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uselesseaweedbrain · 2 days ago

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Supercorptober - 14. Chill

Lena had knocked on Kara’s door, begging for help, and Kara had opened. Lena had stayed, and Kara had listened.

They had made a plan, to corner Lex and Leviathan - it would work, this time, and then maybe they could, too.

Lena had toiled in her hidden laboratory, away from Lex’s prying eyes, and she had built herself an armour - nano-bots, the swarm enveloping her in a full body-suit that rivalled (eclipsed) the Lexo-suit.

When Kara and the Super-friends confronted Lex, Lena was there, clad in her armour.

When Nia’s gun sputtered, Lena was there.

When the Kryptonite fell out of its chamber, and Kara’s veins filled with green, Lena was there.

Lena was there, too, as Alex stood, loaded it in her own gun, aimed, and fired at Lex.

Lena was there as her brother got hit and Kara got up, Kryptonite still pulsing in her veins.

Lena was there when Lex got up, unharmed but no longer immortal; and smirked.

Lex, who had been shot, and utterly beaten, was smirking, one arm hidden behind his back.

Lena knew her brother better than anyone. He was hiding something, another trick up his sleeve, something they hadn’t seen coming-

Lena didn’t blink.

Lena didn't blink, but somehow she missed it - the moment Kara stepped in front of her.

Supergirl was just there, suddenly, without warning, a shield and a buffer, between Lena and whatever Lex had planned.

But then again- hadn’t Kara always done that?

Oh.

Realisation hit Lena like a knife in the chest.

No. No, no, no-

"Goodbye, Supergirl.” Lex’s smile widened. “Good riddance!”

Lex pressed his thumb against the side of his latest toy.

Lena lifted her arm to fire.

Too late.

The Phantom Zone Projector whirred to life, Lena’s laser still captive in her suit.

Time slowed to a stop as the Projector cast an eerie azure light on them all, pointing directly at Kara, everyone else frozen still-

Lena wanted to scream, to move, to push Kara out of the way- but none of her members were responding, and all she could do was watch, in slow-motion, as the chill and the blue retreated and sucked Kara away with them.

Not Kara, not her, not Kara, please-

The superhero was already becoming translucent, intangible and out of reach, soon forever lost to the world, soon prisoner of her worst nightmare-

And Lena couldn’t move.

Not her, not again-

It should have been me.

“Kara!” Lena yelled; all that came out was a murmur, her vocal chords numb.

Still, Kara heard. Kara turned, her muscles struggling as she fought to resist the pull, a resolute smile painted across her lips-

I love you, she mouthed. The sound didn’t reach; the words did.

Assuredly, this wasn’t real- Time wouldn’t have stopped just for them, just for Lena, and Kara wouldn’t have fought just to say that, and, most importantly- Kara didn’t love her.

But if this was real-

Lena wasn’t taking any chances.

“Take me with you”, she demanded, because they couldn’t end like this, wouldn’t, when they hadn’t even started.

Lena could see Kara’s neck muscles, taut with tension, her jaw clenched and her tendons strained, yet Kara managed a slight shake of the head and the beginning of her signature smile before she turned back, visibly trembling from exhaustion-

“Kara!” Lena screamed. Her voice worked this time, golden tendrils in her throat and a pulsing light in her veins.

Lena reached out, and the gold stretched out as if to hold Kara back, wrapping around her hand like an intangible lifeline.

Too late, again.

Time had resumed, and the portal had closed, severing all ties between Kara and Earth forever - all of them, but the golden string still tied around Lena’s finger.

***********************************************************************************************

Ever since, Lena had worked relentlessly to bring Kara back, barely sleeping, stopping only on the verge of exhaustion.

The Super-friends thought it was her guilt, prompting her, and it assuredly played a part, but-

There was this stubborn pull on her index finger, this golden string that no one else could see-

And ever since Kara had been sucked through to the Phantom Zone, Lena could hear her in her head.

Hear her in snippets, hear her beg for mercy, hear her yell her name, and Alex’s, and others’, in a desperate cry.

Hear Kara talk to her directly, sometimes.

It should have been impossible. It was driving Lena crazy, crazier-

It's cold, Lena. So cold. I didn't think I would ever be back here.

And sometimes Lena would catch herself answering back, because- if she couldn't soothe Kara, the real one- maybe she could at least make do with the imaginary voice in her head.

You'll be okay, Kara. I promise. I'll bring you back, whatever it takes. I'll bring you back.

I believe you, imaginary Kara would say.

