#If Lena Goes Evil Kara Should Follow

[supercorpkid]

Ace Reporter - part 3

Supergirl, Kara Danvers x Reader, Lena Luthor x Reader

Word Count: 2350

Part 1, Part 2

Your editor is thrilled with the situation you just got yourself into. Flying to Kaznia to find Lex's secrets, with another Luthor and a CatCo reporter is like a dream come true. To him. 

To you, this is probably high on the list of your worst nightmares. Anything Lex Luthor related would easily be up on your list, but with Kara's words hanging over your head since you last saw her, this situation is easily number one.

‘I'd make out in a closet too if you were my Lois’, keeps haunting you in your sleep. How dare she say something like that? It's not even like you were being nice to her all this time. Polite, maybe. Sometimes not even that. What would make Kara think that in a week or so of you being polite at best, you had any interest in making out with her?

Or is it a tactic to throw you off your game? You two are getting on a plane to fucking Kaznia with Lena Luthor. Maybe she is trying to destabilize you, so she can ask the best questions. Yes, this should be it. But you won’t fall for that. 

Kara Danvers will not distract you!

“Lena, hey!” She waves at Lena like two best friends would and you furrow your brows at the interaction. “Look who I brought with me! The best investigative journalist in the business!”

Kara turns to you and flashes the brightest smile you’ve ever seen, capable of lighting up the whole world. You bite your lip to keep you from smiling too.

Yep. You’re screwed.

"You remember Y/N, right?"

And then Lena comes closer, a big smile on her face as well, showing you her hand. “We’ve met. I’m familiar with her approach.” She raises an eyebrow at you while you shake her hand strongly. “Flattery and flirting.”

“Flirting?” Kara mumbles under her breath, shocked.

“It’s not usual, mostly circumstantial depending on who I'm interviewing." You match Lena's smirk. 

"See, I am flattered." Lena smiles, pointing to the private jet, and you follow her leaving a dumbfounded Kara Danvers behind.

"Are you coming, Danvers?" You add a little smirk, and watch her cheeks going a dark shade of red. You don't understand why you're flirting with both women, and enjoying it so much. But you're finding it hard to stop.

Kara Danvers is a good reporter. Knows her facts and asks the right questions. Her little notes are already worth the front page of the stupid magazine she works for. And yet, you find it hard to admit she deserves all the prizes in the world just for being herself. Strip her out of all her journalist qualities and she would still deserve all the prizes and all the best. There's also something else you've been thinking about stripping her out from.

You would rather die than tell her that.

Lena Luthor is a good… What is Lena's job description, anyway? CEO? Scientist? Hottest woman alive? She is good at everything. Creating a plane that flies itself, transforming her brother's evil company into something for good, having one of the sharpest minds you've ever seen. Those are some of the things that she can do, while looking extremely hot.

You might die if you can't tell her that.

But you're at a job. You can't go around thinking about Kara's muscular arms, and Lena's perfect eyes. Can't picture yourself with one or the other, or even between both sometimes. No matter how many times you find yourself in that exact position.

And it's weird, because you're quick to find that not only they have a good work relationship but they are also best friends. Lena goes to game nights and dinner dates with Kara and her friends. Has worked alongside Kara's sister and Supergirl (What? Nice!) several times to help save the world. They are all extremely connected, and you're the odd one out.

Usually you'd hate that feeling. But while you're at a job you actually enjoy that. You like that they are somewhat careless to talk about their everyday life and how much intel that gives you.

At least you were enjoying it, until the plane got hit with a lightning strike and you let out an embarrassing shriek in shock.

"Don't worry, it's just a lightning storm." But Lena's chuckle is not one that makes you calmer, instead, it makes you more nervous when you look out the window.

"Is lightning usually purple?" Kara asks the question right out your lips.

The airplane loses power. A bad sign. Really bad one. Especially when it starts dropping a few meters high, and Lena runs to the cockpit saying she is going to land the plane.

"We need to make an emergency landing, and I need an extra pair of hands." Lena yells from up front and you're up on your feet before Kara even has a chance to think about it. If you're going to die, you're going to fight for your life first, and not depend on other people to save you.

"We need to get the power back on." Lena points to the electric wires. "I have to believe you know how to hotwire something."

"What, do I look too much like a bad girl?" You snark, but your hands are already making quick work on the wires, and Lena celebrates with an excited 'yes!' when you get the engine back on.

"Bad girl or not, I believe you're my savior." Lena smiles, but it soon turns into a frown when she realizes she is going to have to land the plane. "Go check on Kara while I land this."

"On it." You get up from your place next to Lena, and go back to where Kara was seated. "Danvers?"

She emerges from the bathroom, looking flustered. "I wouldn't have eaten all that sushi if I knew this was going to happen. God, I hate flying." 

You hold back a laugh and the wish to say, she shouldn't have eaten all that sushi anyway. Lena safely lands the plane and appears next to you in a blink.

"That lightning wasn't natural, someone brought us down on purpose." 

Shocking. You're in Kaznia to find out Lex's secrets and someone tries to take down your airplane. Yeah, truly shocking.

You might have ruined the element of surprise, but there's nothing you can do now, except to go in and try to gather as much information as possible. You three make your way inside a military facility. 

Lena sounds completely shocked he would have an army behind him, you and Kara do nothing but share a look, not surprised and not comfortable in this place.

DEO, test subject, cloning, aliens, desert facility. They throw out words that mean something to them, but to you this is all pretty much new. You're not stupid though, you're quick to understand what Lex Luthor was trying to do by gathering aliens and trying to harvest their powers.

But obviously all this information wouldn't just be lying around with no one to guard them. You're lost and confused and definitely way out of place here. Lena realizes someone named Eve was working with Lex behind her back, and she can clone herself! Like, how is this real life, and why are you tangled in this web when it has literally nothing to do with you at all?

And yet, you're here in fucking Kaznia, running from a psychopath and trying to protect your physical integrity while Lena uses a electric shock thing to fight the clones off and Kara uses her fist. Oh, and to top it all off, there's also a loud alarm saying the whole place is going to explode in a few minutes. Great. Just great.

Again, how did you end up here?

You duck from a fist almost a second too late, but luckily Eve hits the wall behind you, and you can't help but yell.

"Shit! I don't get paid enough for this!" You say, while Lena knocks the clone you were supposed to be fighting out of the way. What the fuck is happening here, and why do the both of them know how to defend and fight and you look extremely stupid running and yelling for your life?

When you suggested you and Kara found out something about Lex, this entire situation never once crossed your mind.

Another clone comes at you while Lena is distracted and Kara is knocking one down. Ok, then. You turn your hands into fists, ready to fight. Before you have the chance to even move, she punches your face and you stumble back, hitting the wall. Ouch, and also, goddamn it! 

Kara is holding the clone by the collar of her jumpsuit, and tossing her away from you the very next second. How did she show up in front of you so fast? 

She touches your face gently, one eye blinking a tear of worrisome away. "You ok?"

There's a sharp pain on your face. You are not ok! Why the fucking hell are you getting punch here, just to find out Lex Luthor's fucking secrets just so Lena can give you a fucking ass quote about her brother, so you can come back home? This is not worth it!

"Find the way out. Get out of here." Kara instructs, after you slightly nod at her. 

Even though you are dying to do what she just said, you are stubborn enough to not let Kara Danvers get all the credit for this crusade.

"No! I'm in this until the end!"

But then a new clone comes running at you and Kara has to defend you once again.

"I'm not letting you get hurt for an article." She growls, impatient. "Get to safety, please. We're in this together. I'm not going to keep anything away from you. You have to trust me."

You squeeze your eyes shut, indecision crossing your mind. How can she ask you that? You don't trust her! You don't believe she is not going to keep something from you just so she can have the upper hand in this. But then again, why would she be protecting you with so much intent? Why would Kara Danvers shed a tear for your pain?

"Go, Y/N!" Lena yells from the other side as well. "We're right behind you! Find the way out, we don't have much time."

Your feet finally detach from the ground and you run out of there, trying to find the exit with the loud alarm clogging up your every move and your thoughts. 

Splitting up was probably the stupidest idea ever, though. Is not like you can fight the evil Eve's clone by yourself if you are met with one. You're still shocked Kara was able to fight so many with nothing but her hands.  

Actually, somehow, deep down, you're not shocked. Girl has those rock solid biceps, insatiable hunger, and behind that sweet dweeb face she looks so… so… Strong. Powerful. Super.

“Sometimes I think you have a secret.”

You hear your own voice, replaying a conversation you once had with her.

Kara Danvers just seems to think that clues and information fall on her lap.

But what if they don't fall on her lap because she is good at it. What if she just sees more than anyone?

Kara: What's up with Y/N?

Clark: Best reporter I know. Great at finding people's secrets.

What if Clark saying you're great at finding other people's secrets wasn't a compliment? What if Kara Danvers not wanting to work with you had nothing to do with sharing the byline but you finding out her secret, the one you're so sure she has?

You stop in front of a door, eyes inadvertently zooming in inside. It's a bedroom. There's a bed, a nightstand, and the awful green wallpaper is peeling off in several places but none of that catches your attention. What grabs your attention is the absurd amount of pictures on the walls. Most of them are of Kara and Lena together, but Kara is in every single one of them. Why is this? Who would have such a weird obsession with that nerdy dork?

Your eyes travel fast between all the pictures. The alarm is going off loudly in the background, mixed with distant voices and there's this somber atmosphere embracing you, making you just want to get the hell out of this creepy room.

But your eyes keep going, scamming the room for everything it has. Until your stomach drops. Blood runs cold. There are two pictures right next to each other that make your heart beat so fast, you can feel it up in your throat.  

Kara Danvers in one, hands on her waist. That nerdy looking face, glasses, crinkle, thin lips, that just makes you wanna punch it sometimes. And then kiss her right after to make it all better. It's an inexplicable feeling, really. 

And right next to it, there's one of Supergirl. Hands on her waist. Looking all mighty and powerful and strong. Looking like a freaking goddess, and yet. The feeling is the same. The same need of kissing her face with an uppercut, and then, well, a real kiss.

It's really embarrassing how obvious it is. And you know how shocked you're supposed to be right now, but you're not. Not even the slightest.

Kara Danvers is Supergirl. 

The loud alarm and countdown in a foreign language disappear in the background and even though you’re sure it’s still there, you can’t hear a thing. Your head spins out of control because you knew that. Knew there was a secret, knew there was more to Kara than stupid cardigans and dweeb face. You absolutely knew that.

And then, like clockwork:

"You are exactly like Clark. Disappears, comes back all disheveled…"

"Clark told me his cousin works for CatCo. Her name is Kara Danvers."

Clark Kent is Superman.

Fuck. Shit. Fucking shit. 

These certainly weren't the secrets you thought you'd stumble upon while in Kaznia.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Kara brings Lena directly to Alex. As the town doctor, Alex is the only one able to help her. Kara tells her what she knows.

"They made her drink blood, Alex."

"What?"

"They made her drink blood!" Kara is on the verge of panic. She doesn't understand what's happening on the island, and Alex doesn't either, but Alex at least keeps her cool.

Moving quickly, Alex ensures Lena's vitals are strong before administering an emetic. Within moments Lena vomits, bringing up bile and blood-- both fresh and older, partly coagulated sludge. Kara meets Alex's horrified gaze as they turn Lena on her side, until her retching turns to dry heaves.

Alex quickly administers a second drug, and Lena's heaving eases. Almost as soon as she calms they hear Lex and his closest friends approaching down the road.

"What do we do?" Kara asks. She can't carry Lena out of here without being caught, and she can't let Lex get his hands on her again.

"Root cellar. Go. Now!"

Alex helps Kara wrap Lena in a blanket and carry her to the kitchen, where a near-forgotten root cellar lays hidden beneath the floor boards. Some of the older houses on the island has one, but most of those are abandoned now in the exodus to mainland. Now, they can only hope that Lex doesn't know to look for it.

Almost as soon as Alex retreats and closes the trap door behind her a loud banging is heard above.

"Doctor Danvers!" Lex bellows, ensuring no one could ignore his arrival. "A word!"

With her heart in her throat, Kara listens as her sister opens the door.

"What do you want?"

Booted feet push past Alex into the house, swiftly moving through every room, even clomping up the stairs to the living quarters. Only Lex addresses Alex directly.

"My sister seems to have wandered off," he says.

"Lena?" Alex's tone is the perfect tone of concern. "Is she okay?"

"Actually, she's been unwell recently. We would have brought her to you ourselves soon, naturally, but we had hoped she would recover."

The lies spill so smoothly from Lex's lips. As if he hadn't imprisoned his own sister, forced her to drink blood-- whose blood, Kara can't even fathom-- and calling it the sacrament... Fear courses down Kara's spine. Someone dark and evil is happening on this island, and all Kara knows for sure is that Lex is at the heart of it.

Overhead, Kara hears Lex move into the kitchen, until he stands directly over top of where she lays huddled with Lena beneath a pile of sackcloth. Alex’s lighter footsteps trail behind.

“Have you gathered a search party? It’s a cold night, she shouldn’t be out there alone--”

“See, I don’t believe she is,” Lex cuts her off. “I believe she’s here. With your sister.”

A beat of silence follows, before Alex responds. “Kara? She’s not here either. But if she were with Lena, and Lena were unwell, she wouldn’t let her stay out--”

“Keep your lies behind your teeth,” Lex hisses. “Abomination.”

If Kara weren’t so afraid, she’d be furious. As it is, she begins to work her way out from under Lena, ready to explode from her hiding space should Lex attack. However, in that moment, Lena stirs, whimpering as she struggles to wake. 

The kitchen above goes silent, and Kara slaps her hand over Lena’s mouth to keep her silent. 

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, she tells Lena silently, though her friend cannot hear. Not a sound.

Lena isn’t awake to hear, but she stills regardless. Heart pounding, Kara waits to hear what Lex’s next move will be.

“It’s clear, Father,” Otis Graves announces. “No sign of Lena or the sister.”

Kara presses her eyes shut. 

Please leave, please leave, please--

“Please!” Lex says, his voice suddenly brighter. “Forgive the intrusion, Dr. Danvers. As you can imagine, we are all concerned for Lena.”

“If I see her, I’ll let you know,” Alex returns, her voice low.

“And if you see your whore of a sister, let her know that there is no place on this island that she can hide Lena that I will not find.”

With that, Lex strides towards the door, his steps heavy and determined. With a snap of his fingers, his men follow suit, issuing a cacophony of footsteps filing out after him.

Kara exhales, but doesn’t budge until Alex opens the cellar ten minutes later, her expression dark in the night’s shadows. 

“You need to get her out of here.”

[narraboths]

Kara the Renaissance-era mercenary captain on her knees swearing fealty to Lena. And Lena kissing Kara's forehead before she goes to battle. I would like to see it.

Of mercenaries, Machiavelli writes: “they are disunited, ambitious, and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men”. 

The Kryptonian captain is the worst of their kind, ruthless, ferocious, and unscrupulous, one who could never be charged with cowardice. There is not a fight the Red Daughter has not won, not a city she has not attacked and brought to its knees. There is no man, woman, or child in Italy who would not tremble at her name.

It is exactly why Lex Luthor hires her to head his army that he sets out to wipe his bastard sister’s city off the face of the earth. 

She’s standing in front of Lena now, in all her fearsome glory: tall and lean, clad in ornate black armor, a blood-red cape falling from her shoulders, hand cockily resting on the hilt of her sword. She’s an imposing sight for a warrior, but nothing like Lena would not have seen before. What strikes her more is her face: even with her cruel smile, the hard shine of her blue eyes and the strangely pulsing red veins under her skin, she’s exceedingly handsome, almost cherubic with her flowing golden locks. It seems like an evil jest for such a person to have an angel’s face, more fit for a fresco in a cathedral than the visage of a soulless mercenary.

It does, conversely, serve to inspire some blind hope in Lena’s heart at this dark hour.

The mercenary has accepted the invitation to her halls, after all. True, she rode into the city alone, haughty and jeering, tossing her white flag into the face of Lena’s castellan with the arrogance of a conqueror. She strode through her palace as if she already was its master, stepped before Lena’s throne without bending her head or knee.

And now she stands, head tilted with a smirk, waiting for Lena to beg for her life, for her freedom, for her people; and so Lena must begin.

“You do not have to do this, Captain.”

Her voice trembles, muffled by the black veil that hides her face. The mercenary must hear it, though: her lips are drawn into a snarl-like smile.

“But I will,” she assures Lena, in a tone so cheerful it makes a cold shiver run down her spine.

“My people are innocent,” Lena presses on. “They should not suffer for my brother’s grievances with me.”

The mercenary shrugs.

“Then be glad and assured that their souls will be granted a swift entry to Heaven.”

Lena can only be grateful the mercenary does not see how her cheeks burn with anger for being so helpless against so despicable a threat. She must change her tune.

“How much is my brother paying you?”

“You’d like to buy me?” She gives Lena a brazen look, her gaze scorching as she looks Lena up and down. “I can be amenable. But what could you possibly have to offer? I know your coffers are as good as empty.”

“What do I have to offer?” Lena rises from her throne, no longer trying to hide the fury of her tone. “Less innocent blood on your hands and good souls on your wicked conscience. One merciful deed to speak for you on the Day of Judgement.”

It’s as if she tried preaching to a rock: the mercenary only laughs and crosses her arms over her chest.

“Don’t ruin it now, Countess,” she tuts. “You were striking the right tune before.”

“You are a beast,” Lena spits out, only to be met with a derisive smile.

“You have no terms left?”

“Only one.” Lena ascends the steps of her throne, slow and regal as she can be to make her last stand: if this is all that’s left for her, she will stay defiant to the very end. The mercenary watches her, blue eyes following every movement stoically until Lena stands before her. “Strike me down now, so I don’t have to see your horde razing my city.”

She rips off her veil and throws it into the mercenary’s face – let no-one boast to Lex that she went to her death trembling. She waits for anything: another scornful laugh, the merciful strike of a sword that she asked for. It never comes. The Kryptonian stares at her, dumbstruck, eyes wide as she takes in Lena’s face.

Then she drops to her knees.

“Lex warned me you were wicked and deceitful,” she whispers. Her face is reverent now, the red veins in it flaring up, then dying down with a dim glow. “He should have warned me that I, poor mortal, was raising my weapon against a goddess.”

“Do not mock me,” Lena breathes. She feels as if she has fallen under a spell: she must be dreaming to see the most beastly condottiere tamed at her feet.

“I would never dare, my lady.” One gloved hand reaches out to clutch at the edge of Lena’s dress and the mercenary looks up at her, pleading. “Forgive your humble servant for her rude transgressions.”

Lena feels herself trembling at the mercenary’s touch, but she does not free herself from it: she leans forward, her hands clutching the mercenary’s shoulder for support.

“Have you lost your senses?”

“I have only just regained them.” The Kryptonian lets go of Lena’s dress, only to reach out and gently draw Lena’s right hand into the armored clutch of her own, the cold kiss of the steel reminding Lena that she isn’t dreaming. “I am yours to command.”

She almost looks anxious as she stares up into Lena’s face, waiting for an answer, her eyes shining with devout fervor. 

Slowly, gingerly, Lena moves her hand to touch the mercenary’s face. The skin under her fingertips is hot, almost feverish, and under Lena’s touch, the red veins seem to dissipate. The hard, cruel lines of the Kryptonian’s visage melt away with them: she sighs, pressing her cheek into Lena’s touch.

Lena doesn’t know what commands her for what comes next, but it only feels right: she leans down and presses a kiss to the Kryptonian’s forehead. She hears the shaky breath she draws, feels her tremble as Lena’s lips press against her skin. When Lena draws back, the Kryptonian’s face is all light, and the smile she gives to Lena is the fairest she’s ever seen. Lena returns it, triumphant, and tugs on her hand.

“Rise then.”

[bitch-for-a-rainbow]

Lex Luthor: I actually really like him and Supergirl made me mad

     So, Lex Luthor is a very interesting, sometimes thought provoking, but most of all very enjoyable character.

     Lex is many things, a classic egomaniacal villain, an example of what lies can do to a relationship, a walking, talking red flag, a warning of how hubris and jealously can destroy you, and much, much more. He is not the typical strain of insane— if crazy at all, highly competent, and best of all knows every one of Superman’s buttons and exactly how to press them.

     I love watching Lex in every media I’ve ever seen him in going back to the original Christopher Reeve Superman. Every media, that is, except Supergirl. Why?

     Because she isn’t fucking Superman.

      Obviously, I love Supergirl— I run a blog with her in my icon— but there are certain things she is not and was never meant to be. Nemesis to Lex Luthor is right up there with a mass-murdering nazi (which is why the multiverse exists-- so that you can make her the first super on earth, Lex Luthor’s ex-friend, and not completely ignore the foundation of who they are as characters)

     Lex is fun because he’s so smart, but also because of the personal stake he has with Superman. Lex felt jealous. In many cases, he felt betrayed. He let that fester into mania and then he built an evil radioactive robo-suit and committed mass murder. You know, like reasonable people do.

     Lex was Superman’s friend and that gives his hatred of Kryptonians not only purpose, but emotional weight. Their relationship has that itching tension of painful history. In addition, Lex is extremely prideful. To him, Supergirl would be second class, she’s backup. And there is a story there: a story when Lex has a breakdown when backup knocks him into the sun, or the (in my opinion, less entertaining) version where Superman shows up to save her, reaffirming Lex’s worldview that he’s everything and defeating Superman means that Lex is the greatest and smartest, and even more stories beyond those that still adhere to its core principles— Kara and Lex as characters.

     But Supergirl chose neither. Instead they chose another recycle Superman plot. And then another. And another.    

     I should make time to say that I like Jon Cryer; I think he’s doing a great job with what he’s been given. He’s got the charisma. He’s got the smarmy self-congratulating swagger down perfectly. The scenes where the real Lex pokes its ugly head through his facade are just great. I think in anything else he would have made an excellent Lex Luthor, but not here.

     I was… disappointed with season 4. I liked 4x20– Kara and Lena investigating was fun at worst and at best had some really good edge of my seat moments. I thought that 4x16 “The House of L” was one of the best episodes of supergirl in a very long time and it still holds its place at least in my top 10, probably my top 5. But you will notice Lex wasn’t even in 4x20 and his places in 4x16 I actually enjoyed could easily have been occupied by any other intelligent villainous character. From a very basic point of view Col. Haley would have fit the mold of the manipulator training the compassionate but confused alien to kill— Wouldn’t have been her first time.

