Kara didn’t hear.

[lauronica_mars]

"Human enough for the DEO to be absolutely certain I am." Laura smiled. "But, thanks to something a few years ago I'm a preternatural human. Possibly the only one. Belief creates power and just as humans tell stories about animals animals tell stories about humans. Thanks to cats I can open any tin at any time without trouble. We are walking can openers to some of them. And thanks to dogs opinion on humans I basically have no sense of smell." In practice she borrowed Carmilla's.

She shrugged. "My most important ability is that while I am around them I can use a reflection of the standard abilities of my 'pack'. So if I had a horse I could run at a comfortable place for that horse although couldn't match its gallop. When my pack has a Kryptonian? I can fly at what she would consider a gentle jog."

She let that sink in before continuing "But you're angry at Kara who's as enthusiastic as a puppy. And you're smart. Can you tell me that if you hadn't wanted your friend to be a normal person as much as she wanted someone to treat her as one rather than as Supergirl she wouldn't have given herself away a dozen times in really obvious ways? A ponytail and glasses aren't a good disguise."

[countess_karnstein]

“Hey!” Kara frowned. She ran her fingers through her hair. “It fools most people. Is it really that obvious?”

Carmilla wandered closer, her fingers brushing past the digital table. “And that thing that happened was me trying to turn Laura before you ask.” Carm left the detail about thinking she had killed her lover on the night Laura purposed but it did make her conscious of the ring on her finger.

As that sank in Winn nearly dropped his cup and alerted all of them to his presence in the background. When all eyes stared he nervously smiled and tried to enter the conversation. “So she’s like Rogue from X-Men? She borrows powers? That’s pretty cool right? If I had to have an ability I’d pick something like that….or maybe just flying?”

Carmilla rolled her eyes, “It means don’t upset her as she spends a lot of time around a vampire and gains my abilities and now she’s made friends with Kara she has some of her abilities as well.” Thankfully there wasn’t any need to point out the fact Laura was hovering off the ground as everyone had noticed.

Lena couldn’t stop staring at Laura, fascinated by her abilities from a scientific point of view. It took a few silent moments before she went back to the larger issue at hand. “You’re telling me that you have both known Kara is Supergirl from the start?”

“Lena it’s not like that. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want anything to change. You know what happened between Lex and Clark and I didn’t want to lose you!”

“Laura can I see you alone for a moment?” Lena said with a tone Carmilla picked up upon as numb.

[lauronica_mars]

Laura also picked up the tone. "I've known since my copy of her heat vision got out of control because I didn't know I had it. But there was only one person it could have come from, and once I knew she had heat vision the rest was easy even if she tried to deny it. And that's what let Carmilla know." Well, that and Kara blundering in. "She didn't tell me."

[countess_karnstein]

With Laura ignoring Lena’s request to talk to her alone, she walked over to the table again and shifted through some digital images. She told herself that the best way to cope with this was to not let the information sink in yet because she felt from the start that her and Kara’s friendship had been a lie.

“According to reports since the DEO have been shut down various aliens have been seen causing disturbances. If you want to help the people of this city, then I suggest you go out there and detain them for fair trail.” She sighed. “And Laura, the best thing you can do is get to CatCo and either put someone forward for mayor, backing what your article has written or run for mayor yourself.”