Why? Lena would ask, foolishly - wasn’t she just talking to herself?

I’ve always believed in you, Lena.

How could it be exactly Kara's voice? Exactly Supergirl's shade of hope?

Lena didn’t know, couldn’t explain it, but if every Luthor was destined to go mad, Lena decided - Kara’s voice damning her was a mercy.

***********************************************************************************************

There were dreams, too, or- nightmares.

Lena had had nightmares through the years, Lillian's cold smiles, Lionel's drunk tantrums, Lex going mad, Eve's betrayal, Adam's death, Kara wearing Lex's smile as she came clean, her mother dying-

She'd had nightmares through the years, but none like these. None where the emotions felt foreign but all the same familiar, none where she was extraordinarily affected yet not at all in control.

None where she watched herself die.

Lena feared many things - hubris, madness, abandonment -, but death wasn't one of them.

Yet there was a new voice in her head, and a new pull on her finger, and a newfound terror in her heart as she watched herself from the eyes of another, dying, over, and over, and over again.

Lena had never cared about her own safety before. This time, though, unexplainably, watching herself die was like being skewered through the heart-

She just wanted to make it stop.

She saw her own lifeless body on the floors of CatCo, saw herself be carried in strong arms, saw Alex try to revive her, felt her own (was it her own?) despair and fear as the-one-who-was-her-but-wasn’t blowed gently on her limp body to lower her temperature.

She saw herself again, be thrown against the ground by Metallo, felt green creep into her (not hers, but then why did she feel the burn so clearly?) veins, her helpless, agonising body too weak to move.

"Don't hurt her!”, she-who-wasn’t-she screamed - her voice foreign, yet all too familiar. Kara. Why do I have Kara’s voice?

Lena saw herself in situations that seemed invented, too- she gazed at herself in a Metallo suit, her heart beating green and her face expressionless as she - as Lena - blasted the-body-she-shared-with-dream-Kara with concentrated Kryptonite.

"I'm sorry", their body said in Kara’s voice again, still gazing at unforgiving green, but they didn't fight, didn't try to get up, relief and pain overwhelming them before unconsciousness took over.

She saw herself with blonde children with green eyes, high cheekbones, running on the shore of a planet that was decidedly not Earth, saw a statue of herself in a lab coat on the main plaza - Lena Luthor, saviour of Argo, the plaque read.

Saw the planet erupt into flames and their world dissolve into nothingness and heard Kara’s voice-

Not again, please, not again- Rao- not them- not Lena, not them-

And then Lena inescapably woke up with a gasp, a scream stuck in her throat and her heart beating into overdrive-

A voice in her head calling her name.

Lena? Lena! Lena, please tell me you’re alive, please tell me this wasn’t real, Lena-

I’m here, she’d inevitably answer. This wasn’t real, Kara. It was just a nightmare.

This wasn’t real. This was just a nightmare, Kara, I promise. And Lena would repeat these words like a mantra, on a loop, forever, if it meant imaginary Kara would believe them.

Eventually, imaginary Kara did, the ache in Lena’s chest subsiding - and the throbbing on her index finger fading away.

***********************************************************************************************

It took Lena a while to figure out that the dreams weren’t hers, the fears weren’t hers, the voice in her head wasn’t hers.

Regardless, the realisation hadn’t helped.

Lena didn’t understand and didn’t want to try, lest she discovered that there was nothing to understand but obsession, guilt, and her slow descent into madness.

So Lena doubled down on the science, working restlessly until she finalised the Q-wave detector and called Alex to her side.

“Alex. I think I found a way to bring her home.”

Hope filled Lena’s voice as she exposed her strategy to Alex, minutely explaining every detail with more enthusiasm than she’d shown in months. Her plan could work. It could work - it was the only tangible plan they’d had in weeks, and Lena was ecstatic.

“There’s just one thing,” she finished. “I am going to need a piece of Kara to bring her back. Something to trace her, to identify her, to calibrate the Q-wave detector.”

Wordlessly, Alex handed her the crystal she’d been toying with for weeks.

Lena gawked.

“This crystal contains Kara’s digital signature. I want you to use it to find her.”

Alex’s hand was still hanging in the air as Lena shook her head in disbelief.

“I’m hopeful I can find her, but, there are no guarantees, Alex, and, if I use it- you’ll lose the recording forever-“

Alex presses it into her palm, and Lena gapes at the certainty in the agent’s gaze.

“I trust you, Lena.”

Of course she does, Kara’s voice echoes. I did, too. Even if I was terrible at showing it.