     The later usages of Lex in Supergirl are also attempting a common Superman plot. Lex “redeems” himself, tricks the public into trusting him again by framing Superman for something, and eventually is once again revealed to be evil. It sounds like a repetitive, boring plot that would lose the audience suspension if belief after a few tries— “Seriously, this again. How are they not expecting this by now?” And that complaint works for Supergirl. Because Supergirl isn’t Superman.

     Clark Kent was Lex Luthor’s best friend. Clark Kent ignored every warning sign and red flag waved in his face because Lex Luthor was his best friend. Clark Kent harbors a deep, abiding hurt and resentment from Lex’s betrayal. He has no trust for Lex, just like any hero would, but he also has the built up anger from repeated clashes with Lex and the initial betrayal. So when Lex returns, once again proclaiming he’s changed his ways, Superman’s response is a very public, very obviously bitter “yeah, right.” When Lex lays one of his traps for Superman, Clark is a little too rash. Lex Luthor knows how to push all of Clark’s buttons, even if he doesn’t know that they’re Clark’s. Lex can play him like a fiddle, and as for the general populace— would you be so steadfast in your trust of the invulnerable alien that could laser you in half in the blink of an eye and seems to be getting a little too comfortable in his role as peacekeeper? Would you, when even the slightest chance could slaughter your entire planet and you would have nothing and no one would could stop him— except, of course, Lex Luthor?

     We’ve been shown through many media that when Lex can’t manipulate his opponent, when villain comes that is simply too big for him to work on, he is at incredible risk. There are several stories I can think of of the top of my head where Lex becomes a temporary ally of the heroes simply because he realizes he can’t manipulate this new, powerful player and that therefore they are a risk to him (I actually really like those stories because the dynamics between him and the heroes are incredibly fun and interesting— you start to get an idea of who Lex is underneath all of the wit and ego).

     This is Supergirl’s great failure with Lex. The show understands that he is a genius— makes a great fuss about it. They understand that he is a manipulator— it’s his entire plot line with Lena. But they fail to understand that Lex’s ploys don’t work because he’s just so smart like the smartest ever. They work because he knows Superman and he knows that people are afraid of him— even the ones who trust and love him live with the knowledge that if he gets mind controlled or goes crazy, he could kill them all with ease, and that it’s happened before.

     Supergirl wasn’t around for Lex’s turn. This Supergirl wasn’t even in that steady of contact with Clark. She has no stinging betrayal, no anger and bitter history to make her rash and predictable. Certainly by now, two seasons into Lex’s placement in the show, she is angry— but by all the evidence we’ve been given, Kara’s anger just makes her more volatile, unpredictable and sometimes genuinely down for murder, which is definitely not something Lex needs. We have seen her both let Lex “fall to his death” (when she wasn’t all that angry— she just accepted his suicide without trying to force him into prison) and nearly shoot him with laser vision (this time she was angry and emotionally unstable after the death of Argo and the more Lex centered anger that he revealed her identity and destroyed her relationship with Lena. There is no question that she would have killed-- or at the very least maimed-- him if The Monitor hadn’t intervened). If Superman just murdered Lex when he got angry, he would have died a dozen times over.

     Lex doesn’t even have a basic understanding of Kara’s mindset. He can’t. Superman was raised by American humans in Kansas— he has a worldview that Lex could easily pick up on because it is at least based on watching most of the same events unfold as they grew up— and that’s if they had never met before they started fighting. Sure, he could assume Superman had some quirks from being an alien, but the base Americanized cultural standpoint was already affecting Lex’s machinations because he was an American. He’s familiar with the culture and values Superman follows— not so with Kara. I don’t even know if it was possible for him to obtain information on her religion, let alone the cultural views on justice. His research on her past fights would have been choppy at best, given that there are so many things that only Kara or the other Superfriends were there for. He can’t have the information about that fight on Mars where Kara literally disintegrated at least 3 white martians. He can’t know what happened with Reign beyond “she’s not going to be a problem anymore��. He might have more information about the Daxamite invasion through government records and his mother but the information is still limited. As for Non and Myriad, we don’t even know what happened to Non, and did they report to the DEO that J’onn literally tore Indigo in half (very graphically I might add). Or did they just say “They won’t be a problem anymore.” Lex may have been spying on Kara since Season 2, but how much is watching her civilian life going to help him understand her, when Kara’s civilian life was constructed to hide? Kara Danvers doesn’t say a lot of what she thinks to avoid notice, and even Supergirl keeps her mouth shut a lot of the time to try and maintain human-alien relations. The episodes where she squabbles with the Col. Haley and President Baker are full of her smiling and gritting her teeth through statements that clearly make her very angry.

     Lex “falling to his death” and then getting shot at the end of season 4 was a great moment— it fit with the characters motivations, but it also unfortunately illustrated the problem with Supergirl characters interacting with Lex. J’onn was a soldier who kills people. Kara has killed people. Alex has killed people. This scene was not the first time we watched Lena try to murder someone with that gun. They are not restricted by the moral code Superman uses, which makes it both more difficult and more dangerous for Lex to try manipulating them— so he doesn’t and instead they skip the intermediary and rely wholly on him being able to manipulate the public. This works to an extent with Red Daughter, but only because anti-alien sentiment was at an all time high with the Children of Liberty, and because Lex lucked into an amnesiac supergirl clone. So little of the heavy lifting was actually done by Lex it feels less like his accomplishment and more like he cheated off of 3 different people and then bragged about his math skills. I said it before and I’ll say it again. The season 4 villain could have been anyone with moderate intelligence and resources. After crisis, the excuses just get weaker and weaker. I mean come on, he confessed to trying to mind control the whole world in front of the jury while screaming vile things at his sister who’s sitting there visibly flinching at his words and they unanimously voted not-guilty? Are you kidding? (Also after watching all the courtroom scenes in Supergirl... do they know how courtrooms work? I mean, I laughed as hard as anyone at the “I plead the 5th” line, but seriously. Do they?)

    And Crisis was… a choice. I personally hated that they brought Lex back to life— more so because the in-universe reasoning was so weak. Lex Luthor does not face a whole lot of consequences, it’s true, but that’s because he has the genius, guile, and money to avoid them. To give him such an unearned out— especially after all the damage he’d done by dying— really hurt the both the stakes and the character. Lex is a human, and he fights Superman by taking advantage of very human things: corruption, anger, and fear as well as ingenuity and resourcefulness. He loads the deck in his favor— he doesn’t win on luck. And Lex in the CW Supergirl, seems to only win on luck. First he finds Red Daughter right when anti-alien sentiment is blowing up, then he is resurrected, then he finds out the crisis world loves him. He has had exactly 1 major victory based on his own work— manipulating Brainy. A manipulation which was really hard to believe when Brainy was, in canon, much, much smarter than Lex, familiar with his tactics, lying to the superfriends for no reason, and had no emotional reaction to cloud his judgement. 

      And even so, this one plot line was one of the more interesting ones in season 5 and the most Lex Luthor-like plot line the show has had. Even when I felt my suspension of disbelief slipping, it wasn’t entirely in tatters. Lex’s win felt somewhat earned. 

     He has been in the show for 2 1/2 seasons and he has had 1 major victory that felt at all earned. 2 and 1/2 seasons. That’s currently around 45% of the show’s run time.

     All in all, we have 4 deeply related problems that plague the CW Supergirl Lex Luthor:

Lex Luthor’s plans rely as much on effective manipulation of Superman as they do on his own genius. Without that manipulation, his victories rely much more on happenstance and luck, making them feel less earned.

Lex Luthor cannot effectively manipulate Supergirl— at the very least, not in the beginning of their relationship, which CW Supergirl focuses on— nor does he try to manipulate her or much of the cast beyond Lena and once with Brainy.

Supergirl kills people. Supergirl has killed Lex. Superman doesn’t kill people.

Lex fighting Supergirl does not have the kind of inherent emotional weight that Lex fighting Superman does.

     There are some other issues I have with the CW supergirl version of Lex, but I think if it was a Superman show I wouldn’t have minded. The large amount of screen time dedicated to him would make sense there, and the fact that he’s a cockroach seemingly impervious to any plot consequences would also fit more in line with Superman’s increasing frustration and make his manipulations more effective.

     The only problem I have that wouldn’t been solved purely by making it about Superman is the crowding problem. In season 1, Non and the DEO were highly connected and fed each other as villains. Season 2 also fit that same block of alien vs. anti alien. Both of those secondary villains (the army/DEO in s1 and Cadmus in s2) were very much not as big a villain as the main. Season 3 sort of had a secondary villain with Morgan Edge, but he was mostly just a Lena problem. All of these seasons had a good balance between the villains screen time and also between the villains and heroes. It got a little more complicated with the extra world killers in s3, but still functioned fairly smoothly with focus on Reign. This is one of the main reasons that seasons 1 and 3 are my favorites. S4, however, got more cluttered. A lot more cluttered. Manchester Black, the Children of Liberty, Lex Luthor, Red Daughter, and Eve Tessmacher were all villains with multi-episode arcs handled directly by Supergirl herself. There was too much to cover, not enough connection, and not enough time— plus 2 new main cast members (Look, I love Nia and Brainy but that season had way too much going on). Season 5 had Leviathan, Lena Luthor, Lex Luthor and 2 new mains. Each of those villain arcs had their own distinct plot from one another and screen time started to become more choppy and spread out. Season 6 now has so far Lex Luthor, the phantom zone, and Nyxly, as well as the Zor-El mini-arc, and while I’ll give them some leeway for Melissa Beniost’s maternity leave, there is again too much in too little time. Villains are underdeveloped or not given weighty closures, each main gets less and less personal screentime, and every shot that doesn’t serve a good or entertaining purpose feels like pouring out water from a canteen in the desert, especially now in the last season. Lex has greatly suffered for this both in the rage at how much screen time he gets compared to other characters, Kara in particular, and because of how his arcs are still hobbled by the lack of it.

    I just find myself wishing they’d restricted Lex to a 3 or 4 episode mini-arc, or just season 4 and saved him for the Superman and Lois show. They could have played the crisis resurrection as just an unfortunate coincidence of fate and had it be Superman’s problem from there on. 

    To Jon Cryer, may you never see this. It’s so very not your fault.

If anyone actually reads this whole thing and I got something wrong let me know. I’d love to discuss it. Today, I’m just trying to isolate the main issues I have with Lex in Supergirl. 

[westershiresauce]

Headcanon: Deus Ex Scuba Gear

Note: Spoilers for Bly Manor. 

So, here is my Bly Manor/Supergirl crossover crackfic headcanon where Kara is Dani and her ex Mike gets killed by a truck when he walks into traffic after Kara comes out to him and breaks off their relationship.

“Mike, I think I’m gay,” the blonde whispers, too ashamed to speak any louder. The man next to her tenses slightly before a look of relief washes over him.

“Oh thank God,” he says, and smiles at a confused Kara.

“What? You’re okay with this?” Mike shrugs and shoots the woman his frustratingly disarming grin. 

“I mean, am I glad I’m being dumped? No. Am I relieved that the reason is you aren’t into guys? Kind of.” Kara wrinkles her brows in confusion and he continues. 

“I mean, I know I’m hot.” Mike grins again and winks at the blonde who purses her lips at his peacocking, “I thought maybe you were just frigid or something.”

“Mike!” Kara looks around to make sure no one is listening. Mike laughs and she shoots him a glare. 

“Hey, you’re the one that decided to break my heart at the corner of a major intersection.” 

He winks at her and she advances on the man, trying to shut him up. He skips away from her, ignoring the fact that he is now in the crosswalk of the intersection. 

“Mike! Stop fooling around!” the blonde pleads but the man ignores her. 

“Hey, were you checking out chicks while we were together?” He waggles his eyebrows and Kara balls her fists at her sides. She refuses to take the bait. The man just laughs at her silence. “Dude, you totally did. What’s your type?” 

He goes quiet suddenly and his face lights up. Kara shakes her head. It is seldom a good thing when the man gets a light bulb moment. 

“Hey Kara,” his face gets lecherous and Kara readies herself for some horrifying comment, “Would you let me watch?” 

Kara’s face blooms red with embarrassment and anger. She steps closer to jab her finger against the man’s face and get her point across. However, Mike anticipates this and he takes another step back, grin still in place even as a truck barrels into his body. Kara stares in shock, midstep and with her finger still in the air as Mike is flung at least twenty feet down the street. The smell of burning rubber as the truck attempts to stop and the blaring sound of a horn being pressed much too late fill her senses. 

Kara: “No, Mike, not gay as in happy. Good lord, dude!”

Kara is at the hospital when Mike is pronounced dead. Rhea never really liked her so she leaves for her apartment, still shaken but confused about how she feels about what happened. On the one hand she feels responsible for what happened, but on the other hand, she almost feels relieved. Until, that is, she goes to wash her hands in the bathroom and sees Mike standing behind her. She screams and when she turns around, he is gone. It isn’t until a few days later that she hears someone walking around her apartment that she realizes what happened. She grabs her trusty bat and walks out, expecting some coke addict rifling through her bookshelves but instead sees Mike, pawing at her bookcase. He grunts in frustration when his hand goes through a book but cheers when he manages to knock one onto the floor. Kara drops the bat in shock and Mike turns around, grins wide and puts a hand up in a peace sign, just like when he was alive.

Mike: “I’m still here, bro!”

Turns out Mike is tethered to Kara and it is a horrible, cruel curse. He is both the best and worst wingman and Kara is still not convinced he doesn’t try to peek when she is getting dressed or showering but he also helps her learn to be more confident. All his shameless arrogance makes him a great cheerleader, at least once they talk about some ground rules.

1. No creeping on Kara in the bathroom or when she is changing. Mike scoffs at this and mutters about being able to creep on hotter ladies. 

2. No unsolicited advice or comments about women that Kara is not interested in pursuing a relationship with. This is added after a week of Mike making comments about women that had Kara blushing constantly, even at work.

3. No watching when Kara has a lady over. She wasn’t sure where Mike disappeared off to when she did manage to have a date come back to her place but he would always leave after shooting Kara another peace sign and telling her to “do the circle thing I showed you.”

It all hits the fan when Rhea gets wind of Kara dating women and she packs up and leaves. She does not want to deal with that fallout and she would rather get a fresh start somewhere else. Where is that where else? London, Bly Manor, American au pair, you know the rest.

Kara: “Yeah, I’m gonna take a one way and gtfo of here.”

Who are our players at Bly?

Our cook Owen Sharma is good old Jack Spheer because sometimes these things write themselves. And who is our beloved Hannah Grose? Why, Lucy Lane. Because she was too good and I always want to see more of her. Plus she can be a stern little spitfire with the kids and ghosties (The kids refer to her to as Major). She takes her fine self and daydreams about the moment that charming Jack came over to get the job as a cook, not dead, just as a useless hetero (is that a thing? It is now...) that can’t fathom for some reason that Jack is totally in love with her.

As for Rebecca Jessel and Peter Quint? Kelly Olsen (the only character with any brain cells half the time) and Andrea Rojas, our muy caliente Scotsman. Is that racist? No, but her horrendous accent might be a crime. This version has none of the controlling assholeroy of Peter and no secretly killing Rebecca. Just good old bad luck in a horror series. Andrea gets drunk and tries to dive into the lake to find the chest of loot she is convinced is down there so her and Kelly can run away to America. 

Andrea: “This is a file on all the reasons you should run away from this haunted ass creepy mansion and come with me to America. Also, there is a map I drew of the lake with an X where the loot most definitely is.”

Kelly: “This is just a picture of you in lingerie and a sheet of paper you colored blue with a big red X in the middle.” 

Kelly dies trying to save her when Andrea starts to get hypothermia and they both drown in the freezing lake. Because why bury your gays when you can drown them? Amiright? Who finds their bodies the next day? This leads to the following section: Next slide, please!

Who is standing in for Miles and Flora Wingrave? Why, Ruby and a tiny Nia, of course. Nia is a sweet baby angel and I want to meet her as a little sister, totally doted on by her big sister, Ruby. Nia sees Andrea and Kelly arguing like lesbians (so much hand waving and crying and angry whispering) on the far end of the lake while their blue popsicle bodies float around. Ruby and Lucy drag little Nia away from the scene.

Nia: “My giant scarf is perfectly splendid! Also, I am baby.” 

Things get really spicy when Kara shows up, ghost!Mike and all. He complains about not being able to haunt the “hot chick from apartment 314” any more, but he perks up at the thought of “British broads.” Kara had hoped he was tethered to National City or something, but it appears he is linked to her. Mike is ecstatic when he finds out Bly is full of ghosts. He is always off somewhere exploring the mansion and only pops in to tell Kara snippets of Bly’s history and its many inhabitants. 

Meanwhile, we get to the real star of this indulgent charade. Lena as the wonderfully fit Irish (let her have the accent!) gardener, Jaime. She is convinced Kara is a corn-fed straighty from America until Kara throws herself at her in the greenhouse because flowers turn on lesbians (see Imagine You and Me and Georgia O'Keeffe’s many works. This is sapphic lore, kids.) She opens up about Mike and Lena smooches her so she doesn’t have to listen to the hot blonde’s delusions. 

Lena: “What do you mean it is too bright? What book? This is a watering can for my gardening activities. So is my fashionable, appropriately sized hat.”

Kara: *OMG she is so hot and cool, what do I do?* “Hey, do you guys do the circle thing in the UK?” 

Meanwhile, things are getting interesting with Mike and the ghosts: Kelly and Andrea, newly minted Bly ghosts, explain that they are stuck on the grounds. Mike, who believes in having the freedom of “you do you,” vows to break the curse. He strikes a heroic pose that makes Andrea roll her eyes but Kelly agrees they need to find out more about the origins of the Bly Manor curse. 

Flashback episode in a horrid b/w tone because I want to show this is old, okay. It’s not like we could figure it out by the clothes. Or the set dressing. Or the fact that the one of the characters died of “the lung.”

Anyway, we have our sisters, Viola and the other one. Their names don’t really matter because they are going to be the brunette one and the blonde one, played by the queen of period series: Katie McGrath.   

Anger-y brunette Katie, getting her smacking hand ready. 

And blonde, sad (but also evil? plot twist!) Katie, lusting after her brother in law. 

And they fight over none other than Daddy Cullen, Maxwell Lorde, because look at that hair, look at all those buttons, look at that big hand! Who could resist? 

The child is baby Lena being twirled by Anger-y Katie pre-“the lung” because let’s just have this turn into a black hole that destroys itself. 

Baby Lena: “Swing me, mummy. Swing me with your good lungs!”

Anger-y Smack-You-Every-Time Katie: “I swung too close to the sky and now this is happening to me.”

So while Kara and Lena are christening all sorts of places at Bly (yes, even the master wing because, of course, the master wing), Mike, Andrea, and Kelly are incepting themselves into all sorts of memories and whatnot. Cue that montage!

404 ERROR. MONTAGE NOT FOUND. 

Whoops, looks like we blew our budget on that black and white filter. Sorry about that.

Once the ghost trio realizes the chest in the lake doesn’t in fact hold some dragon’s hoard of gold, but the key to ending this madness, Mike pops in on Lena and Kara to bring them up to speed. Kara screams at him about the third rule while Lena tries to accept the fact that her girlfriend (yes, they are girlfriends by now, keep up) has a ghost for a best friend. 

Kara makes Mike look away while her and Lena get dressed and after quite a bit of exposition, they decide to pull the chest up from the lake. Lucy and Jack have been off playing hide the croissant or whatever the straights do during their leisure time, but they quickly hop on the “break the Bly manor curse” train.  

There is a fun B (C?) plot where Ruby and Nia steal Jack’s car and drive into town. No one in town cares because they are rich and all the adults at Bly are busy romancing each other and assume the girls are being odd rich kids playing somewhere in the manor. 

The adults are planning how to get down to the chest without suffering Andrea and Kelly’s fate, when they find some scuba gear the kids bought on their last trip to town. It is wholly impractical but the adults shrug and accept the plot hole so they can hurry this along. 

They draw straws and Kara has to dive down and tie some chains around the sunken chest. Lena jumps in front of limited edition Scuba Gear Kara to stop her but the American has to America so she dives into the freezing lake after a swoon inducing “I’ll be right back” kiss. Like, gifable on tumblr, twitter, and whatever new platform there is a hundred years from now.  

Scuba Gear Kara: “Guys, I can’t see anything through this helmet. Guys?“

After a few tense moments where Anger-y Olden Time™ Katie tries to stop Kara, Mike, Andrea, and Kelly step in and use their ghost powers to keep her away from Kara. Jack uses his car to pull up the haunted chest and they pry it open with a crowbar and plenty of moxie. The screams of slap happy Katie of the past ring out around the heroes as the curse is broken. The ghosts cheer, everyone laughs nervously (they know the end is never the end in a horror story) and Kara shivers from the cold until she is next to the fire, dry and cuddled up with Lena.

As her final act of revenge, Anger-y Katie gives Kara the Lung(!) but thanks to the power of Science, our spunky American pulls through after properly completing the full course of treatment and antibiotics. This includes Lena taking sexy care of her girlfriend. *wink*

***** westershiresauce is not a medical professional and their thoughts regarding the health benefits/healing powers of a sexy nurse!Lena are not verified. Don’t take srsly. ***** 

Cut to, one more garden and I can retire, Lena, sitting next to an immaculate shrub, waiting for her wife Kara to bring out the tea and biscuits. 

THE END!

Lena: “I swear to all that is holy, if that tea is shite, I am leaving her. It’s been like thirty years!”  

[foxx-queen]

give us the Earth Prime Lillian concepts that SG is too cowardly to deliver

took me while but here u go! part 1 of idk maybe a few more if people would like! also on ao3

never knew such tenderness 

When there’s a knock on her door, Lena considers ignoring it. She’s half way through her second glass of wine, and considering she still doesn’t know enough about who she is in this world, it could be anyone. She takes another sip, contemplating whether to pretend she’s not there, but the knocking persists, and she snaps, ‘come in’.

The door opens, and Lillian steps into her office. Lena rises quickly, setting her glass down and folding her arms tightly over her chest to place a barrier between them. Her jaw clenches, and she mutters, ‘what do you –’

Lillian moves much faster than Lena might’ve expected from her, and places her hand over her mouth. Lena freezes, her eyes widening, the surprise stopping her from instinctively shaking the woman off, as Lillian puts a finger to her lips, and grips her by the shoulder. She tugs, and Lena finds herself following her out onto her balcony, vaguely wondering if her mother is about to throw her off it. That snaps her out of it, and she jerks away from Lillian, her jaw set and her eyes narrowed. ’Mother, what are you doing?’

Lillian shuts the door to the office behind her, and turns to look at her. She’s still wearing the same petal pink suit skirt from earlier, that colour that looks so strange on her, her hair loose around her face. She looks softer than her own mother, the one from her world, her hair longer, something in her face gentler, but Lena knows it’s a lie. She knows this version of her mother is just like the other one, perhaps worse, because she doesn’t remember the moments they had. The moments that seem so important, now that she’s the only one who can remember them.

There’s something odd about the way Lillian is looking at her, and she’s so wound up, so highly strung, so tired, that when the woman takes a step closer, she snaps, ‘don’t’.

Supergirl lands on the balcony in front of her, and Lena isn’t really surprised. She isn’t surprised that Kara was still there, still listening, still making sure she’s okay. Her arms are held out from her body, pressed back a little like she’s trying to shield her, and Lena feels that familiar ache in her chest. She’s so close that Lena could easily place her hands on her shoulders, like she used to whenever Supergirl – whenever Kara – protected her, and she hates how much she misses that simplicity. Kara lifts a hand, and Lillian moves closer, keeps moving, crossing the space towards them until Lena is pretty sure she’s going to hit Kara, and then –

Lillian reaches out, and embraces her. She wraps her arms around Kara’s shoulders, cups the back of her head, and pulls her into what could only be described as a hug. Kara seems to freeze, her arms going slack by her sides, and Lena can almost picture the look on her face, the furrow between her brows, the wide eyes. Lillian lets go of her shoulder, reaches out, her arm sliding around Lena’s shoulders, and before Lena really understands what’s happening, her body is pressed against Lillian’s side, her face pressed to her shoulder, because Lillian is hugging her.

Lillian hasn’t hugged her in years. She never seemed like a naturally affectionate person, even with Lex, even with her father. But she’d hold Lena, sometimes, usually after the nightmares she had when she was young, and the memory of her mother’s death was still fresh. She held her after her father’s funeral, even though she herself seem so unaffected by it, and once, very briefly, after Lex went to prison. She’s never known what to make of them.

She has no idea what to make of this.

Kara’s arm is pressed tight against her own, and Lena feels like it’s burning her, like the warmth of her is seeping through her suit to burn into her skin. Kara clears her throat, and Lillian pulls back suddenly, a hand on each of their cheeks, her eyes wide and concerned. Are those tears? ‘I’m so glad you’re both alright’.

Lena opens her mouth, and nothing comes out. She glances at Kara, glad to see they’re united, at least for a moment, in their utter bafflement. She’s distracted by the way Lillian runs her thumb over her cheek, and turns to stare at her again. ‘What –‘

‘I’m so sorry for the things I said’, Lillian says, her voice choked like she’s struggling not to cry, and Lena feels like she’s stepped into a bizarre dream, ‘I had to’. She takes a deep breath, her hand warm against Lena’s cheek, and Lena, despite every reason not to, finds herself tilting her face into the touch. What was it she told Lillian about not wanting to be an island? She can’t remember, really, with her mother being so affectionate. Lillian takes a deep breath, and says, ‘after Lex told me what happened, I… I realised it would be best to pretend to be on his side’.

Lena’s horrified to realise that her lower lip is trembling, and she swallows tightly. ‘I… why did you pretend, with me?’

Lillian runs her thumb over her cheek again, and Lena feels like she’s unravelling. ‘He bugged our offices. He would’ve known’. She leans in, and Lena sucks in a sharp breath as Lillian presses their foreheads together. It feels like someone is squeezing her heart in a fist. ‘I’m so sorry’.

Lena doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t pull away, but she doesn’t know how to relax, either. The only person she’s ever really been comfortable hugging is Kara, and she doesn’t know if that’ll ever happen again. Lillian pulls away with a quick kiss to her forehead that makes Lena’s eyes burn, and turns to look at Kara. ‘Are you alright?’ she asks, her voice full of genuine concern that sounds so strange coming from her. ‘What am I saying? You can’t be, not after what you’ve been through’.

Kara blinks rapidly. She seems just as stunned by this as Lena, and she can’t help but wonder if Lillian is somehow the most changed person on this Earth. If this isn’t some strange facade. ‘What I’ve been through?’

Lillian frowns. ‘Well, your Earth dying. Losing people. I mean, we’re alive here, but it doesn’t erase the trauma’.

Lena nearly goes bug eyed. Hearing Lillian casually referring to trauma, to Kara’s trauma, makes her head hurt, and she pulls away a little. Lillian takes a step back, biting her lip as she looks between them, and her shoulders slump. ‘I really was awful in your world, wasn’t I?’

‘How do I know this is real?’ Lena snaps, and the way Lillian flinches hurts. All of this hurts, in a way she can’t even begin to describe. ‘How do I know you’re not… lying?’

It’s Kara who flinches this time, and Lillian lays a hand on her shoulder. She’s biting at her lip, a sign of anxiety that Lena has never seen from her before, and she gestures slightly. ‘Ask them’.

Lena turns around, and two women appear from the sky to touch down on the balcony. Lena has a brief moment to take in the fact that they have identical faces, before Kara makes a sound Lena’s never heard from her before. She turns to look at the woman she once considered her best friend, and something about the look on her face almost makes her reach out. She’s never seen Kara look so young.

‘Mom? Aunt Astra?’ Kara steps forwards slowly, almost like she can’t believe this is real, and then she’s lunging forwards and wrapping her arms around the womens’ necks. They hold her tight like she’s a child, whispering words in another language into her hair, and Lena looks away. It doesn’t feel like something she should see.

She glances at Lillian, only to see that her mother is watching the reunion with tears shining in her eyes. The corner of her mouth is crooked faintly, and she looks almost fond. Lena stares, and somehow, impossibly, she knows this is real. She knows, however strange this seems, that this is her mother now. It’s who she is. Someone kind, someone nice, who now turns to look at her with such affection that it leaves her feeling winded.

This time, when Lillian leans in to hug her, Lena lets herself hug her back.

~   ~   ~

‘So what exactly did Lex tell you?’

Lillian pauses, and then sighs heavily, pouring Lena a cup of tea before she slides it across the coffee table towards her. That’s the same, at least. Lillian’s always preferred tea and coffee over a stiffer drink. She might’ve been the only Luthor who did. She sits back, tucking her ankles together like she always does, and rests her hands in her lap. ‘He told me some nonsense about Superman and Supergirl being evil and trying to take over the world, and something about how terribly he’d been treated, and that I’d helped him take over the last world to keep it out of their hands’.

Lena raises her eyebrows. That does sound like Lex. ‘But you didn’t believe him?’

Lillian shrugs slightly. ‘No. I mean, I have no idea what the last world was like, other than… the fact that I wasn’t… good to you’. She glances away, picking up her own cup with faintly trembling hands, and Lena hates that she feels bad. This Lillian isn’t her mother, but that doesn’t make it easy. The woman clears her throat, and says, ‘I don’t know what he was expecting but… I have memories from this world, Lena. I know Kara just wants to help. I know her people just want to find a home. They’re kind, and they saved my life. Your life. Lex’s life, even’. She snorts, and shakes her head. ‘He doesn’t… I don’t know what he expected. But if I was really that awful back on your world, maybe he just expected me to go with it’.

Despite all the information being thrown at her, Lena finds herself fixating on one thing. ‘You know Kara is Supergirl?’

Lillian blinks at her, and frowns slightly. ‘Of course I do. You both told me’.

‘We told you?’

Lillian sits up a little straighter, her frown tightening. ‘Are you not… oh’. Lillian bites her lip, and looks suddenly sad. ‘I’m sorry, I assumed…’

‘Assumed what?’

‘Well, you and Kara are – were – dating, in this world’.

Lena opens her mouth, and nothing comes out. She feels dizzy, and for a moment she’s not sure if she’s going to burst into tears, or start laughing. She doesn’t know which one would be more appropriate. When she blinks, Lillian’s sitting by her side, a hand on her back as she squeezes her hand, and Lena reels around to look at her. Lillian bites her lip, and says, ‘I’m sorry, I just… when she landed, thinking you were in danger, I assumed… that you were dating’.

She wants to say that they’re not even friends. That she doesn’t want anything to do with Kara. But all that comes out is, ‘Lex didn’t know?’

Lillian snorts. ‘There are a lot of things Lex doesn’t know’.

To her surprise, Lena feels herself smiling. ’He’d hate that. He thinks he knows everything’. She wipes at her eyes, her jaw tightening a little, and exhales shakily. ‘What else doesn’t he know, then?’

Lillian seems to hesitate. She tucks her hair behind her ear, and murmurs, ‘I… a lot of it is… a very long story. Involving… well, things I assume you don’t know’. She glances at her, fiddling with a ring on her finger, and says, ‘do you know… about your father? Did your version of me tell you about him?’

Lena frowns slightly, glancing down at what she realises is a wedding ring on Lillian’s finger. Her frown deepens. Lillian stopped wearing her ring after Lionel died. ‘You told me that Lionel was my father. That I wasn’t just adopted’.

Lillian grimaces slightly. ‘That’s it?’

Lena shrugs. She’s distracted by the way Lillian keeps touching her ring, and gestures at it. ‘Did you and Dad… make it up, I mean, properly? Did you… fall in love with him again?’

Lillian makes a face, one so bizarrely unlike her that Lena almost chokes. Lillian glances at her, and smiles slightly. ‘No, sweetheart. I’m like you, actually. A raging lesbian, as Alex puts it’.

‘A raging –‘ Lena can feel herself going bright red, and she stands suddenly. ‘Sorry, I just… need a minute’.

She leaves quickly, crossing into the dining room. Lillian had taken her to her house, a much smaller, more homely place than the Luthor mansion. She’d never visited Lillian’s house on Earth, so she has no idea if this is similar. She braces her hands on the table for a moment, and takes a slow, deep breath. She inhales the scent of flowers, and glances up to see a vase of her favourite on the table. Her mouth twists, and she turns away to face a side table that’s covered in photos. There’s several of her at different ages, and one of her and Kara, their arms wrapped around each other as they smile out at the camera. Lena’s throat tightens, and she quickly looks away.

There’s another of her and Lillian that seems to have been taken on the same night. Lillian has an arm around her shoulders, and Lena is leaning very far to towards her, a glass of champagne dangling from her fingers. She looks a little tipsy, but happy, and Lillian’s smiling down at her. She’s grinning. Lena’s never seen her smile like that, and certainly not at her.

‘That was the day you and Kara told me you were together’.

Lena jumps, and turns to see Lillian leaning against the doorframe. She’s changed into black slacks and a short sleeved white shirt, a look that is almost casual on her. Her eyes are wistful, and Lena swallows tightly. ‘You were happy for me’.

It’s not a question, but Lillian nods anyway. ‘I was happy for both of you’. She hesitates, and says, ‘there’s… more. There’s some in my room, but there’s quite a lot in yours’.

Lena blinks. ‘My room?’

Lillian smiles, and she looks almost embarrassed. ‘I… kept your room for you, after you moved out. You thought I was just being sentimental, and you were definitely right, but… you stay over quite often’.

‘Oh’. She stares at Lillian, and the sad way she’s regarding the photos, and it suddenly occurs to her how hard this must be for her. This Lillian has years of memories of her, of loving her, and Lena doesn’t remember any of it.

In that moment, she hates Lex for taking that from her.

Something rises in her throat, and she hears herself say, ‘do you love me?’

Lillian’s eyes go very wide, and she reaches out to cup Lena’s face in her hands. Her touch is gentle, her hands warm and soft, and tears blur Lena’s vision. ‘Oh, baby, I love you so much’. She bites her lip, and Lena reaches up to curl her fingers around Lillian’s wrists. ‘I… for a long time, I didn’t think I was really capable of loving anyone. That I couldn’t… do it properly. But…’ she smiles, and even though theres tears in her eyes, it’s a genuine thing. ‘I loved you almost from the moment you came to us’.

Lena closes her eyes, and lets Lillian strokes away her tears for a moment. Then she takes a deep breath, pulling away to wipe at her eyes, and mumbles, ’sorry’.

‘Don’t apologise, sweetheart’. Lillian smoothes her hand over her hair, and Lena huffs a laugh. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong’.

Lena shrugs slightly, and mumbles, ‘I guess’. She looks up at Lillian for a moment, a thousand questions tumbling over in her head. She wants to ask about her childhood, and Kara, and why Lillian is so different. But instead, she says, ‘who did you marry?’

Lillian smiles, a sudden, bright thing, and reaches out to pick up one of the framed photos. She passes it to Lena, and Lena finds herself looking down at a photo of herself, in her early teens, sitting on the floor in front of a chessboard. There’s a beautiful, dark skinned woman sitting beside her, staring down at the chess pieces with a puzzled frown. Her younger self seems to be attempting to explain how they work to her. Lena’s lips twitch, and she says, ‘who is she?’

‘Lara’, Lillian says softly, and there’s an almost reverence to the way she says the woman’s name, ‘you’ve always been very close’.

‘How did you meet her?’

Lillian’s smile broadens, and she laughs. ‘Oh, she’s Superman’s birth mother’.

Lena thinks she might laugh, if she had any energy to do so. She wonders how Lex reacted to that. How she did. How many memories of this woman her mother married she’s supposed to have. She takes a shuddering breath, places the photo down, and whispers, ‘you really have a lot to tell me, don’t you?’

Lillian reaches out to cup her cheek, and draws her gently into her arms. ‘It can wait’, she murmurs, ‘if you want’.

Her hand strokes slowly up and down Lena’s back, the other cradling the back of her head gently, and Lena has a sudden, vivid memory of another moment like this, years ago when she’d awoken from a nightmare to find Lillian sitting beside her. Lillian had held her just like this, her touch a little more hesitant, but maybe its the memory that causes Lena to sink into the embrace with a soft sigh. She closes her eyes, and wraps her arms hesitantly around the other woman, her fingers curling in her shirt, and nods.

It can wait.

[handlewithkara]

Lessons learned

Mon-El: There has to be a way to do this without making a moral compromise. We base the entire philosophy of the Legion on Supergirl. Have you considered that she might have the right approach here?

Mon-El: We took an oath when we formed the Legion. To preserve all that is good and to never harm the innocent. How's this mission in line with that? We should not kill Pestilence.

I was thinking about this, other than it being lovely that Mon-El defends Kara’s stance, out of all the character Mon-El is I think the one of the few who never advocates killing a worldkiller. (Mon-El preaching the gospel of Kara is also an interesting variation on the Coville cult who worship Supergirl but they worship her power rather than following her example) (it’s also interesting that Mon-El is one of the characters on the show, particularly from the action part of the show who we have never seen kill anybody, though he wanted to kill Rhea, but was dissuaded from it by Rhea herself)

Alex:

The conflicts on how to handle the Worldkillers correctly start in episode 13 when Alex and Kara debate on how to handle Julia/Purity. Alex never advocates killing her, but she does seem to advocate torturing her to extract information on Reign's location. She cites numbers and reasons that Kara's stance is naive. She does not believe that there is still a Julia person inside, she thinks Purity was just faking it.

She also claims this is just her doing her job (or doing her job effectively). (Something that Purity shoots down, saying that Alex is just lashing oecause of her own unhappiness and pain)

Alex: what I saw in that house was a very capable liar putting on an act [...] You told me about the vision you had. The world was burning. That is the Worldkiller that you saw. [...] Purity is evil. She is a Worldkiller. And there's two others out there just like her, endangering lives, [...] not all of us are bulletproof, Kara. [...]  cynicism, that's what's keeping the rest of us alive. [...] I am just trying to do my job.

Later she thanks Kara for changing her mind:

Alex: I didn't see that at first. You were the one who convinced me that the Worldkillers could even be saved.

My thoughts: Alex never goes as far as advocating actually killing the Worldkiller. I do think that it is noteworthy that at this point she does think the worldkillers are pure evil and have no humanity (or at least she is refusing to see it otherwise).  

Imra:

Imra advocates killing Pestilence to save the future, even though there is another person inside of her (a person who happens to be quite mean, something they don't know at this point).

Imra: We came here to end the threat to our time. And that means ending her life in this time. [...] That's not how I usually operate, but these are extreme circumstances. [...] I didn't have a choice. [...] Look, I don't wanna kill her or anyone. I have the same ideals you do. [...] You think this is bad? The Blight is so much worse. Every hospital bed in every city on every planet is overrun. Mass graves... So if it's between her and the millions of people who die by the Blight in the future, I'm going to kill her.[...] I'm from the future. I've seen what happens if you're left to deal with the situation the way you want to. The Blight happens. Pestilence survives. Whatever you do in this time to try to stop her, fails. You fail. So if I get the chance, I will end this.

Brainy agrees with her. Citing the numbers.

Brainy: If we kill Pestilence when we find her, there is a 98.459% chance the Blight will never happen. Millions of people will be saved. Now, if we try to rescue the person inside of her in order to defeat her, that chance is reduced to 52.744%.

Mon-El: Some decisions can't be made with a math equation.

Imra of course eventually reveals that her motivation is saving her sister.

Imra: If I had just killed Pestilence, the Blight never would have happened. Preya would still be alive.

And Kara acknowledges that if she was in the same situation, she might act the same way.

Kara: I would probably do the same thing if Alex were gone.

My thoughts: I do not think that Kara is saying here that it's okay to kill somebody if they killed your sister, more that if Alex was gone she would be in such a bad frame of mind, she wouldn't be acting fairly and rationally anymore.

Other than that, I thought Imra’s arguments are rather nuanced, making imo for a rather compelling conflict of interest. I particularly like that Imra isn’t just playing the numbers game, she also points out that she has concrete reasons to doubt that other approaches will work. 

Lena:

Lena advocates killing Reign even though there is Sam inside a person they know to be good, again citing the numbers, but she also argued that it is what Sam would have wanted.

Lena: I can still flood her system with the Kryptonite. It would work. She would OD, but... She would die. [...] It's Sam or the world. [...] [Sam would] choose Ruby over anything, even her own life. She'd want me to protect her daughter.

James agrees with her.

James: It's a difficult choice, but it sounds like you have the answer.

My thoughts: Yikes, talk about some really morbid topic for a couple to debate. It seems noteworthy to me that both Imra and Lena make a genuine attempt at going through with what they talk about. Imra when she shoots the syringe at Pestilence with her mind, Lena when she raises the Kryptonite level on Reign. Both are only held back by the fact that the poison they had wasn’t strong enough, not because of lack of trying. 

Alura:

Alura is the one who advocates killing Reign in the finale, casting it as a sacrifice, a duty. This is after Reign and Sam have been split apart, so in theory there is only Reign left, a being of pure evil.

Alura:  Look, sometimes, the thing we thought we'd never do, the thing that goes against our very core, is the one thing that we must do.

J'onn agrees with her.

J'onn: If all else fails,and we have no other recourse, I agree. We do what we must.

And at last, reluctantly Kara decides to go along.

Kara:  Okay. Whatever it takes.

Of course, only to regret it in the final confrontation.

Kara: I came in here ready to kill her. I knew I should have found another way. I knew it. I've lost track of what I stand for.

And in the end, Mon-El congratulates her.

Mon-El:  you did it [...] this victory was yours. It was flawless.

As does Alura: 

Alura:  I am so proud of you. You stuck to your ideals, and found a way when there was none.

[supercorpkid]

Once Upon a Time in…

Camelot

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader, Emma Swan x Reader, Regina Mills x Reader, Snow White x Reader, Prince Charming x Reader, Merlin x Reader, Morgana Pendragon x Reader.

Word Count: 3100.

Previously on the series - Neverland

“So I guess we’re going to Camelot.”

You look at Henry, not knowing what that means. Wait, Camelot. Legend of the sword? It can’t be it. They can’t be talking about that, right? But you look around, you see Snow White’s soft smile at you, the ‘Evil Queen’ appearing and disappearing with nothing but a purple fog around her. They are definitely talking about king Arthur, and Lancelot and the sword buried on the ground that no one could lift it.

“I need my bow and arrow.”

“And my sword!”

“We should take more than one magic bean.” How is it possible that you’re not even surprised about magic beans anymore?

It takes around fifteen minutes for everyone to be standing in the same place close to you, ready to go to Camelot. Henry nods his affirmation at you, and you almost feel bad for making all these people use a magic bean and go to a different world, just to ask a powerful wizard how to take you home. But then again, you really need to get back home. So, you’ll accept the help.

“We’re all ready?” Emma asks and you nod in agreement. “To Camelot!”

And to Camelot you go, through a magic bean, and dear Rao you can’t wait to tell Jamie this. She is never going to believe you.

When you get to Camelot, to the castle, Merlin is nowhere to be found. King Arthur -although he is not king yet, so- sends someone for him and all you can do is wait.

“Wait, wait! They’re here! My moms! They’ve come to pick me up!” You point out the window. Watching Lena, all dressed as she belongs in this story, walking by.

“No, I believe you’re incorrect, child. That’s Morgana.” Arthur says, making you even more confused. “She might look like someone you know. But there’s nothing in her heart that shall confuse you any further.”

“What happened to her?”

“What didn’t? That would be far more of an appropriate question. But this matter shall not be discussed any further, as Merlin should be returning to assist you.”

You look around. Snow, Charming, Emma and Regina are waiting on Merlin for a solution. And you want it too. You need to go back home, but-

You look out the window again. To where you saw ‘Morgana’. She looks just like your mother. You can’t help yourself from sneaking out of the room in a flash. You think you’ve left unnoticed. You’re wrong.

“Hey, where are you going?” Henry yells at you and you finally stop. You look behind and see him running towards you. “Merlin is coming. He is your chance to go home.”

“Henry, I know what I saw, ok? That woman, she-she looks just like my mom. Don’t you think that’s a crazy coincidence?”

“She could be using magic to trick you.”