***********************************************************************************************

Lena’s success had been short-lived, Alex tearing her heart - both their hearts - to shreds before Lena could even celebrate.

Because the city was in danger. Because “Kara would have picked others before herself“. Because Alex wouldn’t do that to her sister, letting thousands die to save her.

But Lena wasn’t Kara, Lena wasn’t Alex, Lena was selfish and she would-

The device flew out of her hand and into Alex’s, the agent’s guilty eyes her only apology.

I’m sorry, Kara, I’m so sorry, she took it, and now-

Lena’s despair must have seeped through the cracks because imaginary Kara’s elusive voice answered immediately.

It’s okay, Lena. It’s okay. You did the right thing, you both did the right thing.

But you- you’re still stuck there, Kara! While we’re saving thousands of people we’re letting you suffer in this horrible place-

I’ll be okay, Lena. Just- please, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me again.

Lena doesn’t have any idea how she could be leaving a voice in her head behind, but even if she could-

I wouldn’t dream of it.

***********************************************************************************************

Alex had saved the city, with Lena’s creation and Kara’s last hope.

“There’s always another way, Lena. Kara taught us that”, she’d lectured - Lena had scoffed at the empty reassurance and raged at the denial, resentment burning like acid in her throat at the utilitarian choice, because-

Lena had looked for seven weeks, and-

There was no other way.

***********************************************************************************************

Imaginary Kara had been almost silent since then, her voice growing weaker in Lena’s head, and it felt like she was giving up, but she couldn’t give up. Lena wouldn’t let her.

Except that Lena and Brainy, together, had not come up with anything new in days.

“It’s not working, Lena! It’s not working! We’ll never find a way to localise her, because science cannot make miracles, and we just burnt our last trace of Kara so we could save people who will never even be grateful to her! We don’t have anything- anything, you hear me, nothing linking us to her, and- it hurts, it hurts so much, Lena, I miss her, I miss her-”

Brainy’s tirade ended in a desperate cry, echoed by the tears on Lena’s cheeks and the agonising cramping of her lungs.

Lena didn’t believe in magic. She didn’t believe in magic, but Kara’s voice rung out in her head and Kara’s pain squeezed her heart in her chest and a golden string was wrapped around her finger-

You really don’t believe in magic? Imaginary Kara chose this precise moment to pipe up, curious and alert for the first time in days.

Lena’s relief was palpable, her reply instantaneous.

I believe in you.

Lena could feel imaginary Kara smile at her answer; in her head, from another dimension. Impossible. Crazy.

But in the end- what did Lena have to lose?

“Brainy, do you believe in magic?”

Brainy wiped away his tears, taking a moment to compose himself before answering.

“Do you think it might help?”

“I- You think it’s real?”

Brainy nodded. “It is. Magic has been referenced and studied and wielded by dozens of thousands of civilisations along the years. Humans seem to have unfortunately forgotten it, but it certainly exists. Magic permeates the very air around us - however, only a select few individuals are blessed with the ability to perceive it, and manipulate it at will. I believe Earthlings call them witches.”

“I think a link was created between Kara and I before the portal closed. And- if it’s real- do you think we could use it to find her?”

“What kind of link?”

Lena extended her right hand for observation. Brainy simply frowned.

“Why are you showing me your hand?”

“Around my pointer finger, there’s- never mind. It’s probably stupid.”

“Tell me, Lena.”

Lena took in a deep breath, her eyes lifting daringly to look straight at Brainy.

“There’s a golden string tied around my pointer finger. And I think it may lead to Kara."

Brainy cocked his head, a curious glint in his still wet eyes and the beginning of a smile on his lips.

“In that case- I have something that just might work.”

A few seconds later, Brainy was whipping out a leather-bound grimoire that looked like it had transcended millennia.

“Is this a magic book?”

Brainy smirked. “What better tool for a witch?”

***********************************************************************************************

It took a few hours for Lena to wrap her head around the notion of witches - the shock lessened by Kara’s voice in her head, providing trivia about the first line of witches on Krypton.

After, Lena had to dedicate a few days to complete her reading of the book, filled with various amounts of dramatic statements and warnings, interspersed with what seemed like truly valuable information.

Lena pointedly ignored the flowery language and the cautionary injunctions, focusing instead on the information the book held on magic control, magic manipulation, and the art of finding.

The first step was obvious, described unambiguously in the first pages of the book: Lena needed to learn to access her magic.

Clear as the process may be - whichever instructions Lena followed, whatever many hours of meditation she subjected herself to- nothing seemed to work.