“Yeah, she could.” You agree with your head, but don’t turn back. Henry stands beside you, looking like he’ll follow you if you decide to go. “I have to.”

“Wait, before you go.” He takes an enormous book out of his backpack. “Maybe you should read her story first. See what you’re dealing with.”

“Do you just carry this monstrosity everywhere?” You ask while he places the book in your hands.

“Just read it.” He flips through some pages, and you use your super speed to read faster.

“Huh.” You put the book down, furrowing your brows. Henry has the same expression. “Her story is-is like my mom’s.”

“How come?”

“She is an illegitimate daughter of someone powerful, raised as if she wasn’t family at all. She was good.” You open the book again to show it to him. “Then she was betrayed by Merlin! Her friend. He knew she had magic and thought she would become evil, so he tried to poison her. And that is what turned her evil.”

“Oh, is your mom evil? Mine was too!”

“No. That’s the thing. My mom, she had her moments, but she redeemed herself. My mom was always supposed to fall into the light. But Morgana-”

“Is supposed to be the darkness to Merlin’s light.” Henry finishes reading the sentence back to you.

“Don’t you get it? She wasn’t evil. She doesn’t have to be evil. If we can save her then-”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know.” You breathe deep. “I don’t know, but maybe that’s the reason why we’re here. Because heroes need to save. And Morgana needs saving.”

“Maybe we should call the rest of the family.” Henry says looking to where his mothers are.

“There’s no time. There she goes.” You watch Morgana going inside the woods. “MORGANA!”

“It’s High Priestess to you.” She turns around and you look at her. You really look at her. There’s no kindness in her face. “What do you want?”

“I wanna help you.” You give one step forwards, shielding Henry with your body.

Morgana looks at you, she really looks at you, like she can see deep inside your soul. It’s so hard seeing her, as she looks just like Lena. And you wonder if Lena could have fallen into this dark path too. Why does one have to fall into the light, and the other into the darkness? What if things weren’t as black and white?

“This isn’t you. You were good. Kind-hearted. They’ve turned you into this, but you can fight it.”

“I don’t want to fight it. I want to embrace it.” Morgana gives you an evil grin. “I want power, I want to rule Camelot. Being good will take me nowhere.”

“You will never rule Camelot being evil.” Henry chimes in. “Haven’t you heard? Good always wins, so you will never take over Camelot like this.”

“You’re looking at this all wrong, kid. What do the good guys get in the end? A happy little family? Settling for dumb hopeful kids?” She scoffs and you know she is talking about you and Henry. Dumb hopeful kids. Ouch. “That’s not in my cards. I want something far greater, but you wouldn’t understand.”

You look back to Henry, exchanging a hopeless look. “Arthur was right. There’s nothing in your heart to confuse me.”

“Arthur being right? That would be a first.” She looks at Henry behind you, gives you a mischievous smile. “You don’t have to protect your brother. He doesn’t look powerful at all. You, on the other hand…”

“He is not my brother.”

“And I guess he won’t ever be, if you make the right choice.” She quirks one eyebrow at you looking amused. Your mind screams Lena. Your heart says otherwise. “You mistake me for someone else. I do not know why the person holds your heart like that, but I assure you, if you stand with me, you won’t need anyone else.”

“Why?”

“Because I can give you power. Beyond the one you have.” Morgana motions to the castle. “This entire kingdom shall be mine. Soon. It could be ours, if you wish.”

“Don’t do it.” Henry whispers behind you. You give one step forward, instead.

“I don’t want a kingdom. I want to go home.” You say, earning a smirk as a response.

“Great. I wouldn’t want to share, anyhow. Why don’t we make a deal? You help me take back what’s mine by right, and I’ll send you to wherever you want.”

“Another reality?”

“Don’t do it!” Henry speaks a little louder. Morgana’s eyes turn bright yellow, and she moves her hand, throwing Henry backwards, with nothing but that.

“Believe in me now?”

“Yes.”

“NO! DON’T DO IT!” You hear Henry’s yelps getting louder as you move closer to Morgana.

“Does he ever shut up?” She asks, eyes turning yellow again.

“Get away from her, Morgana!” You hear from your side and see a guy raising his sword at her. “She’s just a kid and has nothing to do with your desire for revenge.”

“Merlin.” She points out, nonchalantly. And you blink your eyes feeling yourself coming down from a weird dream. When you look behind yourself you see Snow with her bow and arrow ready to shoot. Charming is pointing a sword at her too. Regina’s hands are on fire. Emma also has white magic coming out of her hands. “I see you brought a cavalry. You always need it when you’re up against me.”

“Get away from the kids!” Emma yells from behind you.

“Too bad.” Morgana looks at you, ignoring everyone else. “I would’ve guessed you wanted to go home. Merlin cannot do that for you. You’ll be STUCK with them.”

Her words send shivers down your spine. And you cave, feeling like you should follow her because she is your only hope. You give one step forward again.

“Get away from her! You’re not the only evil witch in here.” Regina says, earning a sigh from Morgana.

“I see the decision was made for you.” She says while she leaves, as quickly as she appeared.

“Are you ok?” Snow runs to you, while Emma and Regina help Henry up. She touches your face looking for any bruises.

“She didn’t hurt me.” But your eyes are full of tears, and Snow can’t believe you’re not hurt.

“Come on.” She throws her arms around your shoulders and guides you back to the castle. “Merlin’s here now. He’ll help you.”

But she was wrong. Merlin can’t help you. So Morgana was right.

“Another protection spell around the city, you say?” Merlin seems to be considering the information. “I’m sorry to inform you that there are no shortcuts, and you must break this curse as you’ve broken the last one.”

“But we don’t know who started the curse this time.” Regina says.

“Then you must start there. But quickly. As long as she is in Storybrooke inside a curse, she’ll become part of the book. And then, she won’t be able to leave again.” Merlin has not even finished talking and you’re already crying. Storybrooke is nice but you can’t be stuck there. You have to go back home. “I apologize if my help wasn’t what you required.”

“It’s ok.” You sigh. Heart even heavier on your chest now. “I’m used to losing.”

“I have victories and I’ve losses-” Arthur puts his hand on your shoulder. “And I’ve learned that it’s the losses that require us to be brave.”

Sure, it makes sense. You know it’s true, you know you have to be brave. But his words don’t fix the ache in your heart and the emptiness in your stomach. You’re still a kid, stuck in a foreign city, with fairytale characters as friends. If the pain didn’t feel so real, you would’ve thought you were dreaming.

“Thanks.” You point to the door. “I’ll wait outside while you guys figure out how we’re leaving.”

You walk outside. Looking around to see if anyone is following you. It seems that this time Henry didn’t follow you, so you’re safe. You don’t want to help Morgana take over Camelot, especially not because she’s doing it for revenge. But she was right, Merlin can’t take you home. Maybe she is your only option. Maybe you have to do the dubious call so you can get back home to your moms, aunts, cousin, girlfriend-

One step forward.

Kara would never tell you to do the wrong thing, no matter how long it would take for her to see you again.

One step back.

But would she be right? Would it be fair for you to wait to get home and maybe never get back, because you couldn’t do what’s morally wrong even if it was for you to see them again? Maybe Lena would have told you to help Morgana. So you could get home to them and be safe and sound.

One step forward.

But then again, would she have wanted for you to fall into the wrong path because of them? Would she have liked to have that guilt hanging over her head?

One step back.

“You’re still here.” You hear Emma’s voice, and you look back at her. “I was sure you would be out in the woods looking for that woman.”

“So you stepped out to stop me?”

“You know she can’t be trusted, don’t you?” She ignores your question. You agree with your head. “But you’re still considering following her.”

“She might be my only hope to see my family again.” You bite your lower lip, holding your tears. “Henry told me a little about your story. Back when you were a kid, all alone in that universe. If someone could have brought you to your family, wouldn’t you have followed them?”

“I think I would.”

“Then you understand why I’m considering doing it.”

“Trust me, kid. I know what it’s like when others tell you what you can and can’t do, especially when you’re a kid. But ultimately, whatever you’re considering doing or giving up, the choice is yours.” Emma says and you shake your head, confused and lost. You weren’t expecting her to say that. You thought she would stop you immediately. It feels heavy, having a choice. “I know you have no reason to believe us, but we’re not going to stop until we can find a way to your home.”

“You won’t?” You ask, a lonely tear streaming down your face. Emma shows you her hand.

“We won’t.”

And so you take her hand. Leaving Morgana, and maybe your chance of getting home, behind you.

“Hey, are you two ok? We’re ready to leave.” Regina says and Emma looks at you, waiting for your response.

“Hmm, yeah. Sure. Let’s go back to Storybrooke.”

And you all come back. And everyone finds their way into what it seems to be the only diner in town, sharing a table like a big, happy family. And it doesn’t matter how welcome they are making you feel, your heart still aches, and you can’t be around them without being sad and without missing your own family.

So, you step outside, and sit alone on a bench watching leaves flying in the wind. Thinking about what Kara must be looking at right now; wondering if Lena has left her lab in days to see that it is Autumn already; asking yourself how long they will keep looking without success, because as long as there is a curse cloaking this city, they won’t find you.

“Hey.” You watch Snow White coming closer to you, she points at the space next to you. “Can I join you?”

“Sure.”

She sits next to you. “What has come over you?”

“Just thinking that I probably left my only chance of going back home behind.” You sigh, heavily.

“You might have.” Snow agrees with her head, and you look at her waiting for more, because this is not comforting at all. “But it was the right thing to do, and you know that too. Because heroes do what's right. Not what's easy.” You agree with your head, because you’ve heard that before. “You know, every time I look at you I see a very strong hero.”

“Thought you were going to say that you saw yourself when you were younger.” You smile, and she chuckles, denying.

“Oh no. When I was younger, I would’ve followed Morgana into the forest because it was easier. It would’ve been a mistake, because there are other paths – harder paths, and later I would’ve wished to have taken them instead. So, I don’t see me in you. I see someone far greater. But I guess you are a Superhero, huh?”

“Just-” You stop yourself. It’s insane that you’re about to open up to a fairytale princess. But she is here, she looks interested and most of all, she looks like she cares. “I’m not really a hero anymore. Being a hero is exhausting, Snow. We fight every day, and we get beat up, and we get scared. And what for?”

“For the ones who can’t fight for themselves.”

“So because I was born with these powers, I’m supposed to fight for everyone? I’m not supposed to choose what’s right and better for me? What if I want to be selfish?”

“Kid, I know you’re tired of what life has thrown at you.” Snow holds your hand, and you agree with your head, unable to get your words out. “But you still fight for the good every single day. Every time you have hope, and faith, and care, you’re fighting against darkness whether you mean to or not. You did that today with Morgana.”

“But I failed.”

“No, you didn’t fail. She did. Her darkness was too strong. But your light is still intact.” Snow cups your face gently, like a grandmother would. “Sooner or later you will find your way back into saving. Because being a hero is not what you do, but rather who you are.”

“But what if that is not who I want to be?” You ask, eyes filled with tears and fear.

“Oh, honey, but it is.” She gives you a soft smile that says it all. “The choices you make every day it’s what makes you who you are. If Henry was lost in-” She narrows her eyes, trying to remember.

“National City.”

“If he was out there all alone, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to bring him back home?” Snow asks, but she seems to know the answer already, before you even nod at her. “See, being selfish could have made your life a lot easier. But would you be able to live with yourself while doing that?”

“No.” You cry, thinking about your life. “I would probably feel sick, and empty, and-and I don’t think I would make it out of bed.”

Huh. Did you just have a therapy session with princess Snow White?

“See? You can try and run from it, but if it’s who you are then it will always catch up to you. Trust me, I’m familiar with heroes, and you are, for sure, one of us.”

“Indefinitely.” You think about not making home, being stuck in Storybrooke until someone finally lifts the curse. You don’t know how long that will be. You hope your moms don’t give up on finding you.

“For as long as you’ll have us.” Snow throws her arms around you, and you let yourself fall into her comfort.

Being away from your life will suck. But thank Rao, they are the ones you’re stuck with.

Notes:

Am I making a crossover with Supergirl, OUAT and Merlin? Yes, yes I am. And I have to thank @oncemoonie for the prompts. That was really fun

[facepalming-since-chernobyl]

My brain is rotting

Maybe isntead 

All dumb shit - (x)

“ Whether or not you believe Lena Luthor was behaving out of character on Supergirl season 5 or not, there’s no denying that Lena has a lot to make up for and make right on Supergirl season 6. “ 

yeah, out of character. She was never manipulated by her brother, never killed people,never threw a tantrum, never did morally wrong experiments, never was sure she is right when she wasn’t, was never blinded by her emotions, blah blah blah

It’s clear that there is a lot to be done with Lena Luthor during Supergirl season 6 after a season of her siding with her brother and the writers consistently destroying the relationship between Lena and Kara over the big Kryptonian secret.

What a lot? All they need to do is put the bitch in jail. Tell me, why Lena won’t admit on public she was hapily helping Lex with lobotomizing whole fucking humanity? That she kidnapped and enslaved people? Why? Because she KNOWS she would end in a jail. What makes her a fucking coward. What makes her redemption a SHIT.

If there’s any way to make sure this is done (and done correctly), it’s to bring Lena into the fold and give her a pivotal role in these stories. Let’s start by making her a super friend.

 Pivotal. LOL. She HAD pivotal role in season 5 and that’s why this season SUCKED BALLS. And she was a superfriend. And guess what? She used Kara and manipulated them all, put them in DANGER, because she was butthurt. 

Making things right needs to be Lena Luthor’s top priority on Supergirl season 6. She really screwed up. (I personally don’t agree with the narrative that the show painted of Lena’s actions, as it was very clear that her past abuse and trauma was clouding her judgment and she was actively being manipulated by one of her abusers, but nonetheless…) Her relationships are in shambles, but for the first time in her life, she has the chance to put the pieces back together.

I’m dyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Her top priority should be going to police and confessing her crimes. But we all know she won’t, because she is a coward.

Sure, you don’t agree because Boo Hoo Hoo Luthor showed her true colors. Yeah, sure, she had traumatic past and Lex and Lilian abused her all the time, we just don’t know how exactly. Plus, sorry not sorry, your traumatic past don’t give you the rights to kidnap, enslave, manipulate, lie and torture people. And plan to lobotomize whole humanity because you are too poor to go to theraphy... WAIT.

STOP excusing abusers and toxic people’s behavior. It’s fucking disgusting. Especially when all what they have to do is cry (crocodile tears) and help to fix shit THEY CREATED. ONCE AGAIN. 

The abuser she first SHOT IN COLD BLOOD and then happily work with, when he was magically brought to life, because oh yeah, he made Luthors look good. LOL

Her relationships are in shambles and it’s her fault. What first? She had that chances in s2. 

Lena’s finally seen the light and the truth about who Lex and Lillian are, so it’s given her a new lease on life, one where she can begin to put her past behind her and move forward for the first time in her life. She can, hopefully, start to have a life that isn’t constantly dragged down by her family. And I think the best way to do this is to make her an official super friend.

I’m dyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyying. Lena shot Lex with cold blood because she knew who he was. And then she was still manipulated by him. For the THIRD TIME. And she had that life in STARCITY and she threw it away, because she wanted to be a LUTHOR. Once again, it’s on HER. She could walk away every fucking second. But she chose to stay. And do horrible

On this point I’m pretty sure she is a dumb bitch that can’t learn on her own experiences what makes me wonder about people calling her a genius. 

Lena’s often kept out of the loop until the very end when she invents some life-saving device and stops the villain, which is tiresome and shows that the writers truly don’t understand the complexity of the character and how impactful her relationships with the other characters could be.

How many times the shit she “helped” to fix was HER fault? Because she knew better and didn’t listen to her friends? This is IN character and writers know exactly who she is. Sorry not sorry, canon.

I’m not saying that Kara and company are going to immediately trust Lena to be on their side and always do the right thing. That will be part of the tension of Lena joining the group at first, proving that she’s capable of helping them and being a positive addition to their group. With Lex on the loose (hopefully not for long), this provides the perfect opportunity to begin Supergirl season 6 with Lena in the fold, finding more reasons to keep her there along the way.

Sure, once again Superfriends need to offer their hand to their ABUSER and invate her to their circle. So she can fuck shit again. Positive addition, yeah - butthurt, complains, eternal bitching about how people call her Luthor, being always right, not listening to the others. But oh yeah, she can produce more kryptonite to torture Kara. Once again, why keep her? Put her in the jail, case close.

(...)now is the time that Supergirl seems to be relying heavily on the team element, and leaving Lena out would be disastrous. The entirety of the Lena vs. Kara story on season 5 could have been avoided if Lena was brought into the fold earlier (and seeing only a few alternate realities doesn’t convince me that there was no way Kara could have told Lena earlier… that’s a pathetically easy way out of the story and the writers surely know it).

Sure. Blame Kara once again for rightfully protecting herself. And sure, CANON can’t convince you that telling Lena earlier would have changed a shit. Some people can’t understand that Lena is the pathetic control freak and has to know everything, because if not boo hoo hoo, people call her a Luthor.

This is canon Lena Luthor. I’m sorry she doesn’t fit your headcanon.

 And aside from Kara, Lena needs to work out her relationships with the others, too. She had minimal scenes with Alex — which is the second most important relationship to develop next to Kara and Lena’s on Supergirl season 6 — on season 5 and Brainy, too. But have Lena and Nia even been in a scene together? That’s a tragedy in and of itself. Plus, Kelly was the only one on good terms with Lena, and that could grow into a beautiful friendship, especially because of the relationship that Katie McGrath and Azie Tesfai share off-screen.

Her most important relationships are: her and her ego, her and her last name, her and her mommy issues, her and her brother. What she needs to develope is a fucking conscience. 

And Jesus Christ, leave Nia out of her fucking clucthes, we don’t need her corrupting poor Dreamer (aside of the fact Dreamer is protective of Kara and is going to show Lena her middle finger in s6). Why we need being tortured but going through Lena making friends with everybody?

Lena’s been a series regular on the show for three seasons, yet she’s continuously the person left out. Nia’s a superhero and knew Kara’s identity before her, Kelly has close ties with Alex and Kara even if she’s not officially in on the secret yet, and Brainy instantaneously became part of the group when the Legion showed up during season 3. Because of the ridiculous good vs. evil story, Lena has not been allowed to grow and develop real relationships after three seasons. Supergirl season 6 must rectify that.

LOL, she was in the cricle. All the time. She just didn’t know Kara’s secret. But sure, it kept her form growing up *dyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing*. All of the characters that knew earlier were worthy Kara’s trust. Canon showed Lena was and is not. She is ruled by her BUTTHURT. That’s the problem with Princess Lena. She was blinded by her emotions by MONTHS. And for sure it will happen again, because Miss Luthorgirl is unable to understand her own fucking flaws and blames everyone but herself.

After painting Lena out to be a villain for the entirety of season 5, Supergirl season 6 absolutely cannot follow their history of major interpersonal developments occurring off-screen with Lena, especially when it comes to her relationship with Kara.

Not painiting. She was the villain. Yeah, all we need is focusing on Lena’s being sad and uspet and Kara trying to fix shit again. Because we don’t suffer from it since s2. 

Maybe instead of wasting time on a white privileged white bitch, who makes the same msiakes all the time and never paid for it, who kidnapped, tortured. enslaved and lobotomize people and her friends, let’s focus on dansen, developing Kelly, focusing more on Alex and Alex and Kara, giving Nia more screen time. I wonder, why the author thinks Lena and her whiny ass should get anything more?

This goes for all relationships, honestly, not just those involving Lena. While I do think everyone should get these moments on-screen, it absolutely has to happen with Lena if we’re going to believe her journey going forward. Making all of these moments happen off-screen is quite a bad habit that has constantly dragged Supergirl down, but should we actually get to see the emotions and growth exploring during Supergirl season 6, there’s a lot of potential, particularly because of how talented this cast is.

Sure. But the others, REAL representation, are not that important as Lena and her privileged ass. Who needs her journey going forward? She had her chance. She fucked it more than once. 

And now, amazing how this person totally IGNORED that Lena kidnapped, killed, lobotomized, enslaved, tortured Kara and hurt her physically and emotionally like NO ONE EVER HAD, that she supported and happily worked with a mass murderer and terrorist, that she planned to DESTROY Kara and her family. Like all she did was some bad things, but it was not her fault that much, because her family abused her and Kara lied to her, what a crime!, let’s not talk about what she really has done. The shit since s2. The list is LONG. Because, ha ha haaaaaa, Lena doing bad things, while being “blinded by her emotions” is NOT only s5.

Lena Luthor is not a poor victim of circumstances and her family. Her crying and helping people fixing HER shit is not a redemption. Her apologizing to Kara is not REDEMPTION. All of she has done is still THERE. If she wants redemption, she needs to PAY for her SHIT and earn it. 

The problem is, I don’t give a flying fuck anymore. She can rot in jail. And tbh, this is what she deserves. 

Kara deserves better. Superfriends deserve better.

[nancywheelxr]

heaven help the fool who falls in love

( read on AO3 )

They stay there, sitting around the table until all conversations fade out and the only sound is the flickering of the flames. It feels very important to be there, somehow, like something was starting, something big. It feels a little like being at the Dawn of Time, watching the universe being born.

  The flames flicker and Black Lightning is the first one to leave, heading back to Freeland with the promise of returning whenever he was needed, with backup, too, a faint smell of ozone lingering in his wake.

  After that, everyone seems to filter out quietly, going back to their lives, to try and figure out what’s changed and what’s the same, a shared trepidation of finding something’s too irrevocably different, but they’ll all be fine– they’ve got each other’s backs, and honestly, Kara can’t think of anything worse than having Lex Luthor as her boss.

  “Need a lift?” Kate asks, smirking a little, and she’s got her mask back on, wig and all, and Kara can’t help a small smile from blooming. 

  “I feel like I should be the one asking you that,” she counters, watching the sun setting behind her, washing Kate in orange light. It should not be so flattering, considering all the red she's got going. “Gotham’s a long way to walk.”

  Kate raises her eyebrows, head tilting to the side, nodding at a monster of a bike parked nearby. “Who says I’m walking?”

  “Okay, that does not look safe,” Kara says, noting the distinct lack of a helmet, “I think I’ll stick to flying, thank you very much.”