I’m sorry, Kara. I’m so sorry, I’m stuck, and I can’t- it won’t come- I can’t control it.

You don’t have to. Just- have you tried trusting yourself? Letting it come to you?

I- But what if it blows up? What if I can’t control it? What if I go crazy and my powers go rogue?

You won’t. They won’t. These powers are part of you, Lena. They won’t betray you. I know I- An immaterial self-deprecating laugh. I know I did, but- you never deserved it. You deserved to be trusted and loved and cherished and I’m sorry, Lena, I am so sorry, but this was always my fault. My own fears, my own insecurities, my own shortcomings. Your powers are a part of you, and they are good, and kind, like you. I know I have no right to ask this of you anymore, but- trust yourself for me?

***********************************************************************************************

When golden smoke finally materialised and shimmered over Lena’s hands, she didn’t dare breathe for a handful of seconds, afraid the illusion would dissipate and take their delusional hope with it.

The smoke persisted.

“I did it”, Lena whispered, her voice tainted with disbelief.

I did it, Kara. I did it! I did it. I will bring you home.

“I did it!”, Lena yelled out loud, in relief and exhilaration, her own voice startling in the emptiness of the Tower.

She hadn’t noticed how late it had gotten, the hands of the clock ticking dangerously close to three A.M..

Alex had long given up on trying to coax her into going home at a decent hour.

As a matter of fact, Lena’s nightly stays had gotten so frequent that J’onn had set up an actual bed in the Tower for her after she’d fallen asleep at her desk one too many times, and woken up with agonising neck pain.

I did it, Kara, Lena repeated in her head.

Never doubted you, Kara’s voice answered, quietly, but with such conviction that Lena felt her chest grow a little fuller.

Lena didn’t know when she’d started believing that the voice in her head was really Kara (maybe she always had).

Lena didn’t know, either, when what she would have dismissed as empty reassurances had once again become her primary source of comfort.

***********************************************************************************************

The location spell, facilitated with the string still stubbornly tied to Lena’s pointer finger, only took her the better part of the night.

When the sun rose, waking Lena from her accidental slumber, and Alex came in, bearing coffee and her signature worried frown, she was met with a radiant smile and the mark of the leather’s carvings on Lena’s cheek.

“I did it, Alex. I found her.”

Alex quirked a sceptical brow, an incredulous look on her face. Lena just raised her hand in response, palm open.

There, inscribed in golden light, dancing on the inside on her palm, was a set of four unstable coordinates.

Alex traced them with her finger, a disbelieving smile painted across her lips. “You did it, Lena”, she murmured. “You really did it.”

***********************************************************************************************

Boarding J’onn’s ship and guiding it to Kara turned out a surprisingly easy task, the coordinates acting like a beacon, the golden thread like a compass.

The sunlight grenades that Lena had designed but never gotten to make - finished by Brainy a few days after the witch discovery - illuminated the ghastly plane in vibrant yellow as Kara regained the power of flight, and rose majestically to the space-ship.

Lena watched in amazement - her best friend returning to her - the thread around her finger thrumming as Kara got closer.

Alex was the first to be hugged, Kara’s head burying in her collarbone. Then came J’onn, his fatherly embrace drawing tears, then Brainy, oddly in tune with his emotions, then Nia, the long lost daughter, then-

Only Lena was left.

She hadn’t noticed she was crying until she felt wetness on her cheeks. Imaginary Kara was silent, the phantom pain in Lena’s chest soothed somewhat, and Kara- Kara was looking at her.

Lena felt the tug again - in her chest, this time - and she complied, putting one foot in front of the other until-

Kara must have felt the tug, too, but she remained still, only opening her arms. Lena’s choice. It was always Lena’s choice, with Kara. Maybe it would be with Supergirl, too.

Lena took the final step, Kara’s arms closed around her, and the tug relented, something ancient and powerful singing in Lena’s veins as she melted into Kara’s embrace.

She could feel her body light up at Kara’s contact, indescribable warmth coursing over her skin as she revelled at the presence of her best friend.

Kara had closed her eyes contentedly, Lena’s head buried in her collarbones, so none of them saw- but the others stared in amazement as impalpable gold swirled around them like a consecration.

Gold was still settling when Kara opened her eyes.

“Oh”, she said, and Lena reluctantly lifted her head from the crook of Kara’s neck, particles of light dancing and shimmering around her.

“Oh”, Lena echoed in turn.

Her cheeks burnt at the involuntary display, and Lena promptly hid her blush by dropping her head against Kara’s shoulder.

I was just happy to see you, I think.

A wet chuckle, then:

“It’s only because you’re on the team that I’m here.”

I was so happy to see you, too.

Lena sniffled, and tried to silence imaginary Kara - You’re not real, she thought. You’re not real, and Kara is back, so let me-

Real Kara broke their embrace, her hands finding Lena’s like opposite magnets, her tantalising gaze fixated on Lena-

You think I’m not real?

Well-

“Wow, talk about out-staging us, Lena.” Alex’s voice cut them — Lena and her lively imaginary friend — off; and Lena felt, more than saw, Kara’s hands slide out of hers at the interruption.

“The gold was a bit much, don’t you think?”, Alex teased, a knowing smirk on her lips.

For the second time in a handful of seconds, Lena felt blood rush to her face.

Luckily, Alex didn’t dwell on the subject, apologising to Kara instead for Kelly’s absence.

***********************************************************************************************

The rest of the afternoon passed in a whirlwind of emotional reunions and necessary catch-ups.

Lena assisted to most of it, electing to take the backseat as a silent observer.

Because the Super-friends were a family, to which Lena didn’t belong.

Kara had hugged her, sure, but they had so many unresolved tensions, so many grievances, so many wounds, that- Lena wasn’t sure she would ever be part of Kara’s family again (had she ever been part of it in the first place?).

It happened once, then twice, then a dozen times- Kara searching for Lena’s eyes across the room, the intensity of her gaze enough for the insistent tug on Lena’s finger to let up for a moment.

And then, as Lena was about to leave, making eye contact with Kara, who was in a deep discussion with Nia about her growth as Dreamer:

Meet me at my apartment, in an hour?

Kara hadn’t spoken but Lena had heard her, clear as day, Kara’s eyes bearing the silent question like an unspoken challenge.

Kara’s gaze is still on her, so Lena nods imperceptibly.

I’ll be there, she thinks, and she can swear that she sees real-Kara smile.

***********************************************************************************************

You’re just a figment of my imagination. You’re not real.

Lena is waiting in front of Kara’s apartment. She’s ten minutes in advance - not wanting to take chances with imaginary-Kara’s demands. Sue her.

You’re not real, you’re not real, you’re not real-

“What if I am, Lena?”

It’s real-Kara’s voice, spoken out loud in the open air of the corridor, that startles Lena out of her thoughts.

“Kara! You scared me!”

Kara smiles slightly, brushing past Lena as she makes her way to her door, unlocks it, pushes it open.

“Sorry,” she shrugs sheepishly.

Only after the door closes behind them do Kara’s words finally reach Lena’s brain.

“Did you- Kara, what did you just say?”

What if I am real? Imaginary Kara answers, and Kara simply watches, silent, one expectant eyebrow raised.

“But you- you’re not- you can’t be-“

“I am. And I can hear you, too.”

Lena only notices her hands are shaking when Kara takes them into hers, her voice soft, so soft, as she inquires:

“Alex told me how you found me. How you crafted the spell. Don’t you have to believe in magic for your powers to work? Didn’t you have to believe that it was real for you to rescue me?”

“Yes, but then- all the dreams- the conversations-“

“They were real, for me. The nightmares- that’s what the Phantom Zone does to its prisoners. Torture them with their deepest fears, forever. But I was supposed to go through that alone, Lena, and somehow- I could feel you there with me. So. I wanted to say that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, too, because of me. Rao knows you didn’t deserve any of it.”

Neither did you.

Kara’s throat bobs and Lena steps closer, burrowing herself in Kara’s arms, her own arms sealing their hold on her ex-best friend as if she’s liable to disappear any second.

Did it help? Lena thinks. Being bound to me?

“Yes,” Kara whispers. “So much. I- I don’t think I would have survived without you. Not the second time around. Having your voice in my head, being able to hear it, it tethered me to reality, to you-”

Kara’s voice breaks.

You have no idea in how many ways you saved me.

“You saved me, first,” Lena murmurs, her nose pressed against Kara’s neck, her lips almost brushing Kara’s skin.

I love you, too, she thinks, too chicken to say it out loud; but if Kara’s smile against her collarbone is any indication, Kara heard. I’m sorry I didn’t say it back.

S’okay. I didn’t deserve it.

Lena has heard imaginary-Kara being self-deprecating before, but this is real-Kara, and-

Lena breaks the hug to look Kara in the eyes, tone serious and focused as she states:

“You did deserve it. You deserve the world, Kara, but I- didn’t see any of it until you were ripped away, and sent on your own to this God-awful place-”

I wasn’t on my own. I had you.