  It earns her a huff of a snicker and for some reason, she feels the urge to do a victory dance. “So, I guess I’ll see you around?”

  “Until the next time the world’s ending,” Kate gives her a two-finger salute, readying herself to drive away on her upgraded bike, key dangling from her fingers.

  “Or before,” Kara ends up blurting out, hands flailing more than she wished they would. Rao, Kate is always so precise, every movement with a destination, with a meaning, with a goal; why can’t Kara be just a bit more graceful? “You know,hopefully.”

“Ha!” Kate snorts, shaking her head, amused, and adds before walking away, “I think I’ll leave the hoping to you.”

  Her bike’s engine roars above the low buzzing of the city and Kara watches her drive out onto the road, back to Gotham and whatever waits for her there. Something in her chest constricts and she has the strange feeling she should probably leave the bravery thing to Kate too.

*

  Things in National City aren’t exactly normal, but there’s something comforting in having Nia and Alex and J’onn and Brainy knowing Lex’s farce, in not being the only one living in an upside-down world and still being so freaking grateful for it. Now, she can trade a look with Alex over the computers and see the same resigned despair reflected on her eyes. 

  It’s only a miracle and very, very careful avoidance that Kara hasn’t run into Lena or Lex yet. She’s not sure she could stomach that, doesn’t want to know what Lex turned Lena into– a puppet? The obedient, starry-eyed sister he wanted? A villain, like him? Kara can’t face that, not yet.

  So yeah, maybe she’s just a tiny bit glad when the alarms start ringing. “Where?” She demands, hiding her relief beneath a mask of professionalism. 

  “The park,” Brainy calls behind his shoulder, fingers flying over the keys, and he’s frowning, “it seems to be a meta-human, he’s freezing the trees.”

  “Okay,” she nods sharply, preparing to take off, “ice powers, got it. It’s time to teach him some chill!”

  As she leaves the DEO behind, Kara hears Alex’s groan and just for a little minute, just while she’s flying, everything feels normal, fine. 

  Not that it stays that way for much longer, of course. The guy with a weird-ass bowl on his head is a pretty good wake-up call. 

  “Okay, okay– hey, ice guy,” she glares, dodging what she supposes is some sort of freeze ray. Behind his goggles, the guy seems to focus on her and away from unsuspecting trees, “I don’t know who you are or what you think you’re doing, but winter is definitely not coming here, pal.”

  “I am Mr. Freeze,” ice guy booms, spreading his arms and encasing a terrified duck in a block of ice as he does it, “and no one will stand in my way!”

  “So, another megalomaniac, yeah, that tracks,” she shrugs, heat pooling behind her eyes, and the world is already tinting red when a blur flies past her, black and red and as fast as a bat. Kara blinks, huffs. “Oh, come on! Again?”

  “Sorry, blondie,” Kate throws her a smirk as she stabs Mr. Freeze with a syringe in the neck where his armor and helmet meet. He crumples in a white-and-blue heap, tied up and ice gun disabled. Never let it be said Batwoman isn’t scarily efficient. “This one’s one of mine.”

  Rolling her eyes, Kara lands in front of her, arms crossed and the best grumpy expression she can manage. “I had it covered, you know.”

  “Yeah, I don’t doubt it,” she says, pocketing her Batarang in her belt, and okay, it’s been only a week since the Crisis, but Kara had forgotten how it felt to be at the end of Kate’s whole laser-focus. Is this how people feel when she uses her laser vision? She hopes not, it’s very odd to feel like this– like she’s lighting up from the inside out, a whole forest fire sparking somewhere in her chest.

  Truthfully, it might just be the turkey sandwich she had earlier, the mayo had tasted a bit off, after all.

  “But Freeze's my problem,” she continues, shrugging, “but you're welcome to handle the cleanup if you want?”

  Kara glances around. Half the lake is frozen and there are at least half a dozen trees melting. “Nah, I think I'll leave that to the DEO, thank you very much.”

  “Right,” Kate grimaces, and now they're slowly moving towards the shade, to one of the benches in the park that isn't wet with melting ice, “and how is that going?”

  “Not very good?” Kara sighs, slumping on her seat, drags a hand across her face, “I mean, Lex is still just– parading around as, as! I don't know! A good person that's not a psychopathic evil genius!”

  A hand falls on her shoulder and Kara looks up, something loosening in her chest. Kate doesn't offer her a smile but her eyes are sympathetic and surprisingly open like she truly doesn't mind being here, away from Gotham, in National City, sitting in a park bench and listening to Kara's stupid problems. Her hand is warm through the gloves, solid and real.  

  “Hey,” says Kate, fingers squeezing her shoulder once, and Kara has to glance away, swallowing thickly, “do you want me to punch him for you?”

  Startled, Kara laughs, picturing Batwoman flying to Luthor’s penthouse and decking him in his stupid smug face. “Thanks, but no,” she shakes her head, “I think– we’ll figure something out, it’ll be fine.”

  “There she is,” Kate grins, leaning back on the bench, apparently very self-satisfied, “that sounds more like our Paragon of Hope.”

  “Maybe I just needed, you know,” she looks up at the sky, stretching indefinitely in all directions, cloudlessly blue, and Kara feels suddenly oddly unmoored. Turning, she catches Kate’s eyes. “A bit of courage.”

  It’s Kate’s turn to look away, red hair falling in a curtain as she turns, and her hand retreats back to her lap. “No,” she stands up, brushing dirt and snowflakes from her uniform, and when she looks back at Kara, there’s something shuttered in her eyes, even as she smiles carefully, “I’m pretty sure you’ve got it covered.”

  *

  Another month goes by and the Lex problem is far from solved but at least the Brainy problem is. It was honestly so weird to have more than one Brainy, she's kinda glad they're down to just their Brainy again.

  Anyway, successfully solving one thing makes her feel better about the rest; maybe slow truly does it, maybe she can do this one day at a time, bit by bit.

  Maybe Kate was right, maybe she does have this covered.

  Maybe she'll even tell Kate that the next time one of her rogues end up in National City– something that, by the way, happened more than she would have expected? Seriously, she ran into Kate at least five other times in this month alone, either fighting someone or following a lead.

  Not that she’s complaining, she appreciates the company.

  “So,” she says, sitting down with her latte and passing Kate her coffee, “I’m sorry your lead went cold, I can keep an eye out for any shady business going on if you want?”

  Kate waves her off, picking up one of the donuts. “No need, Black Mask will turn up soon,” she pauses, moaning around her donut, eyes closing, “shit, you were right, this is the best donut I’ve ever had!”

  Pride swells in her chest and satisfaction brings warmth to her cheeks. “Told you,” she makes the executive decision of leaving the sprinkled one for Kate, “but seriously, are you sure? Because it must’ve been urgent for you to come all the way here.”

  “Maybe I wanted to see you,” Kate winks, playful like she only ever is out of the uniform, and it’s nice to see her like this, no wig and no mask– just Kate. Once again, something shifts inside Kara. “No, but I mean it, let me handle Black Mask.”

  Right, sometimes she forgets how touchy the Bats are about their city. “Okay, your call,” she says mildly, taking a sip of her latte, “but for the record, I am glad you’re here.”

  Kate ducks, smiles, then shakes her head as if dispelling a fog. “Tough morning?”

  “More like, tough week,” Kara huffs, thinking back at the peacocking Lex has been doing all month, rubbing his success on her face, at Lena’s fond eyes, clear of the anger and betrayal that had been swimming there before the world was reset. Shame rises to her throat at how traitorously happy she still feels sometimes at having Lena on her side again, half-wishing things could stay like this– it makes her nauseous, feeling dirty, almost as bad as Lex. 

  “I could still punch him for you?” Kate’s suggestion brings another snort out of her, just like the first time, and also like the first time, Kara’s no doubt she fully means it. It’s nice, she thinks, to have someone in your corner like this. 

  “Thanks,” she exhales, hoping to push her worries away along with the air in her lungs, “how about you handle Black Mask and I’ll handle Lex?”

  “Damn, that’s a shame. I was kinda hoping to get to punch his smug face,” Kate grins, then grows serious, uncharacteristically soft, reaches for Kara’s hands where they’re resting on the table. Her fingers curl around Kara’s wrist, delicate and precise, and Kara wonders why her heart is stuttering like that, wonders if Kate can feel it through the skin, if she can tell why that’s happening. “Hey, you’ll be okay, you’ll beat him. Maybe not today, maybe not next week, but you’re gonna win this shit.”

  Throat tightening oddly, Kara swallows, licks her lips. “Thanks, I– thank you.”

  Kate pulls back, thumb brushing one last circle over on the underside of her wrist. “Don’t thank me yet,” she runs a hand through her hair, tattoos catching Kara’s gaze like always, “I’ve still got a favor to ask.”

  “A favor? What’s is it?” She straightens up, slipping into a more professional mask, “come on, hit me up.”

  Hesitancy crosses Kate’s eyes, but it’s gone in a flash, dismissed as quickly as it materialized, and Kate nods sharply. “I want to come out.”

  Kara chokes a little on her latte. “Excuse me? But I thought–”

  “No, yeah, I’m already out,” Kate snickers, waiting for her to recover before sobering up, “I had some– look, some reporters got in their heads Batwoman is straight and I just can’t stand for that, not when I could be helping people, you know? So, I think it’s past time Batwoman gives an interview.”

  “Oh,” Kara blinks, processing, “that’s– I’m sorry, people do like to just assume stuff.”

  “So you’ll do it? The interview?”

  “Oh,” she says again, “you want me to interview, er, Batwoman?”

  “There’s no one else I’d trust with this,” Kate shrugs, indifferent, and Kara wants to do her victory dance again because, from all she’s learned about the Bats and Gotham and Kate, trust is not something so easily given, but this is not the first time Kate showed her the extent of hers in Kara. It’s– a strange tangle of emotions knots themselves in her ribcage.

  “Then, of course, I’ll do it,” Kara smiles. This she can do. 

  “Thank you,” she says, a grin finally breaking on her face, “I’ll call you later to schedule it?”

  Kara has a feeling Andrea won’t be too mad if she delays a few articles in favor of an exclusive with freaking Batwoman. “Sounds great, whenever you want.”

  Her latte is getting cold but Kara can’t quite bring herself to hurry– if anything, she takes her time eating the donuts, sipping her beverage; the sun is shining especially bright today, reflecting off Kate’s hair and blinding Kara to anything else around the world.

  *

  Gotham is still dark, and grim, and oppressively rude, and Kara, superpowers and all, feels the need to clutch her bag a little tighter and keep her head down as she makes her way to the Kane penthouse– because Kate has a penthouse, that’s a thing, because Kate is rich. How is it that Kara keeps befriending millionaires?

  “Oh, hello,” says the girl who opens the door and is definitely not Kate. She has a friendly smile and very sad eyes, and she reminds Kara a little of Lena, if only a little softer, kinder, friendlier. “I’m Mary, can I help you?”

  Right, Mary Hamilton, Kate’s stepsister. “Hi, I’m Kara Danvers– the reporter? Kate said to just come here instead of Wayne Tower? I’m sorry, I know how this sounds but I swear I’m not just some tabloid–”

  “You’re Kara?” Mary’s whole face lights up and Kara is faintly happy for Kate, she remembers how miserable she had been talking about when her step-sister had been at odds with her. Now, Mary waves her in, grinning wide, “come in, come in, Kate’s talked so much about you! It’s so nice to finally meet you, seriously, I feel like I already know you–”

  This is all happening rather fast, but Kara tries to keep up with Mary’s words, following her to a large, open-concept living room, talking a mile a minute. “Thanks, I– she talked about me? I mean! She talked a lot about you too!”

  “Really? Because I swear, it’s like pulling teeth with her when it comes to this stuff–”

  “Kara!” It’s Kate, rounding a corner and looking sorta alarmed at her sister, eyes going between them as if she’s assessing the situation, and for the first time, Kara thinks she might be a little wrong-footed, even if it’s only for a second. “Thank you for agreeing to this,” she pauses in front of Kara with a small smile and Kara hesitates– should they hug? Shake hands? What’s the protocol here now that there’s no villain to serve as a buffer? She waits too long and the moment passes, Kate turning her focus to Mary and leaving Kara feeling slightly disappointed, bereft. “Don’t start– she’s here for an interview.”

  Mary’s smile becomes sly. “Sure, see you later Kate, it was very nice to meet you Kara, come by anytime. Have fun!”

  She takes her leave like a hurricane, the dull sound of the door closing behind her almost jarring in the silence that stays after her.

  “Sorry about that,” Kate grimaces, half-apologetic, “we're still– she resents Sophie, I think, and she thinks I should have more friends, that's all.”

  Again, Kara tries to match the name with a face, coming up with very little information– ex-girlfriend, married, works in security, messy breakup. Though, messy isn't exactly the word she'd use, not when she clearly hurt Kate then and is most likely hurting her again now. Whoever Sophie is, Kara would very much like to have a few words with her.

  Yeah, after all, Kara knows a little about messy breakups. 

  It’s not the same, though, she reminds herself; her situation with Lena isn’t complicated like Kate’s with Sophie is, like hers with Mon-El had been. If she had more time, if she were alone, perhaps Kara would examine why she’s holding them all to the same level, or why her chest is aching bitterly for no good reason at all.

  Everything is so complicated these days.

  “It's okay, I know how sisters can be,” she smiles, forcing herself to be very still when Kate sits down beside her in the couch, knees touching hers, “so, how do you want to do this?”

  Kate sighs, not quite a scowl on her face but none of the playfulness from before either. “Here is as secure as it can be,” she says, glancing out the large windows, and Kara wants to ask about the Batcave, a few fragmented memories of Oliver mentioning the secrecy around Batman and his dislike of meta-humans in general the only things keeping her away from the topic. She’s not about to pry into someone else’s secret, not when Kate is already going against what her cousin would have liked for their city just by inviting Kara there. 

  Something about Kate– it gives Kara pause, recorder dropping to her lap. There’s a tiredness clinging to the corner of her eyes, taking up space where laughter lines should be, and while she’s going through the motions of this conversation as natural as ever, it’s clear she’s not wholly there. Wherever she is, Kate’s mind must be worrying and unhappy if the way her eyebrows keep knitting minutely, a crinkle in her forehead that Kara is itching to smooth over with her fingers. She wonders if Kate will feel cool to the touch against Kara’s sun-charged skin, Kryptonians always do run a little hotter than most humans. 

  A blink. Jesus, where’s this coming from?

  In any case. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” She hovers a little before deciding to place her hand on Kate’s knee, just an inch above the rip on her jeans. It’s more tempting than it has any right to be. “We don’t have to do this today, you look tired.”

  Kate shakes her head, seeming to dispel a stormy cloud of thoughts, and looks warily at Kara, eyes seizing her like she’s still unsure how genuine the question is, how much is out of politeness. It’s almost offensive, really, Kate should know better by now. 

  She really, really should know better by now, considering how long they spent in the Vanishing Point, before the timeline reset, before things hit the fan and then more or less fixed themselves. 

  Then, Kate sighs again, not deflating but maybe unsteeling. “Alice has gone underground,” she admits, running a hand through her hair, “and there’s only so much I can do until she resurfaces again.”

  So she’s probably running herself ragged the whole night. Kara frowns. “I’m sorry,” she says, biting her lip, “it never gets easy, having to stop people you love, family.”

  “She killed Mary’s mother,” the words leave her lips through gritted teeth, and Kate is now glaring at the tiled floor like it’s personally responsible for every bad thing that’s going on. The faraway look in her eyes returns, fogging over, “you know, when I took Bruce’s place I didn’t think– it wasn’t supposed to be Beth.”

  Today is a bad day, Kara recognizes with terrible clarity, one of those where everything weighs a little heavier on your shoulders. There’s not much to be done in those times, she knows from experience. Saying I’m sorry again feels awfully inadequate. Instead, she shuffles a little closer, subtly trying to telegraph I’m here, it doesn’t have to be lonelier than it already is. “Once,” Kara clears her throat, “my aunt and uncle tried to take over the world in the worst way possible and I had to stop them. They’re dead now. My point is– Beth isn’t. There’s still hope. She’ll appear again and you’ll stop her, get her the help she needs.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Kate looks up at her with clear eyes, greenish-blue like a bottomless ocean, tides warring over each other with tall waves of emotion. Kara likes to think this is better than the fog, than the tar-like glaze. You can’t see through fog, but every storm clears eventually. “There’s not many places for hope in Gotham.”

  “That’s okay,” Kara says decidedly, meeting her gaze steadily, head-on, “I can do the hoping for you.”

  Kate smiles, a small, weak, sad thing, brittle, and it’s not a smirk and it’s not the malleable plastic she gives the media. It’s just that, a smile, and Kara commits it to memory like a treasure map.

  *

  Her computer screen gives off blue light, illuminating her face in the rapidly darkening room, but Kara’s fingers still hover unsurely over the keys, the blank page mocking her just like it’s been doing for the past hour.

  Beside her laptop, her recorder sits, red light blinking, and Kara is tempted to run it again, listen to the whole interview one more time to try and find the right words for this. The article is important for Kate, for Batwoman, and for so many people– it could be huge, it could be a great thing, inspiring. But only if Kara gets it right; there’ll be no do-over for this.

  Sure, the main purpose of the interview is for Kate to come out, but they didn’t just talk about that. The lines got blurred. Kate told her about West Point and Sophie, about waiting in her bike for Sophie to come out of the building, a thousand plans for the future already bubbling in her mind, never once thinking about Sophie’s side of things. I was being selfish, she had told Kara, I’m still being selfish, I think. Her voice had been horribly sad and Kara thinks complicated had been both an understatement and exaggeration on the state of things. 

  In turn, Kara had thought it was only fair for her to tell her about Lena and all the snowball of tragedies that brought on, her own voice stilted and cracking at the edges. About Myriad and Andrea and how confusing everything had become at the end.

  Halfway through, though, Luke had texted, calling Kate away to deal with someone they had called Killer Croc over the phone. Kate had been apologetic and guilty, but– here’s the thing, Kara truly gets it. She had told her so, too. Supergirl had had to exit stage left many times over the years.

  It’s nice, she thinks, not to have to lie about that.

  And now, here Kara is, fretting over how to even start the article, how to be truthful to Kate’s story, live up to the trust she’s placing on her. 

  She wonders what it means that she’s worrying so much.

  *

  Thank you, Kate texts her while Kara is still reeling from the outpouring of reactions the article has sparked, and she can’t help grinning madly at her phone, heart running a marathon around her ribs.

  “You look happy,” Nia tells her much later when they’re patrolling together to avoid the DEO and Lex and his lies, “do you want to know what I dreamt about last night?”

  “Shoot,” says Kara, unbothered by her remark.

  “There was a field of wildflowers,” she pauses at the edge of the roof, frowning in concentration, “and a bat was flying high even though the sun was shining very bright in the sky. Do you know what it means?”

  Her chest aches hopefully. Kara thinks she’s beginning to understand now. “I might have an idea.”

  “The sun usually has to do with you,” Nia shrugs, “but I was thinking the bat might have to do with that friend of yours from Gotham. That’s all I got though, sorry.”

  “That’s okay,” Kara smiles, knocking her shoulders with Nia’s in comfort, letting her know it’s alright not to know everything, she’s still learning how to interpret her dreams, after all. “I like a little mystery.”

  Nia blinks. “You really do look happy,” grins, “I’m glad.”

  *

  The months spent in the Vanishing Point are both sharp and fuzzy in her memory. Some days they feel like minutes spent in someplace far away, in suspended animation, a blink compared to the enormity of their task. In others, though, lingering grief turns them into years of stretched out nothingness, a lifetime of blank repetitions.

  Somehow, it always feels like a world of its own– nearly enough to make Kara wonder if it hadn't all been a dreadful nightmare, a delusion from the anti-matter wave.

  But then, she looks at Kate now and it's so painfully familiar, those terrible months have to be real. She remembers Kate training endlessly in the shadows, tiring herself out for days on end, working until she would collapse in a corner somewhere to sleep fitfully, and she remembers curling at her side and feeling a little less alone, red cape still clutched tightly in her fingers.

  When she closes her eyes, she can still hear their whispered conversations, half plans and half rants, too desperate and sad to be anywhere useful. Mostly, it was only to keep the silence at bay.

  To be reminded there was at least one other person in the whole universe.

  Anyway.

  Somedays the Vanishing Point feels very far away, but Kate is always close, sharp in focus, a streak of red in the dull grey landscape.

  Kara resolutely does not think about those months, accepting the shifts in dynamic as only natural, a fast forward of more pleasant times.

  *

  “Alex,” Kara says quietly, huddling closer to her pillow, phone pressed to her ear and a hundred and two thoughts swimming in her head. No, that’s not right, it’s just one, just the one thought about just the one person. 

  Across the line, she hears her sister yawn. “Yeah? Everything alright?”

  “Yes. No. I don’t know,” she closes her eyes, trying to keep everything contained, all the cards laid orderly on the table. Facts, questions, answers– if she goes over it like one of her stories, then it’s easier to figure it out, to see the bigger picture from the puzzle. Or maybe it’s not that Kara can’t finish the puzzle, it’s just that she owes it to Kate to make sure it really fits the image on the box. She exhales and in the same breath, asks, “how do you know you’re in love?”

  “What?” Alex’s frown it’s clear even through the phone, the sounds of the rustling of covers probably meaning she’s sitting up in bed. A low murmur, muffled; Kelly is there, too, then. A door opening and closing. “What’s going on?”

  “How do I know it’s love?” Kara rephrases her question, tries to shift the pieces so it’s easier to make anything out, “I liked James and Carter and Ioved Mon-El, and I think I could’ve fallen in love with Lena– but I didn’t– it’s easier to realize how I felt later, after things were already sorted out. I need to know– how do I know it’s love now?”

  Before I go and say something I don’t mean, before I make a mess of things, before I risk the best thing that’s happened all year, before I hurt someone who’s been hurt too much already.

  Alex pauses. “Did you just say you were in love with Lena?”

  “I said I could have fallen in love with Lena,” she corrects, biting the inside of her cheek, “things– changed. The moment passed, the timing isn’t right anymore.”

  I met someone else, she doesn't add.

  “Yeah, it’s probably– sorry,” Alex sounds rattled, and Kara supposes that’s fair; this is all a lot to dump on someone without warning. “I’m just– is this you coming out?”