Lena’s breath is a shudder.

You always have me, Kara.

For how long?

However long you want me.

Lena thinks whatever spell ties them together must have suddenly stopped working. Seconds elapse like an unstoppable flow, yet Kara doesn’t answer, gives no indication that she’s heard besides the barely noticeable tremors of her shoulders against Lena’s - is Lena imagining them?

Lena’s hold tightens on Kara and Kara’s trembling must be real, because her voice is unsteady, and so small, when she says:

“I’ve always wanted you, Lena. I don’t think I could ever stop.”

“I’ve always wanted you, too.” Lena confesses in Kara’s ear, and Lena feels the dam break in her own chest as Kara’s tremors morph into sobs; big, ugly, irrepressible ones.

Lena is holding her, so Kara can break. After all- Lena has always been so good at putting the pieces of her back together.

************************************************************************

Edit:

NSFW ending here!!!!!!

35 notes · View notes

zarnzarn · 3 months ago

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The doors to Olympus are sturdy and strong, given everyone's preferences for drama and slamming said doors open and sending them cracking into the wall whenever the opportunity arises. Which is why it's a surprise when they creak open during the once-a-decade pantheon meeting; less so because no entity worth their salt would take so long to open the doors, and more so because everyone who is anyone is already there.

But if everyone is being honest with themselves- which no one is, usually- these gatherings are boring enough that the bland conversation is dropped immediately in favour of craning their necks to catch a glimpse of whatever is coming to relieve them of their boredom.

When the doors finally open however, several of the pantheon murmur in surprise.

"Odysseus," Athena whispers, wide-eyed as she pushes herself off her throne to her feet. It is him- in the king's garb he was buried in but the face he has when he reached home, hair till the shoulders and speckled with grey, face oddly blank. His feet are transparent.

"What are you doing here, sceptre?" Poseidon booms, hair the color of a stormy sea. Zeus, beside him, looks reserved, observing the ghost with something approaching curiosity- eyes flicking to the lightning scars on his daughter's face and back. "Your time has long passed, and Hades-"

"It is a temporary agreement," Odysseus says curtly, barely sparing him a glance as he approaches his patron. "Athena."

Her armour clinks as she steps forward and the gods all twitch, trading glances. Owls are silent creatures- to have her aspect so affected to make noise was... uneasy to say the least. She even holds herself different than usual, something like confused delight shining in her eyes. "How did you-"

"Did you sleep with my wife?"

The throne room is silent. Several jaws drop.

Athena straightens back up, blinking in surprise. She looks a bit shifty, some of the nymphs closest whisper to each other, which- well, almost every single god present owed some part of their existence to the mere story of Odysseus loving his wife.

Would he fight his own patron goddess over it in front of Mount Olympus, though? He certainly was unbalanced enough; Athena herself looked rather uncertain of her odds, even though-

"Are you addled in death, King of Ithaka?" Artemis drawls, looking amused. "Did you forget that your own patron is celibate? Whatever rumor you-"

"No, I-" Athena says suddenly, shifting her spear to her other hand. "I did."

Artemis chokes on her breath and several assorted divine beings gasp in shock and the rest shouting for explanations, although everyone is nearly drowned out by Aphrodite's loud, "WHAT?"

Odysseus inhales sharply and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I cannot believe you."

"She asked-" Athena starts, only to be drowned out by the din of various beings screeching and shouting about the scandal.

"ATHENA!" Hera hisses, peacock tail fanning behind her sharply as she pushes herself up. "Explain yourself!"

Athena half-turns to face her, face creased in a frown. "Mother, I-"

"LET ME REPHRASE!" Odysseus cuts in loudly, and the shouting settles down into silence. He walks to his patron, eyes blazing. "I cannot believe," he throws his clenched fists wide as he growls the last word, "-you took Penelope to bed-" Athena surprisingly stays still as he reaches her, mouth falling open as he grabs her by the chiton to yank her down, uncaring of the gasps of horror from all around as he snarls, "-before you ever kissed me."

And then Odysseus grabs Athena by the face roughly and kisses her.

This time Aphrodite's shriek cannot be escaped by anyone.

"Aphrodite, please," Zeus says a few moments later, wincing as his throne reforms around him, stained oddly pink. Quite a few minor entities have discorporated, and the ones nearest to her are still trying to regenerate their hearing. "Control yourself."

Their eyes land back on where Athena has dropped her spear- dropped her spear, Ares in the corner seems to be having some minor hysteria over this, well warranted- and is also on the floor, still being thoroughly kissed by that insufferable, mannerless hero of hers, perched on her stomach to reach. Zeus inhales in fury, Poseidon close behind him as the shock wears off, lightning crackling around his fingers as he opens his mouth to shout- of all the indignities-

"If you two ruin this for me," Aphrodite thunders, warping in front of them and glaring. "I will make you both regret it."

Both gods visibly blanch at the threat, taken aback for one brief moment. Threats from Aphrodite are far worse than any of her more violent siblings, at the end of the day.

Zeus visibly gathers himself just as Athena's helmet clatters to the floor, and he gains a second wind immediately, eye twitching as he spreads a hand to the spectacle in the middle of the hall. "WHAT MANNER OF DISRESPECT IS THIS? TO BARGE INTO OUR MEETING AND THROW ONE OF THE OLDEST GODDESSES TO THE FLOOR LIKE A COMMON WENCH-"

"Zeus," Hera says quietly. Everyone falls silent, although it's not quite enough to stop the two tangled together on the ground. She clears her throat, which finally seems to get through to Athena, who had finally seemed to have gotten over her shock enough to reach out, hands hovering over Odysseus hesitantly. Still, at the noise she seems to remember herself, pushing herself up on an elbow and dislodging him enough to break their necking. He pouts at her, but Athena's eyes are too glazed over to notice, heaving for breath.

Hera opens her mouth to speak, crown manifesting on her brow as she steps in front of the throne, but closes it as the door rattles again.

This time, the spectre shimmers with a faint hint of scales that comes with a freshwater nymph's heritage and excited whispers starved for drama explode across the room as the Queen of Ithaka steps into the room, skirts hitched in her hand and panting as if she'd been running.

"Your Graces," She bows respectfully before entering, Spartan princess through and through, until she catches sight of her husband and Athena, the former of whom seems to have taken the opportunity to start kissing the wisdom goddess again, fingers in her curls.

"What are you doing?" She snaps, rushing over. The entire courtroom holds its breath. She slaps her husband upside the head, making him yelp and move back to shoot her a betrayed look. Athena looks even further dazed than before, cheeks red. "Argos has more manners than you! No wonder Lady Athena wanted nothing to do with you- ah, hello, darling, by the way."

"Penelope," Athena murmurs hoarsely, and the Queen of Ithaka leans down to kiss her as well.

Odysseus chuckles, then jumps with everyone else as Hera slams a hand down on the throne elegantly, cracking it to the base.

"Ah, goddess-" He says, clambering off Athena to bow.

"Silence," Hera interrupts, holding up a hand, eyes cold. "You will not say anything to me apart from an explanation. My agreement for your release from Ogygia was due to the assurance that your marriage was one of the truest I have ever witnessed, conveyed by Athena herself when bartered with all of us to let you go. Tell me, was it a ploy? Because from the disgraceful looks of it, this seems to not be the case in the slightest."

Odysseus frowns, face twisting in confusion. "Athena bartered with...?" He turns to look at his patron, who stares back, unspeaking. His eyes flicker to the lightning scar over her right eye as Penelope traces it with horrified eyes and a gentle thumb, and understanding seems to dawn.

For a moment, rage seems to fill him, glaring with a hatred towards Zeus that everyone whispered later wasn't met by the god king with anger, but a flicker of remorse- before he visibly throws it away behind Athena's old smile and bows.

"God-queen," He says formally, gracefully. Hera twitches a bit, and they'll all talk later about how odd it was to so clearly see Athena's younger mannerisms in the man, down to the curl of the letters. "My marriage to Penelope has never been false, never been broken, this I promise you." He takes Penelope's hand and squeezes it for emphasis, and she raises them as acknowledgement. "But... can you not argue that Athena has been part of our marriage all this time? From its start, where she advised me on courting and her on what to look for, to the twenty years she spent with both of us- me on the battlefield and Penelope in the court; to say nothing of how she helped raise our son and lived in our palace in the days after. And is she not so unbearably beautiful that even my Penelope couldn't wait-" He shoots a glare at her, which Penelope returns with a smile. "-when the chance was presented? How can you fault us for disgrace, after being so long apart from our wife?"

Hera raises both eyebrows at the impudence, the kind of disbelieving expression that hides a warning to tread carefully. "So you claim to be both married to Pallas Athena?"