  Kara smiles, not necessarily nervous, but still a bit anxious. Did she wait too long to do this? Things were different in Krypton and by the time Kara realized she actually needed to come out and say something, it never felt like the right time. And then Alex came out and it felt– she doesn’t know. Maybe she is nervous after all. “In part, yes. Sorry, I should probably have done this in person.”

  “So you are…” Alex trails off, probably not wanting to assume anything. She’s considerate like that.

  “Bisexual,” Kara says, testing out the word. Yeah, it feels right, saying it out loud. As if that makes it properly real– no, official. Kara Danvers is bisexual. Supergirl is bisexual. “I’m sorry I never said anything sooner, maybe if I had, it would’ve been easier for you, but–”

  “Don’t– there’s nothing to apologize for,” Alex says softly, gently, “everyone has their own time. Thank you for trusting me with this.”

  Kara wonders if this is what Alex had wanted to hear when she first came out. Yeah, Kara really could have handled that one better. “Thank you," she swallows, breathes, “you're the best sister in the world, did you know?”

  There's a quiet huff that Kara recognizes as Alex breathing out a laugh. “I love you too,” she pauses for a second, “so now that we got that out of the way, what's really going on? Is this about Kate?”

  Something cold weights on her gut and Kara chokes on nothing. “Is it that obvious?”

  Am I that obvious?

  “Relax,” now there’s definitely the sound of Alex snickering, “I just know you, I don’t think she’s noticed it yet.”

  Boldened by the rush of relief talking about it brings her, Kara takes a deep breath. “I have feelings for her, I just don’t know if it’s love,” then, she adds quieter, hesitant as if this was the real secret all along, “I really want it to be love.”

  “You know,” Alex begins, “mom used to say you like someone because and love them despite of.”

  “That sounds like she was quoting something,” Kara replies, almost sullenly, “what does it even mean?”

  “She probably was, yeah, but it’s not wrong– it’s easy to like someone because of their qualities, but loving someone means staying despite their flaws. It means knowing all the stuff that annoys you about them, that you don’t necessarily like, and choosing to be there anyway. I like Kelly because she’s beautiful and ridiculously smart, and I love her despite her being a bit of a know-it-all.”

  “Kate’s so beautiful, and smart, and so, so brave,” Kara says, rolling on her bed so she feels less like she’s reciting a prayer, “I like that about her. I like that she’s trying to keep her city safe and still save her sister. I even like how she’s always smirking like she knows something no one does. I like how she cares and how determined she is. I like how she never gives up.”

  Alex sounds like she’s still smiling. “And?”

  “And I don’t know,” Kara whines, plainly whines, covering her face with her arm.

  “I think you do,” Alex counters, mild and steady, “but for the record, you seem a hell of a lot happier now that she’s around.”

  Her conversation with Nia on the roof claws its way to the forefront of her mind and Kara blushes even though no one is there. Nonsensically, she feels sort of guilty about it. As if she shouldn’t get to be this happy when so much is still going on, half-afraid the universe will come collect its due later– so far, her happiness has always been more or less on borrowed time.

  “I have– I need to think about this,” she finally settles, “thanks for listening.”

  “I hope I’ve helped a little,” says Alex, yawning, “will you be okay?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” glancing out her window, Kara can see the stars, too bright to be swallowed by the city lights, “go back to sleep. And tell Kelly I say hi.”

  Alex is probably rolling her eyes. “See you tomorrow, try and get some sleep too, alright?”

  Sleep does claim her sooner rather than later, and Kara drifts off to dream about a field of wildflowers, two hands reaching for each other, the sun shining warmly over their skin, and Kate’s smile softer than the grass under their feet.

  *

  Movie night is a fairly regular occurrence, especially after the Crisis, and there’s honestly no telling who might show up.

  Tonight, besides Alex, Brainy, Nia, and Kelly, a lot more people are crowded inside Kara’s living room. Barry, Cisco, Sara, and Ray are all spread out on the couches and armchairs, swapping tales of their latest adventures and bitching about their hurdles.

  It’s– nice. More than nice. Better.

  And now, of course–

  “Hey, I come bearing gifts,” Kate grins, holding up a six-pack of beers in each hand, and Kara is taken aback by how unfairly good she looks under the fluorescent lights of her building’s hallway, sharp and bold in her leather jacket, and for a second, Kara stays there, rooted to the spot while her brain reboots. 

  Sara and Cisco push her out of the way first. “Thank you,” Cisco mouths happily as they run off with the booze, disappearing back into the living room.

  “Hi, sorry,” Kara shakes herself into moving, waving Kate in with a smile, “come in, we’re watching The Wizard of Oz tonight. It was Barry’s turn to pick, so. I lucked out, I guess.”

  “That’s your favorite movie, right?” Kate follows her into the fray, throwing a half-hearted greeting to the room before sitting on the floor beside Kara in the conveniently only open seat left. Well, not only, she could have chosen anywhere else in the carpet to seat, after all, but it would be sort of impolite– okay, yeah, this is probably what Alex means about Kara overthinking things. 

  “Yup,” Kara nods, passing Barry the remote, “I know all the songs by heart at this point, really. And the dialogues. Maybe. I might have been in my high school rendition of the musical too.”

  Kate’s eyebrows rise and she stretches her legs, crossing them at the ankle, and Kara forces herself not to track the movement with her eyes. “I would’ve paid a lot of money to see that, please tell me someone recorded the whole thing.”

  “Don’t laugh!” She hits her arm lightly, earning said a huff of said laughter, and hugs the popcorn bowl closer, “you can’t make fun of me, I’m holding the popcorn hostage now.”

  “I’m not! I think it’s cute– actually, it’s adorable,” Kate is grinning, eyes glittering with humor, with mischief, with something, “so will you release the popcorn or is this going to escalate to a hostage negotiation?”

  “I haven’t heard any negotiating yet,” Kara says haughtily, holding the bowl out of reach.

  If possible, Kate’s grin grows wider, sharper. Prettier. Deadlier. “I guess I’ll just have to try harder to convince you.”

  It knocks the breath out of her lungs, something hungry brewing somewhere down her chest, and Kara needs to say something soon before it gets awkward, needs to get her shit together and stop melting every time Kate maybe-flirts with her. This doesn’t have to mean anything. This is just how Kate is. She smirks and teases and, and whatever, but it doesn’t have any deeper meaning. There’s no need for Kara or Alex for that matter, to read anything into it.

  And she really, really needs to stop having a meltdown over it.

  As it is, she is accidentally saved by Sara, who throws popcorn at them with a half-hearted shush.

  Barry, on the other hand, is not helpful at all when he adds, “yeah, quit flirting so loud, the movie’s starting.”

  Now Kara is frigging blushing, she knows she must be because her cheeks feel hot and heat is crawling up her neck, but Kate only laughs, leaning over her to rescue the popcorn bowl from Kara’s numb fingers with a, a playful wink.

  Rao, tonight is going to be the death of her.

  Because now that Kara is aware of her feelings, it’s like she’s opened a door she doesn’t know how to close again. Someone has turned off the lights and Kara sneaks a look at Kate, and she is so close, Kara can’t bring herself to look away, too busy tracing her profile, following the lines of her tattoos down her collarbone, disappearing under her shirt, and something is shifting on her chest like her ribcage is cracking open and all these emotions are pouring out– she looks at Kate and she wants and wants and wants, and it all feels rooted down to her bones, so deep down inside her being that it would bleed her dry to try and pluck them out like wildflowers.

  It feels so much it hurts.

  Can you be addicted to something you never tasted?

  Is this how love aches?

  I shall take the heart, the Tin Woodsman is saying on the screen, and Kara forces herself to look away. It doesn’t matter, anyway, Kate’s image is burned in the back of her eyelids, filling the dark with leather jackets and dangerous smiles.

  *

  “You should tell her,” Alex says, “you really should tell her how you feel.”

  It’s a very rehearsed argument at this point and Kara is tired of explaining there’s little room in Kate’s life, in Kate’s heart, that isn’t Gotham, or Beth, or Sophie. She doesn’t want to be another Reagan. She’d rather wait in silence and, well, hope, than rush in and ruin everything.

  Things are fine now, they’re friends, and Kara genuinely loves being her friend, why should she put that in jeopardy? Friendship isn’t less than a romance. It can be enough; she can be content.

  “It’s not the same as happy, though, is it?” Alex always replies, mouth in a thin line. “Won’t you trust me on this? I’ve seen how she looks at you.”

  Sometimes, she wishes Alex wouldn’t say things like that.

  “You won’t ever be one hundred percent sure, Kara,” she adds, “it’s a leap of faith– you gotta jump and trust she’s going to catch you.”

  Maybe that’s the problem, Kara is too used to be the one doing the catching.

  *

  She’s fine, this is fine, it’s all fine.

  *

  “You’re pining,” Barry tells her, “it’s a little sad to watch– not that I’m one to talk, but. Yeah, it’s kinda sad, you should tell her how you feel.”

  *

  Oliver’s memorial has nothing to say on this matter.

  *

  Not that Oliver would know what to say– he’d probably tell her to talk to Barry about it.

  *

  “Tell her how you feel, oh my god,” Barry groans, draining the last of his milkshake, “seriously, please, just go over to Gotham and confess your undying love, Kate’s been grumpier than usual– she growled at me to get out of her city, Kara. Growled. And I didn’t even want to be there. Just tell her how you feel so I don’t have to fear for my life every time the Trickster decides to wander out of Central City.”

  *

  Somehow Kate owning a gay club comes as less of a surprise than one would think. Sure, she’s got the vigilante gig at night and keeping Wayne Tower in one piece seems to be trouble enough, but Kara can’t think of anything Kate can’t do if she puts her mind to it.

  Especially if it’s out of spite.

  “I could punch that guy for you,” Kara offers after Kate finishes the story, anger simmering under the surface only mitigated by Kate’s own petty vengeance, “seriously, one hit and he’d be out like a light.”

  Kate laughs. The music is loud here but it still somehow rings clearer than anything. “Thanks, but I need him awake to see this place.”

  “Pity, I’m pretty sure punching bigots is in my job description by now,” she shrugs, not-so-fake disappointed. They’re in one of the booths, secluded away from most of the crowd, alone after the others left for the dancefloor; it might have been an excuse, although there’s not enough information for her to be totally sure. “So,” she says, sipping her drink unconcernedly, “Barry said you were in a bad mood last week.”

  To be fair, Kate does look regretful at the reminder, pouring herself another shot. “Yeah, I should probably apologize to him later,” they both look at the crowd, searching for Barry and sharing a laugh at his uncoordinated moves. “Man, you’d think he’d be better at dancing, all things considered.”

  “Maybe it’s a good thing nazis from another dimension crashed his wedding– can you imagine him trying to waltz?”

  “That,” Kate keeps laughing, head tilting back, and Kara watches the curve of her neck, wishes to cover it with kisses until she’s shivering under her lips. “Sounds like a story I want to hear later.”

  She shakes her head. “It’s not a very fun story, really, I shouldn’t have joked,” she hurries to add, “but I did have time to sing before the shoot-out!”

  “Of course you can sing,” Kate huffs, leaning back on her seat, shakes her head, and the way she’s looking at Kara, it’s all a bit too much, it leaves her unsteady, drunk like the alcohol didn’t. It barely registers what an odd thing that is to fixate on. When she continues, it’s just a murmur, probably not meant for Kara to hear, “why wouldn’t you? You’re perfect.”

  Perhaps she should have taken it as a compliment or nothing at all since she wasn’t meant to hear anyway, but Kara still feels vaguely betrayed. Thinking someone is perfect only means you don’t know them at all and she had thought– being hopelessly hopeful, she thought Kate knew her deeper than that, more honest than that, past Supergirl and Kara Danvers down to whatever is left under both.

  “I’m not perfect,” the need to point out is greater than the disappointment swirling in her gut.

  “Oh, no, I know that,” Kate waves her off, leaning back in on her elbows, glass half-empty on her fingers, glinting in the colorful lights, and she just looks so, so painfully beautiful, “you can be self-righteous sometimes and you trust way too easily. You’re too optimistic and also, when you nap, you drool. I know you’re not perfectly perfect, you’re just…” she gestures in her vague direction, making a face and downing the rest of her drink.

  And Kara. She lets the words sink in and thinks oh.

  She thinks oh and she hears Alex’s words on her head, voice wavering into Eliza’s even though she never heard Eliza say that, and she knows with blinding clarity that this cannot be a dream because Kara’s never been more awake in her whole life.

  If anything, it’s as if she’s finally, finally, awake.

  “You brood a lot,” she hears herself saying, “and you can be a little self-centered, and you can be a little arrogant, too.”

  Kate has set her glass down and she’s now staring at Kara like she’s trying to solve a particularly difficult puzzle, “ouch,” she fakes a wince distractedly, “harsh, but you’re not denying the drooling, I see.”

  “Kate,” Kara says, heart trembling in her chest, and maybe this is why Kate is the Paragon of Courage– she feels a lot braver when she’s with her; it’s easy to fall and trust she’ll catch her. “Kate, I could give you infinite reasons why I like you, and I love you despite all I said. I think I could love you despite anything, really, and I’ve been loving you despite that, too.”

  For one terrifying second, Kate says nothing, frozen into perfect stillness, but then she’s rounding the table to stop in front of Kara, looking down at her as if she’s watching the whole universe unfold, openly vulnerable, as if she can’t quite believe this is real, and Kara wants and wants and wants.

  And when Kate finally leans down, she’s already meeting her halfway.

  Her lips are soft and her hands are in Kara’s hair, and Kara was right, Kate’s skin is blessedly cool against her own feverish touch, and the world ends and begins in the inches between them they steal with each new kiss.

  It’s terrifyingly addicting.

  People are all made of stardust, Kara even more so, maybe that’s why for her, Kate feels an awful lot like coming home.

  “Kara,” Kate whispers her name against her lips like a prayer, and her eyes are still shut even as she presses her forehead against Kara’s, “I love you, I do, but I really need you to be sure. Are you sure?”

  Are you sure you can love me, she hears, unsaid.

  “I’m sure,” Kara answers, kissing her softly, a fleeting press of lips, just because she can, and then another, just because prayers are never recited only once, and one more because neither should promises, not if you intend to keep them, “I love you, that’s all.”

  Kate smiles.

  It’s more beautiful than any sun.

  “That’s all,” she echoes, and it’s as simple as that, “I love you,”  she says and holds Kara like she’s a delicate thing, even as her fingers dig wonderfully into her hips.

  In the end, Kara thinks she’ll take the heart too, and with Kate pressing yet another kiss, her mind clears, and she thinks nothing at all.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

So 5x18...

...Well hot d*mn.

Man when Supergirl fires on all cylinders...HOO BOY.

Case in point: *gestures to all of 5x18*

To be clear: I liked this one.

A WHOLE LOT.

Not that I disliked 5x17, necessarily. It’s just that 5x18 was more... Entertaining? ...I dunno. I dunno how to explain it.

...Okay yes I do and that explanation is: Someone remarked on Kara’s use of language and Kara overcompensated on the ‘NOooOOooOO I’m totally 100% normal!’ AND there was a musical quote AND it was WHILE TEAMING UP WITH ALEX TO FOLLOW A LEAD.

But I’m getting ahead of myself let’s backtrack...

TO THE TOWER! WITH ALEX! NIA! KARA! AND M’GAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!

June Foray voice: WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY FOREVER?!?!?!

I know I’m not the first person to make that reference but it’s always fitting and, for real, recurring character status WHEN. (I mean. Obviously I would prefer series regular but that feels like a big ask considering that all future TV production is...uh. Ah. Erm....

...Up in the air. At the moment.)

And then we check in with the Luthors and Non Nocere isn’t working???

I am shocked! Shocked, I say!

And then we’ve got Obsidian doing something ill-advised which is basically the company’s MO at this point but KELLY AND WILLIAM ARE ON THE CASE REGARDLESS.

(So that’s kinda the one thing I’m sad about re: the Crisis reset; Andrea’s character development. But she’s sticking around for next season so I’m not too upset that she remains...kinda...one note for now.)

And THEN the library scene. 

It was so gooooood.

Then Leviathan and okay. Alright. Okay. Huge points in this episode’s favor: Rama Khan feels like a far more significant threat. And I feel like 80% of that is the fact that they just let him wear normal clothes. Thank you, show. Thank. You.

Also the rock effects were way better in this episode because they weren’t footing the bill for a giant crossover episode this time around

I am a little confused, though, by what has and has not happened with regards to Rama Khan on Earth Prime. Did the pre-Crisis stuff...happen? The dialogue...kinda made it hard to decide one way or the other. ‘He hasn’t been seen on this Earth for 100s of years’ but then also, ‘a chilly place you know quite well.’ So...he...did go to the Fortress. And fight Kara? But...all that stuff before Crisis...???

...Not gonna bother with that right now.

POINT IS...Leviathan is finally like...invested in killing Supergirl* and menacing in a very real way which both raises the stakes and makes it personal and that’s way more interesting than ‘nebulous evil organization that must be stopped.’

*I know they kinda sorta already did the whole, ‘let’s kill the Kryptonian!’ and invaded the Fortress but I don’t know what to tell ya, it was just lackluster.

J’ONN AND M’GAAAAAANNNNN

I am firmly in camp: I don’t care if they’re never green again I love seeing them in the super suits with their human faces IT’S GREAT.

Love that Nia’s snoring interrupts the moment.

Also love the deck of Rama Khan playing cards, that must’ve been a fun project for the graphic designers.

Then we’ve got William and Kara at CatCo and it’s baked goods! A hilarious line delivery by Staz! A ridiculous fabrication involving a shy, violent cat!

...Now I want Alex to actually own a shy, violent cat!

“Cats love me, for some reason.” “Of course they do.”

Side note: Love Kara’s blazer.

And then it’s ALIEEEEEENS TO THE RESCUE!

WHAT A TEAM UP, FOLKS.

We love to see it.

The interrogation scene is good n’ tense and ramps up to a very impressive showdown in the DEO (but BEFORE the sparks really start flying we get that rad shot of Kara leaping through the window and doing the superhero landing and it’s just

Perfection.)

Also perfect? Lex playing a game of transmatter pickle with the prisoners.

Then we jump back to the DEO where things are not going well!

Like, really really bad! 

But J’onn and M’gann save the day! If not the building!

RIP DEO. 2016-2020

Obituary: The DEO headquarters is survived by its elder sibling, the DEO desert base.

Look none of the favs work there anymore save for Kara and Brainy and they’re both gonna be better off working freelance for J’onn but I do expect Brainy to at least pick up some additional cash by working as a Lyft driver next season.

Me, watching the characters struggle to make it in the gig economy: I feel so seen.

The final portion of the episode is just ALL ACTING and I must say...good stuff.

Like. This cast, man. They take the plot points I’ve been ‘meh’ about all season and they turn in some stellar performances and suddenly I’m like STANDING OVATION, CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHERE THIS GOES.

Also, reason #342 I love Jon Cryer’s Lex: that scene with Lena.

Terrifying.

Full disclosure: I went in to this episode fully prepared to be really annoyed with whatever was going to happen with Lena and I still don’t...love the trajectory of this season, being so tied up in her personal drama but. 

But.

Katie McGrath’s performance...went an awful long way here. In making this...not as bad as it could have been.

Like tearfully admitting she was hurt? And that hurt was the basis of all the nonsense she pulled? Finally owning up to the fact that this was never truly about the greater good but that it was all rooted in some personal issues and OUTRIGHT STATING SHE WAS BEHAVING LIKE A VILLAIN????

I am. Extremely impressed.

EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE THOUGH: Kara remaining distant both physically and emotionally throughout that scene! Not in like, a cold uncaring way, but in a, ‘I have emotions and I have a right to feel them and set boundaries in regards to my trusting you right now given all that has transpired’ kind of way.

GOOD. YES. GOOD.

(Lex’s outburst has that kind of same Nice Guy undertone--albeit more pronounced and rage-y--as Lena’s in the Fortress. Like, ‘I supported you and you still rejected my plot to take over the world’ and ‘I was kind to you and you still messed up my mind control’ which...I dunno I might just be digging in too deep here in order to further justify the character turn but I think Cryer’s performance regardless is a really sobering wake up call for Lena, different than Lex stuff we’ve seen before. It’s close and intense and uncomfortable in a way that really sells the motivation.)

“You’re a monster...but that doesn’t mean I have to be one too.”

Wow. Might be...the first time I’ve liked Lena all season.

...whispers: might be the first time I’ve liked her ever at all

For real: credit where it’s due, that was an excellent line read.

*insert applause here*

CUT TO ADORABLE J’ONN AND M’GANN MOMENT 

D’aaaawwwwwwwwww

But, look, it’s a little undermined by the fact that they both gotta try and embrace in those bulky super suits, I’m sorry, it’s true

...Maybe it’s more endearing that way?

HEY remember how I foolishly assumed that the now-unemployed Alex would simply continue to work with J’onn in an investigative capacity and, ya know, NOT jump straight back into costumed badassery? 

HA. HAHA HAHAAAA.

Those leaked set photos make sense now.

OH NO, WILLIAM!

Real glad Staz confirmed he’s returning. Otherwise I would not be able to DEAL WITH THE STRESS.

I already talked a little bit about the loft scene but some additional points! Beautiful lighting. Wonderful score. Excellent performances all around.

A truly great end to a truly great episode.

Like, it makes me retroactively sad, that we’re only getting 5x19, as opposed to 5x19 and 5x20 because I wish that the crew/writers/actors had a little more space to let all of this good work they’ve done settle and breathe. 

(But also, it was good that they stopped production, from a safety standpoint, so. Can’t be too upset.)

And, regardless of how the next episode goes down (b/c I’m gonna be real, SG always does really great set-ups for their season finales and then kinda...rushes to the finish line and that can only be further exacerbated in this particular case) I’m just really impressed with this effort here.  

...but also LET’S TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE SOME WILD GUESSES. Specifically, what is Alex’s vigilante name gonna be??? 

...

Alright I generally try to avoid addressing specific fandom complaints in these things b/c I generally try to avoid the fandom itself but of course some stuff has already leaked through all of my blocks/muting so:

‘Lena didn’t apologize!’ The words ‘I’m sorry’ were not said, sure, but 1.) season’s not over and 2.) for Lena, admitting she was wrong is huge. HUUUUUUUGE. It’s solid character growth and I really wish various subsets of fandom would recognize that it’s not fun, when fans hold on to negative stuff from characters’ past and refuse to acknowledge that the characters have changed.

‘Brainy should have seen this coming!’ This one is kind of more down to personal preference I guess but I feel like they’ve established that Brainy’s got a bit of a blindspot due to his feelings about his friends, so I don’t take this as a knock against his intelligence so much as him being stretched fairly thin because he’s playing all sides, and worried about the people he loves. YMMV, though. 

All the ‘fix-it’ stuff re: the last scene, by making Kara immediately forgive Lena. Lose me with that nonsense, bleh. 

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Can I ask you a difficult question? Do you think that after non noncere(I said is call nonsense for how stupid tgat plot was), Lena need to be redeemed? And how you do it? Do you think that Lena should go to prison?

Personally, I do think Lena should face some kind of punishment, regardless of the real world legal theory surrounding intent versus accomplishment. In my mind, the point of no return was Lena pushing the go button on Myriad. Regardless of how the show minimized that moment against the Rama Khan distraction and their Malefic ass-pull, Lena executed a plan that would have eradicated free will. 

The fact she was thwarted means nothing without a corresponding realization on her end that her plan was flawed and inherently evil. Without that change of heart, there's nothing to to say she won't try again and again until something finally sticks.So how I would do it? Honestly... Non Nocere was a bad creative choice overall. 

(more under the cut)

I still maintain that Non Nocere goes against Lena's established character as a whole, both in the ethics of her intent and her processes, but more importantly-- the writers simply do not have the vehicle to let Lena go as far as she has, and then recover from the descent in a way that does her journey justice.The writers had the perfect set up for an emotionally charged season following the S4 finale, and the S5 premiere seemed to set us up perfectly for it, so I just don't understand where they got this idea that Lena needed to flirt with villainy in order for her heartbreak to be significant. In fact, I'll go ahead and argue that the Non Nocere mess detracts from the impact of Kara's betrayal by muddying the water of who-hurt-who. By introducing this secret villainy in Lena, the writers have shifted Kara's narrative from "how could Lena ever forgive me?" to "how far am I willing to let Lena go before I have to do the unthinkable?", which to me feels like the cruelest bait-and-switch I've ever been handed. 

Where this season should have been about Kara making amends, it will now need to shift to Lena making amends.

(And yes, I could see prison as a deserved punishment if the writers had the skill for it, or if there was a need to write Lena out for a bit due to actor availability-- which as far as I know is not the case. In terms of what we might actually see on the show, Lena's indentured service to the DEO is more plausible.)

If I were the one writing this season, I would have run with Lena's hidden anger, but ditched Non Nocere. I'd've let Lena put on a fake smile and pretend everything is okay because she doesn't trust Kara (or the superfriends) to receive her anger and distrust. It could still eventually lead to the superfriends having misgivings about Lena's goodness (lies and cagey avoidance can only continue so long before suspicion arises), and then follow up with a heartbreaking reveal that no, Lena doesn't trust the world's most unstoppable hero to accept her resentment, especially with the unmitigated power of an extrajudicial paramilitary organization behind her.TL;DR-- Non Nocere and Lena's dance with villainy is stupid because the writers have been playing "is she evil/is she not" with her character for years, only to make Lena good, gooder, and most good, and now have to walk back other characters just to make it stick. It would have been far more compelling to watch 22 episodes of our never-done-wrong hero come to terms with her own personal fallibility, and see Kara work hard to make amends for the hurt and mistrust her mistakes have put between herself and her best friend.

[ruffiorocks]

Lena and Jonn should talk!

You know what I'd like to see in season 5? I want Lena to have a one on one conversation with Jonn. If Jonn can be a space dad to Kara, Alex and Winn and have bro time with Mon El then there shouldn't be any reason why he couldn't do the same for Lena.

We've seen Lena build relationships with Kara, Alex, James even Winn to a point. But she's going to be so pissed at Kara, so Kara isn't the best one for her to be around right now. By extension she will most likely feel hurt and pissed at Alex, James and Brainy, Probably Nia too, but they've barely interacted.

Now we saw Alex start to be a lot more Team Lena and sympathetic to her while she was under the mind wipe, but that may change now that she knows who Kara is again. So any chat with Lena will ultimately still be Team Kara all the way no matter what and we've seen what a short fuse Alex can have.

Brainy is kind of the same but he would probably be more sympathetic to Lena. If Lena goes off the deep end Brainy is a good one for her to talk to since he's been there himself.

James is leaving and quite frankly Lena shouldn't be discussing these issues with the ex that lied to her. No I dont mean him not telling her Kara's secret, that wasn't his to tell. I mean the whole knowing it was Kara who asked him to break into L Corp (which he did) then dropping Supergirl in it to gain points with Lena, he knew she would be pissed at Supergirl but was happy to watch her continue to be besties with Kara. It's so messed up! Oh then there was the whole 'im not investigating my girlfriend, only for him to change his tune immediately after she dumped him. The disrespect to her as his boss, making her company and her by extension look associated with the COL. I could go on but I won't. He isn't the one she should be working things through with.

I love the idea of Lena getting therapy, but Kelly isn't the one to do it. First off because she would have to be in on the secret and I swear to RAO if Kelly finds out before Kara even finds out that Lena knows I will riot! Then there's the fact that Kelly is James' sister, you do NOT go to your ex's sister for therapy. She's also going to be dating Alex so that's another awkward position and she's friends with Kara who is also Alex's sister and the one Lena has the issue with. Too many conflicts of interest there.

No , I want her to talk to Jonn! Why you ask? Because Jonn ISN'T perfect and has done bad things. If it comes out that Lena killed Lex then Jonn should be able to understand since he killed Manchester. I mean technically what Jonn did was worse in a way, Lex would have always been a threat and was an evil psychopath but Manchester was a heartbroken sane man who went off the deep end but could have been contained and should have been.

I need the characters (and the fans) to start acknowledging that the heroes have killed people/aliens in the past and aren't perfect. The characters and the fans often forget these things.

Jonn is also no stranger to being pissed at someone and feeling betrayed. Anyone remember when M'gann gave her blood to save Jonn? Even when she knew it wasn't the best plan and would expose her? She saved Jonn's life but as soon as he realized she was a White Martian he had her locked up which he had absolutely no right to do. Meghan was a refugee, she had a job, never caused any issues and saved the ungrateful sods life. But it didn't matter to Jonn, he locked her up and had to be convinced into letting this Innocent woman who saved his ass go. Jonn judged her because of what she was. Not unlike Kara when she realized Mon El was a Daxamite.

Jonn is likely to be able to have a conversation with Lena without it decended into anger or an argument like it probably would with Kara or Alex.

Jonn can relate to having a dark side, he locked up M'gann, he killed Manchester when there was no reason to and he had to be talked out of killing a White Martian by Kara and Alex.

Jonn also once kept Kryptonite at the DEO without any regard for Kara or Kal El and thats why Kal wouldn't work with him. Jonn had to be convinced into giving Kal the supply they had. (stupid idea since the last threats had been Kryptonians and the next one would be too). Jonn also had a Kryptonite knife he 'really liked' and he put Kara in Kryptonite cuffs so she couldn't stop him killing the White Martian. At least Lena's Kryptonite was never meant to be used on anyone other than Reign.

Jonn has a dark side and is a warrior, he knows this. This is why he failed to follow in his father's foot steps on the path of peace. Jonn is the perfect guy to go and talk to Lena. He's also several centuries years old so he has a lot more life experience and patience. He should have been the parental figure Lena went to, but I fear her trust will be hard to win back.

Jonn and Lena having some one on one time. Jonn is psychic to, so that could come in handy, I dont mean him reading her mind without consent, he just seems to know things sometimes. Jonn is the perfect one to understand Lena's trust issues, her dark side, her willingness to get things done even if there are going to be consequences. The fear of some aliens, Jonn fears and has prejudice against white Martians. Whether he's right or wrong doesn't matter, he has them and Lena has had and does have fears of alien powers, which is justifiable. Jonn is willing to kill the same as Lena is.

So give me Jonn and Lena having a talk. Give me Jonn being a space dad to Lena to, he knows her, has worked with her and is friends with her. No reason why he shouldn't be able to talk to her. Alex is too hot headed, Kara will just make excuses pissing Lena off more, Brainy will try and justify and probably come up with senarios to fix it, Lena probably wouldn't lose it with Brainy but she would kick him out.

So yeah Jonn and Lena time please!!

[mattzerella-sticks]

#ShipWars by mattzerella-sticks (ao3)

Zatanna Zatara expected date night with Kara would be uneventful. Chat about their days, enjoy some delicious treats at Sweet Justice, and soak up as much love as she could from her girlfriend like Kara does with the sun. However all these expectations explode into glitter when they run into Oliver Queen and his boyfriend, Carter. The boys chose Sweet Justice as their destination for date night, too.

Can Zatanna and Oliver work through a simple ceasefire, or will their competitive natures overtake their dates?

Zatanna hooked her arm comfortably in the crook of Kara’s elbow, leaning into her as the chill winds of early winter breezed past. She felt a shiver roll through her all while her girlfriend chuckled.

“Y’know,” Kara said, “you’d be less cold if you wore an actual jacket.”

Scoffing, Zatanna cuddled further into Kara’s warmth. “Please,” she said, “it might not be functional but it’s the height of fashion! I should know, I’m great friends with the designer.” Zatanna ran a hand down her jacket, the purple fabric shimmering under the street lamps. “Besides,” she continued, “you love it when I use you as my personal heater.”

“I like it when you’re close to me,” Kara rolled her eyes, “don’t confuse the two.”

“You’re the one who absorbs sunlight like a solar panel, not me.”

Zatanna carried on, then, filling Kara in on her day. They’ve been too busy to meet up until now for their date. Schedules packed despite the tempting laziness a Saturday offered. Kara stuck helping her cousin as his bodyguard. Not to aid him in crises, instead relegated to distracting Hal Jordan long enough for Clark to make his escape.

“Why doesn’t he just tell Hal he’s not interested?” Zatanna asked when Kara finished explaining how Hal tried convincing Kara to put in a good word for him with tickets to Homecoming.

Kara smirked. “Because he loves the attention, even though he won’t admit it. If Hal cooled it a bit with the hero worship I think Clark would take him seriously… if he can survive Star Sapphire, that is.” They laughed, imagining Carol and her violet ring chasing Clark around the city.

Zatanna’s day wasn’t as irritating as Kara’s, thankfully. Except with her dad not trapped in meetings or rehearsal meant double the stress. John Zatara used his free day to push Zatanna past her magical limits that nearly broke her wand in the process. “If I didn’t notice the clock I wouldn’t have had time to get ready for tonight,” she sighed, “I’d be with him practicing palindromes until morning!”

“Palindromes?”

“Sentences that mean the same thing forwards and backwards,” Zatanna said, “he thinks that the better I am with them the quicker I can think on my feet in case something unexpected happens in an act. Or… in our case, fighting evil. Thankfully he understands how important my social life is…” She grinned, pecking Kara’s cheek. “He says hi, by the way, and expects me home by ten.”

Kara pulled Zatanna closer. “Well, there goes my plans to take you to the Lazarus Pit for a special midnight concert.”

“I know for a fact they’re closed tonight for renovations after someone moshed too hard in their pits.” Sheepishly rubbing her neck, Kara fought against the blush climbing across her face. Zatanna pressed another kiss to Kara’s cheek, smiling against the skin there.

“Not my fault the Black Canaries are awesome ,” she said, glancing down at Zatanna with an arched brow, “Why were you even checking in the first place?”

“Because I’m not taking any chances like last time.”

It was one of their first dates. They were fighting against robots from a recently ungrounded Lena Luthor, and Kara bet she could beat more of them. Winner chose where they went out on Friday. Zatanna wanted to win and finally show Kara how fantastic a spa could be. Except Kara won by snatching the controller from Lena’s hands and pressing the self-destruct button. She was played , and forced to attend a deafening performance from a Scottish screamer. While watching Kara in her element was delightful, Zatanna’s hearing suffered and she missed a handful of cues for her and her father’s act the following day. Now she checked the club’s social pages on date nights to ensure Kara wouldn’t try dragging her to another show.

“Fine,” Kara sighed, “I guess we’ll have to stick with Sweet Justice, then. Is that okay with you?”

“Sounds perfect .” The pink and yellow neon beckoned them closer, Zatanna vibrating with excitement. “Hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies is exactly what I was craving.” She reached out for the handle and wrapped her hand around the cold brass. Before she can pull, however, another hand covered hers.

“Why, Zatanna Zatara ... fancy running into you here, isn’t it?”

Another tremor wracked her body, the cause this time being the boy across from her in the brown leather jacket and ridiculous green ascot. A burning anger erupted in her stomach that spread to her head, flames caught on the grey matter when their eyes met.

She glared, “ Oliver . What are you doing here?”

“For the same reason as everyone else, I suppose,” he said, an imitation of a smile plastered on his face, “to enjoy some delightful treats safe from the frigid weather with my gorgeous boyfriend.” Oliver gestured to the other boy with him, Carter standing behind with a friendly gleam in his hard gaze. His hands were tucked deep in the pockets of his golden jacket and dark hair hidden under a similarly colored hat.

“What a coincidence,” Zatanna mirrored Oliver’s expression, “I had the same idea. Me and my stupendously beautiful girlfriend, Kara , thought that Sweet Justice would be a great place to be alone together .”

“I think the cold might be getting to you, dear,” Oliver huffed, “there were a lot of contradictions in that statement...”

Her smile fell in the same instant his did. They stood with their hands on the handle, neither willing to budge an inch in a sign of defeat.

Kara perked up beside Zatanna. “Hey Carter, how’s it hangin’?”

Carter shrugged, smirking. “Doin’ okay. Shoulder hurts though, think I landed on it wrong during flight training.”

“That sucks. Think you’ll be fine in case of an emergency?”

“Probably feel better in the morning, nothing serious-”

“And what’s not helping his shoulder injury,” Oliver cut in, dragging Carter closer to him, “is standing outside in the cold! He needs the warm comforts of baked goods!”

Zatanna grimaced, squinting at him. “Really? I heard of icing an injury but I don’t think they meant with frosting,” she said through clenched teeth, “Better Carter go home and rest, you two can come by any other night.”

“But it’s so perfect tonight,” Oliver insisted, squeezing her hand tighter, “as long as he doesn’t overexert himself he’ll be fine. Which is why I was going to feed him bites of his favorite cake to aid in his recovery!” He stepped closer, voice rising. Zatanna matched his bluff, making sure there was barely an inch of space between them. Then she racked her brain for a quick spell she could fire off to send Oliver crying home to his mansion.

“Woah, there,” Kara squeezed between them, prying them apart, “let’s cool it you two, I’d rather not get into a fight - which, coming from me, is saying a lot.”

Zatanna turned to face her girlfriend’s soft, pleading stare and found the burn churning within her slowly doused. She deflated for a moment only to straighten and addressed Oliver. “It’s a large space,” she said, “we can share.”

Oliver mulled it over. A tug at his wrist and a stern frown from Carter broke his resolve. “Agreed. We’ll sit at opposite ends if we have to.”

“Good.” She opened the door finally, gesturing to them. “Please, I insist you enter first. Age before beauty, as they say.”

“You’re lucky I’m going to let that slide,” he hissed, following Carter into Sweet Justice. Zatanna attempted to gloat, only for the smug expression to fall when Kara ushered her inside. They didn’t get far, though, Zatanna slamming into Oliver’s back.

“Hey,” she said, “why’d you stop?”

“There seems to be a… problem,” Oliver said, jerking a thumb behind him. Zatanna peeked behind him and understood what he meant.

Sweet Justice overflowed with customers, teens like them hanging out and enjoying the treats the store offered. She jumped from table to table, searching for an empty one. Even the bar had a person on every stool. There was a booth near the back, unfortunately Zatanna found it the only unoccupied part of the shop.

“Or actually,” Oliver continued, smirking, “a problem for you . Since Carter and I were here first - really, thank you for letting us in ahead of you - that booth rightfully belongs to… us .”

Zatanna growled, rounding on Oliver. “Oh no! Technically Kara and I were here first! My hand touched the door handle!”

Oliver tutted and crossed his arms over his chest, reminding Zatanna of every tutor she had growing up on tour with her father. It only served to stoke the fires of her anger more, resurging after the initial snuff. “That argument wouldn’t hold up in court much less here.”

“Oh yeah?” she said, “I’m willing to take this to court if you are!”

“I wouldn’t bother - my family’s lawyers could easily settle this with your family’s lawyers without ever needing a judge to get involved. Only to save your legal team the public embarrassment...”

“As if! Our lawyers were able to litigate against the Luthors when they stiffed us after a birthday party. Compared to the team we faced then, your retainer is like your facial hair - small and pathetic.”

Oliver gasped, petting his chin. “How dare you insult my goatee! It’s not pathetic, it’s stylish .”

Zatanna flipped her hair, smirking. “Please… you clearly don’t know anything about style. Otherwise you’d lose the ascot.”

He shrieked again, one hand moving from his goatee to his beloved ascot. “I will not allow you to ruin our date night,” Oliver said, stomping his foot, “Carter and I are going to order our desserts, and then we are going to sit in that booth. You and your girlfriend can do whatever you want as long as it’s not within this establishment.”

“Is that so?” she asked, tapping her foot rhythmically on the linoleum. Zatanna glanced over at the counter, an idea coming to mind. Grinning, she took a step away from Oliver. “Well… not if we get there first!”

She dashed towards the counter while ignoring the undignified huff behind her. Zatanna leapt into an open space and startled an already distracted Barry, cell phone perched between his ear and shoulder. “Two hot cocoas - extra whipped cream, extra cinnamon - and a half-dozen double chocolate chip cookies please!”

Oliver barged in after her, shoulder pressed hard against hers. “Two slices of cake - one red velvet, the other devil’s food - with generous helpings of whipped cream please, and tea with lemon! Please!”

“I ordered first Barry,” Zatanna growled, shoving at Oliver’s face, “serve me!”

“The bond of brotherhood, Barry,” he reminded the other boy, “deliver my order before hers !”

Barry’s eyes spun darting back and forth between them. As their voices grew and their behavior became more raucous, Zatanna felt a sense of shame building in the back of her mind. The whole building seemed to stare at them making fools of each other. She ignored all of this, though, and shoved her boot in Oliver’s stomach. However Zatanna couldn’t do the same for the force tugging her by her jacket cowl.

Kara held her tightly, a bored expression painted across her face. Carter did the same with Oliver, the smaller boy still kicking in his arms.

“Barry!” Oliver carried on, “if you bring us ours first I’ll tip you as handsomely as my boyfriend!”

“No!” Zatanna said, “I’m a better tipper!”

Barry’s face fell, darkening. He slammed his hands on the counter, “ Enough !” She and Oliver lost their voices - too stunned by the irritation laced within their normally cheerful friend. In the silence a tinny voice warbled. Sighing, Barry directed his attention to his phone. “No, Hal, not you. I’m a little busy can we - can we just pause for a sec? ...Okay.” Glancing between the couples he asked, “Why are you two acting like this… this time ?”

Zatanna answered. “Oliver was trying to steal our booth -”

“Your booth?” he gasped, “That booth rightfully belonged to Carter and I !”

“You’re fighting over a booth ?” Barry scoffed, pouting, “It’s a booth . Booths can fit four people… share .”

“Share?” Both Zatanna and Oliver cried, and then glared for the unexpected echo.

“It’s either that or no one gets the booth,” Barry told them, “I’m already busy enough as it is so answer quickly.” Then, to his phone, “Hal… this is the fourth time you’ve called me about Big Blue. You’re as obsessed with him as much as Carol is with you. ...No, I won’t take that back!”

Kara let go of Zatanna, frowning. “I’m not in the mood to find another spot for our date,” she told her, “so are you and Oliver gonna play nice or what?”

Zatanna huffed, crossing her arms. Unfortunately her girlfriend didn’t let up, and the guilt burned like her heat vision. Sighing, Zatanna faced an equally chewed out Oliver. “I guess we can share for tonight…”

“I agree,” he said, puffing his chest forward “a double date it shall be!”

She groaned, dragging her hand down her face. While spending an evening with an insufferable jerk like Oliver wasn’t exactly how she pictured tonight, it was better than if they were thrown from the establishment and Kara flew home in a bad mood. Zatanna could swallow her pride for an hour or two, no matter how large it may be.

“Barry,” Zatanna said, calmer now, “do you remember our orders?” He nodded, serving ice cream to a small child with their parent. “Good, we’ll be at the booth, then.”

They walked over and each couple slid into one of the vinyl booth cushions. Kara spread her legs comfortably, laying one arm against the back of the booth in invitation. Zatanna curled against her happily.

Oliver yawned, drawing her attention away from Kara. He relaxed into Carter, nuzzling against his chest. Peeking one eye open, Oliver raised a brow at Zatanna as a non-verbal raise. She squinted, tamping down the urge to meet his challenge.

While she wanted to give Kara an enjoyable night the habit of overshadowing Oliver bubbled within like a horribly shaken can of soda.

It was awful when they were competing to prove who was the most talented performer and only became worse when they entered into relationships. Now it wasn’t satisfying in confirming their talent but also showing off their significant others so everyone knew who had snagged the best catch.

Thinking back Zatanna would say this contest began in the library during a free period. She and Kara were studying for an exam they would have later on in the day, Zatanna quizzing her girlfriend on different chemicals and their attributes. After spouting off all she knew about Krypton - along with some extra tidbits - Zatanna threw her notebook in the air and kissed her cheek. “You’re going to do so well on this quiz Kara!” she whispered, “and when you get an A I can parade you around school so everyone knows how much of a genius you are!”

If they were anywhere else Zatanna might not have heard the scoff. But due to the reigning quiet in the library it stood out easily. Her smile fell and she whipped around to see who made the offensive sound.

Oliver tipped his chair as far as it could go, resting his feet on the table next to them. Carter sat to his right focused on his book.

“You have something to say, Oliver?” she asked.