"In every way that matters except legality," Odysseus says, fearlessly. He is dead, after all, what much can you do to a shade that they didn't already put him through when alive. He is sort of worried about Athena, though, as they both help her back to her feet, Penelope busy whispering compliments and updates and endearments in turn- she's not usually one to be quiet in face of a problem.

Hera tilts her head. "Ah, but you see. I need the legality, if I am to finally-" A helpless, excited smile pulls at her lips once, twice, before unfolding into a bright grin, peacock tails unfolding to their full wingspan. "-finally arrange for a marriage for my eldest daughter who has not once- oh finally, I can hardly believe this day has come-"

"I do not like the way you grabbed her, Sacker of Troy," Ares steps forward as Hera starts ranting half to herself, half to an equally loud assemblage of joyful entities about wedding arrangements, eyes narrowed.

Odysseus barks an incredulous, loud laugh, gesturing to Athena with a slightly crazed look in his eyes. "This lady has broken- and I do not exaggerate- every single bone in my body before I saw my sixteenth year. I have punched her a hundred times in the face when she taught me how to fight. We'll survive, thanks."

"That is fair," Ares steps back, hands raised.

"What duties will you provide as spouses, Ithakan Queen?" Hestia questions, stepping forward.

"Oh, the same we did when we were living," Penelope huffs a laugh. "Keep her busy, make her laugh, be of mild frustration to her, love her well, worship her-"

"I do not. Need to know," Hestia closes her eyes and raises a hand to cut her off, stepping back. Around them, the din catches speed and volume as no further objections arise, excitement spilling into the air.

"What is happening?" Athena says faintly, looking around as if she was just waking up.

"-oh, and we can get out the decor once more! Hebe, Aphrodite, loves, do you remember where we kept the fountains-"

"-finally, a reason to celebrate! Call them all out of hiding-"

"-can't believe this is finally happening, oh sister, what songs should we-

"Why am I getting married," Athena says with much more alarm and horror. She turns to Odysseus and shakes him by the shoulder, eyes wild. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!"

"How is this nothing? Do you have any idea the headache-"

"Athena, sweetheart, will you consider changing into that beautiful piece you made for the ceremony?"

Creakily, she turns her head to Hera, disbelief pasted across her face. "Mother," She says slowly. "They are both dead."

"Oh, I'll make a deal with Hades or something, you hush!" Aphrodite leans forward and snaps, before her irritation melts back into a manic joy. "Oh, what paint shall we do?"

Paint, Athena mouths, looking afraid for possibly the first time since her conception.

Penelope laughs and tugs on Athena's hand to make her turn, tucking dishevelled curls behind her ear. She wonders if the goddess knows how beautiful she is when she's flustered. "Take us away," She whispers. On Athena's other side, Odysseus leans against their patron with a besotted, helpless smile as he stares up at her, her helmet and spear in hand. She'd missed Athena like a limb, missed her deep laugh at night when they'd discussed the day's court, the dry jokes, the hands over hers as she weaved- but Odysseus wasn't himself without her, happy though they were in Hades' lands together, all of them.

"I'm-" Athena wavers, then looks around once more at all the excited screaming, something unreadable flashing in her eyes. Almost against her will, her eyes fall to Zeus, who is sitting silently and staring back at her. Poseidon looks like he still wants to start a fight, but clearly by his wary looks below can tell he will be heavily outnumbered by the overexcited crowd to not try, but Zeus just stares back at her, face blank of any emotion.

"We ask you formally this time," King Odysseus says, walking in front of her to take her attention away, holding onto her hand. His voice has strength in it, drawing the eyes of the murmuring crowd, but he's deaf to it as he stares up at her.

"Will you be our wife?" Queen Penelope asks, joining him, watching their beautiful patron shudder for breath she does not need as her eyes flick to one of them and then the other.

"Yes," She whispers and cheers erupt all across Mount Olympus.

"Finally!" Odysseus complains, and then pulls her down once more to kiss her, all three of them fading at the edges as one of the generous gods present there- who seems to realize that they're not very inclined to stop anytime soon- thankfully teleports them away into a nice room with a large bed.

"Finally," He whispers as he breaks apart to lay her down, cupping her face, voice heavy with the longing of a full lifetime and more. Penelope circles to the head of the bed and starts undoing Athena's braid, staring at them both lovingly.

Later the ones closest will murmur, as the silhouettes faded away, that tears had slipped from proud Pallas Athena's eyes as she placed one hand against Odysseus' cheek, trembling.

"I missed you," She will whisper back, and all three of them fade away to their own story, yet to be made.