“Why yes I do,” Oliver said, “I find it funny is all... that you would try and celebrate  your girlfriend for that when everyone already knows how smart my boyfriend is.” Carter glanced up from his book with a blush. “On the Honor Roll, exemplary tutor, President of the Archaeology club and the Oliver Queen fan club-”

“I’d say that last one would count as a mark against his intelligence,” Zatanna smirked, “and his taste .”

He nearly upended from his seat. Righting himself, Oliver glared at Zatanna and she matched his fury.

“My boyfriend is the best!”

“No,” Zatanna huffed, “my girlfriend is! She’s like the sun, so radiant, brings joy wherever she shines, and hot - she makes everything better!”

“Well Carter’s better than the sun! He is like - like - like the moon ! Mysterious, magnificent, and beautiful !”

“Ha! We all know the moon’s just a sad reflection of the sun! ”

Oliver gasped, slamming his hands on the table. “You take that back! Carter is the best person in the entire world!”

“No!” Zatanna argued, voice rising to Oliver’s level, “Kara’s the best person in this galaxy !”

“Carter’s had past lives better than the one Kara lives now!”

“Sorry to trash his past lives, but she only needs to do well in the one !”

A heavy book slammed, disrupting them. The librarian scowled their way, tapping her sharp nails on the cover of the dropped book. Without speaking she pointed towards the door. All four of them shuffled out of the library, Zatanna and Oliver still simmering and their feud far from over.

They went above and beyond in further installments of their competition. Once when Oliver bought Carter a book, Zatanna gifted Kara a guitar and it ended with both of them getting their credit cards revoked for a month after an incredible shopping spree. And another memorable moment was during lunch one afternoon when Zatanna posted a cute picture of her and Kara that accrued over one hundred likes. Only Oliver posted one of him and Carter that garnered more than theirs. Unacceptable . This led to her and Oliver taking different pictures with their partners in a variety of places and, ultimately, being sent to detention for sneaking into the principal’s office because at one in the afternoon the light from the window was perfect.

Every time they fell into one of their stubborn, competitive streaks both she and Oliver rode a short high and suffered in the long run.

But then Barry dropped off their orders. He placed the plates and mugs on their table all the while chatting with Hal. “If you’re only going to cry if I tell you Superman doesn’t think you’re handsome than how can you trust my answer is really genuine? No, no - don’t!” Barry sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Frowning, he looked at the group. “If you need anything else just wave, I’ll spot you.” Walking away they heard him mutter, “I was talking to customers… Because it’s my job and I’m at work , Hal!”

Oliver reached for his fork. Instead of spearing a bite from the devil’s food cake in front of him, he took from the red velvet and guided it towards Carter’s mouth. “You sit tight Carter,” he told him, “I’ll take care of this for you.”

Between bites, while Carter’s eyes were closed, Oliver glanced over at her and winked. Zatanna crushed one of the cookies in her hand. Letting the crumbs fall, she grabbed another and held it out to Kara. “Darling, you have to try these cookies. They are fantastic! ”

Kara, cheeks stuffed already with a cookie of her own, tried pushing Zatanna’s offering away. “It’s okay,” she said, crumbs spraying, “I’ve got my own -”

“There!” Zatanna stuffed it into her mouth, grinning at Oliver, “All the hard work you’ve done today, you deserve as many cookies as you can get!” She used her hand to help her chew, then, relishing the sound of it until Kara swallowed.

Oliver nearly bent the fork with his shaking grip. Setting it down, he used his free hand to wave. Barry sped over.

“I think we’ll be needing more desserts,” he said, not breaking eye contact with Zatanna, “can you prepare a sundae?”

“Kara and I could use a couple of milkshakes as well,” Zatanna added, lips curling maliciously from cheek to cheek.

“Three dozen macarons.”

“Cake with fresh strawberries on it.”

“We’ll take the whole of the red velvet off your hands, Barry.”

“I think I saw some brownies, can we get two trays of them?”

“And some rice pudding!” Oliver slammed his fist on the table, “Because my boyfriend deserves it!”

“Kara deserves chocolate-covered cherries!”

Barry gaped at the order, head bobbing between them. “Uh,” he started, “are you sure -”

“Give it to us!” both Zatanna and Oliver yelled, startling the other boy into action. He zipped over to the counter and into the kitchen, gathering what they asked. In the meantime they helped Carter and Kara finish the treats already given to them.

“Don’t you - gnnk - think that - brrsh,” Kara choked out, “we should slow down and savor - nggh - this ?”

Zatanna paused, staring at Kara with a golden fire burning in her purple eyes. “We can savor the fact that you’re about to be treated to a buffet of delectable delicacies by your loving and appreciative girlfriend!”

Kara groaned, “But all I wanted was - gah!” She shoved another cookie in Kara’s mouth and poured the hot chocolate down there to melt it.

Barry dropped more plates off, clearing the table when Zatanna and Oliver finished stuffing the contents into their partners’ mouths. They didn’t wait for Barry’s grip to loosen on the dessert before taking it and force-feeding their respective dates. Oliver dumped a tray of macarons down Carter’s mouth and Zatanna held Kara’s face to the straw of her milkshake and wouldn’t let up until it was gone.

When Barry dropped a single donut on the table, Zatanna and Oliver went for it at the same time. Their hands brushed and instantly recoiled.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Zatanna asked, “That’s Kara’s donut!”

“I think you mean Carter’s ,” he growled, “and if you know what’s good for you you’ll let us have it.”

“Know what’s good?” she scoffed, smirking, “Talking big for a man without his bow . And his weapon .”

Oliver squinted, his teeth bared. “You’d be surprised how resourceful I can be when something as important as my boyfriend’s happiness is on the line.”

“I would say the entire dictionary backwards if it meant Kara would never have to frown again!”

“Uh… guys?”

“ What ?” They turned manically towards their intruder, Barry yelping and hiding behind a chocolate-smeared plate. Shaking, he holds out a small, black leather booklet.

Zatanna arched a brow at him, “What’s this supposed to be?”

“Your-your check …”

“Check?” Oliver asked, “But we haven’t finished ordering!”

“Finished?” Barry gasped, emerging from his ineffective shield. He shifted from fear to irritation with lightning speed, gesturing towards his barren workstation. “You two ordered everything we had left ! There’s no more food to order!”

“There… isn’t?”

Zatanna’s vision zoomed out from the tunnel it was trapped and finally noticed her girlfriend. Kara collapsed against the window, raspberry filling at the corner of her lips. One hand was curled protectively around her protruding stomach while the other hovered by her mouth in case she needed to vomit. Carter didn’t fare any better. He laid face down on the table and moaned every few seconds.

She looked to Oliver, heat steadily creeping up her neck. His face burned with shared embarrassment as they realized the consequences of their actions.

Barry’s cell phone rang, interrupting the awkward tension. He checked it and rolled his eyes. “Come find me when you decide who’s paying,” he said, hitting the answer button, “Hal… if this is about Superman again I swear on every science textbook I own…” Barry dropped the check on the table and walked away.

Neither Zatanna nor Oliver wanted to speak first. However, knowing how bad it would look if their silence stretched any farther, Zatanna decided to go first. “This might have gotten… a little out of hand.”

“For once,” Oliver said, “I agree. Maybe we don’t have to compete over who has the better relationship.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “Because, if we think about it, I have the best girlfriend -”

“And I have the best boyfriend,” he finished for her, smiling naturally for the first time tonight. Her cheeks ached with the natural stretch of her own grin. “Excellent thinking Zatanna! And to celebrate and cement this declaration, allow me to foot the bill.”

“Oh no, no, no,” Zatanna said, laying her hand over Oliver’s, “ I’ll cover this one.”

Oliver’s expression shrunk and became something more familiar to Zatanna. “But I was the one who started this whole feeding frenzy to begin with.”

Zatanna didn’t budge. “I think this began when I dashed to the counter, if memory serves me right.”

A beat of silence drifted between them like a dusty tumbleweed. “I’m paying for this Zatanna, it’d be barely a blip on my parent’s bills.”

“My father’s bought artwork that cost ten times what this check says.”

Peace shattered as quickly as they forged it, Oliver and Zatanna played tug-o-war with the check. They argued well into the night while their dates groaned from the sidelines, too worn from eating to intervene. Zatanna would apologize to Kara later, learn her lesson tomorrow - tonight she fought Oliver with all her might to slip her credit card into the booklet.

[supergirlfics]

You write some really good fics!! If you wouldn’t mind I’d love a fic where B! Danvers gets knocked unconscious and has a Wizard of Oz kind of fantasy and wakes up and is shocked to see her sisters by her side. (Just like Kara this is my favorite movie). Thank you in advance!!

The last thing you remembered, you’d been in your kitchen. But when you opened your eyes, you were somewhere completely different. You were in a small, empty town, with cobblestone roads and Victorian style buildings.

“I have a feeling … I’m not in National City anymore,” You said. 

“That would be correct,” You jumped, spinning around to see Winn standing nearby.

“Winn? You asked. “When did you get back? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Back? Young lady, I’ve always been here. This is my town. Intellectville.”

“What?” You blinked several times. “What Earth am I on?”

“That,” Brainy said, appearing suddenly at Winn’s side. “Is for you to find out. You are the young Danvers, are you not?”

“Yes … Brainy. You know that. You know everything. Are you okay?”

“I am in tip top shape,” Brainy said, staring at you in confusion.

“We’ve been awaiting your arrival,” Winn said. “There is a very important task for you. You must follow that red brick road. It will lead you into National City, the capitol city of Krypton.”

“Krypton?” You asked. “Okay. Hold on. Kara told me about Krypton and it’s nothing like this. It doesn’t even have a National City.”

“To get there, however, you must pass through the Midvale forest,” Brainy said. “It will be full of dangers. But a Danvers can get through.”

“Why do I have to go to National City, anyway? What’s the point of all this?”

“National City is ruled by Kara and Alex Danvers,” Winn explained. “It was foretold of the coming of the youngest Danvers when great tragedy struck Krypton. Now, the sisters fight for their lives and freedom. National City has been overtaken by an evil wizard known as Lex Luthor. You must defeat Lex and bring National City and all of Krypton back to its former glory.”

“Yeah … Okay,” You said. “And how do I do that?”

“That,” Brainy said. “Is for you to figure out on your own.”

“Follow the red brick road,” Winn said, pushing you along it. “Follow the red brick road.”

You glanced behind you to see both men shooing you forward. And for some reason, you weren’t going to protest. But something about this felt oddly familiar. 

It wasn’t long before you found yourself at the entrance of the forest. Standing there, blocking your path was a man in a suit of armor. “Who goes there?” He echoed.

“James?” You asked. “Is that you?”

“I am Guardian. Keeper of the forest. None shall pass without my authorization. Who are you?”

“Y/N Danvers,” You said. “I guess I’m supposed to save National City and whatnot.”

“Danvers,” Guardian said. “I will accompany you on your journey. You could use a Guardian.”

“That was a bad joke. But okay.”

“Perhaps, when we save Krypton, the Danvers sisters will grant me a heart. My friends have said I’m cold and distant. A heart would fix that.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged.”

“We’re off to National City! Just follow the red brick road.”

“I know. I’ve heard it a million times already.”

Out of the forest, you came to another small town. It was different than the last one. Quite a bit different. It was as if you’d walked straight into an old Western movie. You didn’t make it far into town before you were approached by -

“Maggie?” You asked.

“Maggie?” She raised her eyebrows. She spoke with a thick southern accent. “It’s Margaret. But to you, it’s Marshall Sawyer. Got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” You said. You may have been in an alternate universe, but Maggie - uh, Margaret - hadn’t changed. 

“What’s your business in my town?”

“We’re off to National City,” Guardian said. “This here is the Danvers of the prophecy.”

“Y/N Danvers?” Marshall Sawyer asked.

“That’s me,” You said.

“You can save us. You can save my town.”

“Why can’t you save your town? I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“I may be Marshall, but I lack the brains.” She stared at you for a moment, then her eyes lit up and she continued. “I hear the Danvers are kind, generous women. If I help you, do you think they would give me a brain? I would like to be smart enough to protect my town. On my own.”

“I’ll - uh - I’ll ask them,” You said. Again, you got the feeling that something about this place was extremely familiar. But you couldn’t figure out why. 

“Then we’re off to National City!” Marshall Sawyer grabbed your hand. You grabbed Guardian’s, and the two of you were pulled, running, out of the town. 

You came abruptly upon a chasm. It stretched on for miles. The only way across was a small rope bridge. 

“That’s not sketchy …” You said.

“What’s that?” Guardian asked, pointing to something about halfway across the bridge.

“That would be a woman,” Marshall Sawyer said.

You squinted and could just make out a dark haired woman clinging to the bridge for dear life. ‘We should probably help her,” You said.

“I will go,” Guardian said. “I am the strongest. I can help her.”

“Hold on,” Marshall Sawyer said. “You can’t go in guns blazing. We don’t know how stable the bridge is. Let me make sure it’s secure first.”

As soon as Marshall Sawyer had finished, Guardian made his way quickly across the bridge. You could see him exchanging words with the woman, then he put an arm around her and walked with her to the other side. You went next. It was like being on a ropes course bridge, but much larger, and much scarier. It shook with each step. The planks bent under your weight. You were scared they would snap under you.

“I’m never doing that again,” You said as soon as you had stepped foot on solid ground. The woman Guardian had saved was Lena.

“How do you know my name?” She asked.

“So, you’re name is actually Lena?”

“Of course.” Lena furrowed her brow. “Who else would I be?” When you didn’t answer, she continued. “I must thank you all for saving me. I thought I had the courage to make it across, but I didn’t.”

“Where were you going?”

“To visit my mother in Intellectville.”

Checks out, you thought. Her mother may be evil, but she’s still a genius.

“We’re off to National City,” Marshall Sawyer explained. “And the Danvers are giving gifts to those who help. Come with us and I��m sure you can get courage.”

“Um, I never said anything for sure,” You said. “I said I’d ask them about it.” You didn’t want to get their hopes up.

“Nonsense,” Guardian said. “Of course you’ll be granted courage.”

“Then I’ll come to National City,” Lena said. 

Just before reaching the gates, you reached a large field of flowers. “These are so pretty,” You said. You picked up a handful to smell.

“Wait, no -”

But it was too late. The scent wafted through your nose and you collapsed, unconscious.

You opened your eyes. It was bright. You were still in the field of flowers, but none of your friends were around. You wondered if they’d left you. 

“You’re dreaming.”

You jumped at the voice, sitting up to see Nia behind you. “What?”

“I am Dreamer. You’re dreaming. This isn’t real. You smelled my flowers, and now you’re in my dream realm”

You blinked several times. “Yeah … okay.”

“This can’t be the strangest thing you’ve seen today.”

And it wasn’t. Thinking back, this entire day had been odd. And so, so familiar.

“You are going to save us all,” Dreamer said. “Good luck.”

“Wait,” You said. “But it’s Lex Luthor. He’s a genius. How do I defeat him?”

“Did you bring a water bottle?”

With that, Dreamer disappeared. You awoke, for real this time. Your friends hovered over you, looking concerned.

“We don’t stop to smell the flowers,” Marshall Sawyer said.

“No,” You disagreed. “We do. I think I figured it out.” You looked to your side, where your water bottle had dropped. You didn’t remember having it on most of your journey, but dismissed it as just being caught up in the crazy.

“National City used to be beautiful,” Marshall Sawyer said as you approached the gates. “It used to be bright and beautiful with blue and red and gold.”

“Now it’s this awful green,” Lena said. 

“Kryptonite,” You whispered.

“What?” Marshall Sawyer asked.

“Uh - nothing. Let’s get inside this emerald city and save the planet.”

You received a lot of strange looks inside the city. People seemed nervous, jumpy. Nobody was relaxed in the slightest. This is what Lex had done. 

The castle reminded you all to much of CatCo. In fact, Cat Grant was one of two guards who stood at the front door. The other being J’onn.

“State your business,” Cat said. 

“We’re here to see the wizard,” You said. “Lex Luthor.”

“Do not speak the great man’s name,” J’onn said. But he glanced around in fear. You didn’t believe he actually thought of Lex as being great.

“Listen,” You lowered your voice. “We’re trying to help you. We can save Krypton.”

“You can save Krypton?” Cat asked. She exchanged a look with J’onn, who nodded. “Welcome to National City.”

The two of the stepped aside. The large double doors swung open. You gave them a curt nod before leading the group inside. The four of you piled into the elevator and without a second thought, you pressed the button leading you up to Cat’s floor.

Lex sat in the main office. He stood when he saw you. “Who let you in?”

“Nobody,” You said. “We thought you could use a nice, friendly visit.”

His eyes narrowed. He looked over you cautiously, but seemed to disregard you as a threat, because he relaxed. “My subjects have come to pay their respects.”

“Yes sir,” You said. “Come, sit down.”

When you reached the office, Kara and Alex were on the couch, both bound tightly. Kara’s face was etched in green lines. There was a large chunk of Kryptonite sitting on her lap. You hadn’t remembered seeing your sisters or the rock before. It was probably time to get your eyes checked, if you kept missing stuff like that.

Your friends all took a seat on the couches, but you remained standing. “I thought you may be thirsty, sir. So I brought you some water.”

Lex took it. You hoped he didn’t notice your gulp as he brought the drink to his lips. He took a long drink.

The bottle fell to the floor. Lex looked at his hands. They were beginning to look like a popsicle that had been left in the sun. “I’m melting.”

“Whoa,” You said. “Dreamer was right.”

“I’m - I’m melting!”

Nobody moved. Everybody just stared as Lex became smaller and smaller, until he was nothing more than a puddle on the carpeted floor.

The ropes and the Kryptonite disappeared. Your sisters arms were around you so suddenly and roughly you almost fell. “Thank you, Y/N,” Kara said.

“We’re so proud of you,” Alex said. “We knew you’d come.”

“I’m your sister. I’ll always come.” You pulled away from them and turned to the others. “These are my friends. They were hoping you could help them. Guardian here wants a heart. Marshall Sawyer needs a brain. And Lena’s looking for courage.”

“You don’t need any of those,” Kara said.

“Guardian,” Alex said. “you have a heart. A big heart. You rushed in to save a stranger. That takes heart. Marshall Sawyer, you say you need a brain. But you knew how to secure the bridge. And you knew about the flowers. You’re smarter than you think. And Lena, you may have been afraid, but you still came. You faced your fears of seeing your brother. You are incredibly brave.”

The three of them left, discussing what they had just been told.

“So,” You said. “Can we go home?”

“You are home,” Alex said. “You just need to wake up.”

“Wake up,” Kara said. “Come on, wake up.”

Your eyes fluttered open. You were on Kara’s couch. Your head pounded, and you reached a hand up to feel a bandage wrapped around your skull. “W-what happened? Where am I?”

“You’re home,” Kara said. “Alex and I found you. You were on the floor.”

“You have a head wound,” Alex explained. “It looks like you hit it on the counter. You probably have a concussion.”

You tried to sit up, but your sisters pushed you back down. “How did I get here? I was on Krypton.”

“You’ve never been to Krypton,” Kara said. “You’ve been here the entire time.”

Your eyes widened at the realization. “It was a crazy dream. And Lena was there, and Guardian, and you were there, too. And Alex, you were there.”

“Okay,” Alex said. “You can tell us about it later. You need to get some rest.”

[kryptamazon]

A week late, but...

I decided to watch 312 "For Good". Here are my thoughts as they happen.

Why didn't Edge just turn off his car's ignition? Seriously.

How did Alex take Sam's blood?

After Lena drank the poisoned coffee, why did the scene follow James instead of Lena? He's not the one dying. I would've kept the attention on the source of the suspense (Lena) and just stated later that they couldn't find the source of the poison fragments of the bullet which killed the guy.

Seriously? The graphics in the DEO's medical unit have a line for "Overall Health"? Come on, that's just silly.

Okay, so James just commended Lena for not retaliating against Edge, but his own reaction is to go out and threaten him with bodily harm? Is this meant to illustrate James’s character, or was it just the writers losing focus?

J'onn: "This world is a crazy place right now. People acting, reacting, escalating behaviors." Are we going to see Kara be that calming influence on James, or is that scene going to be forgotten?

James: "Well, hey, I know you." The wording implies agreement with Lena that Kara doesn't know her. Something like "We do know you, Lena," would've been appropriate. This felt like a dismissal of Kara and Lena's entire relationship. That’s careless writing. It’s moments like this that keep me from getting back into the show.

Okay, I was enjoying the interaction between Lena and her mother right up until Lillian started describing Lena's childhood vengeance plot. Did she grow past that, or are we supposed to take this story of Lena holding a grudge and plotting harm as illuminating her adult character? Because for the writers to start selling the idea in S3 that Lena has a secret evil streak, when they spent all of S2 showing her dedication to her values, suggests poor planning and uninspired plot choices.

Katie's acting is fantastic, though.

Lillian: "I can't understand it." Neither can fucking I. Will the writers please try to help me understand why Lena went full-time at Catco?

Lillian: "Good girl." Wow. Just wow. That actually was good writing.

Lena goes to Kara for help in dealing with her mother, not James. This is Supergirl, so the writers have to do that, but can they not take a hint that Lena is always going to Kara? That's clearly the relationship that matters to the story they're telling. Putting Lena in a romance with anyone else seems like a distraction.

Maybe I'm asking a lot of a girl who's just had a bombshell dropped on her, but I did not care for Kara turning her back and stepping away from Lena after she confessed to trying to kill Edge. I didn’t expect that Kara’s reaction would be to pull away from her friend.

One very small, very subjective thing: I don't think Lena would've said "Bingo."

Who invited Guardian to the party? Like, yeah, Writers, you're cute for having James make a surprise entrance, but who invited him? Lena doesn't know he's Guardian, so it wasn't her. Is the DEO working with him now? If so, why? They have whole teams of trained agents already.

Nothing about Lena and James's interaction after the fight felt right for a couple. Nothing in this episode shows that they're together. Again, careless. This show and these characters deserve far, far better writing than this.

The bit with Mon-El at the end... he's been back for how many episodes, and the writers still felt the need to include that conversation? The writers should have moved on by now, if they expect their viewers to. If they don't expect their viewers to... I have no words.

I feel I should disclaim that I have no personal issues with James’s character, nor with him being in a relationship with Lena. Yes, I have a preference, but I’m fine with whoever the writers put together as long as they do it well.