#Supercorptober 2024

[natalievoncatte]

1. Leaves

Lena was, in all honesty, having the time of her life. Since they’d arrived here, she had finally relaxed. Really relaxed. Lex was gone. Capital-G Gone. The last of Cadmus had been mopped up. The Conpany was no longer a problem- L-Corp was being sold off, from entire divisions down to sales of old office chairs. The Estate and nine-tenths of the family holdings were all being sold off, and the money quietly funneled into a holding company. Sam Arias would manage Lena’s wealth.

Lena had nothing to do anymore, and it was glorious. She’d done what she’d never done in her entire life: rest. She ate when was hungry, slept when she was tired. She stayed up late finishing a thriller novel she’d grabbed off one of Kara’s tables and slept it off the following day. She could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, so one day she said, “Let’s go watch the leaves change.”

“Not much of that in National City,” Kara had said, not looking up from her laptop.

Lena was flipping channels when she made the suggestion, another pedestrian activity that had been too far beneath her to ever indulge during her CEO days.

“I’m serious,” said Lena. “I’ll rent us a cabin, book a flight, and we’ll be there by tomorrow morning. Vermont, or maybe New Hampshire.”

Kara looked up. “I could just fly us.”

“Short distances only,” said Lena.

Kara weighed it for a moment. She looked at Lena for a drawn out instant, eyes darting this way and that. Lena knew she had a deadline; she had become privy to the details of Kara’s life ever since she started couch surfing at Kara’s place after dumping her chic penthouse on some petroleum heir from the Emirates.

She had been “crashing” at Kara’s place for three months and had her own key, but they weren’t talking about it. Lena had remained on the couch, falling asleep to YouTube videos of molten lava and cat purring sounds, while Kara puttered around the house.

There were moments of tension. Pauses during shared meals. Moments when they pressed closed on sofa, times when Kara got up to go to bed and Lena felt this yearning to follow that she never quite obeyed.

Kara was thinking. Hard.

“Rent a cabin?”

“Yeah, someplace remote. So you can take a break. You’ve been working harder than ever, Darling. It almost feels like you’re avoiding me.”

Kara swallowed. “Okay,” she said. “We’ll fly. The regular way.”

They did, arriving in Maine less than a day later. Lena rented a Land Rover (because they were on an Adventure) and did all the driving, three hours from the airport to the cabin.

Kara rode in silence, though Lena heard her gasp.

The trees were beautiful. They were alive with color, as if an impressionist master had made the world a canvas and run riot. It was more than a mass of reds and yellows and oranges. It was astonishing.

It was dark when they arrived at the cabin. Lena had chosen one with two bedrooms, though she hesitated when she did. It had a full kitchen with a gas stove and all the amenities but also a fire pit and picnic table and gazebo, and overlooked a private swath of a small lake. It was like something out of a Bob Ross painting.

They were both tired from the flight, or at least Lena was, and turned in right away. When she rose the next day, she cheerily told her cabin-mate she was headed into town to get some supplies.

Kara went out to chop wood. Lena, of course, watched a few swings before leaving. Kara didn’t really need an axe but Lena didn’t care; she was preoccupied watching the muscles of Kara’s shoulders and back as she swung the splitting maul.

Lena got back before noon and carried the groceries inside, enough for her to use the fancy kitchen to prepare a mighty feast for her companion.

She didn’t hear the sobs until she had most of it put away. Lena bolted to the back door and stopped.

Kara was sitting on the picnic table, feet resting on the long board that acted as a seat. She was holding a single golden leaf on her hand, studying it and sobbing softly to herself.

“Kara?”

She looked up, soft blue eyes wet with tears. Lena felt a wave of grief but also panic, rushing to the table.

“Kara, what’s wrong?”

“I,” Kara started. “Lena, I’m scared.”

Lena swallowed hard. “Why?”

Kara looked at the leaf. “Another year past. The leaves turn colors and fall, school starts, things change.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Alex is married now. They’ve got a kid to raise. Nia and Brainy will probably get married soon. We hadn’t had a game night in two months.”

Lena swallowed. Kara was right. When Lena had first joined, then rejoined, this wonderful found family had been aggressively social, and now they forgot to text as often as not. They all spent more time at home or at their real jobs than at the Tower. The world had just started moving on. Kara didn’t even wear the cape every day anymore.

“I know,” said Lena, her voice thick. “But you’ve got me.”

Lena felt her pulse start to race. Kara had been so distant, she couldn’t help wonder if she was enough. If boring, retired Lena wasn’t enough. Oh God, what if Kara was thinking about going to Argo? Or the future?

“Not forever,” said Kara, her voice cracking like glass. She let the leaf drop from her fingers. “Eventually you’ll go. All of you. Brainy, Nia, Alex, Clark if he doesn’t come back from Argo. You.”

“Oh,” Lena said, softly. “Oh, Kara.”

“I think I might be immortal,” Kara whispered. “I don’t feel any aches or pains. Nothing about me changes. I don’t forget things like people do. My body just keeps repairing itself and it never makes any mistakes. What if I’m just like this forever? Or even a thousand years? What if everyone is gone and their kids are gone and no one knows who I am anymore?!” she was frantic now, the words coming too fast.

Lena reached out, tentatively. She put her hands on Kara’s shoulders and pulled herself in, wrapping her best friend in a hug.

Birds chirped, the waters of the lake made soft glug-glugs, and all around them was the soft tapping sound of the leaves, already letting go.

“I won’t leave you,” Lena whispered. “Kara, I won’t. If I have to live forever I will. I’ll find a way. Tech, magic, fifth dimensional imps. I’ll find a way.”

Kara sighed, arms firmly around her.

“Do you need space?” Lena asked. “I could leave you alone for a bit. Look for a place when we get back, so I’m not on the couch all the time.”

“I don’t want you to leave,” Kara blurted, almost cutting her off. “I know I’ve been distant, it’s just… I keep looking at you and thinking about all the time I’ve lost and all the mistakes I’ve made and how I’ll regret it forever. We have so little time and I’m so scared I’ll lose you.”

Lena pulled back to look at her. “We have a long time to make more memories. As many as we can.”

“I’ll lose you too,” said Kara. “I know you want more. A family, a partner. You’ll start to have less time for me. You’ll all just fall away and I’ll be stuck here alone.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“How can you say that?”

Kara started to pull away. Lena stopped her with a tug on her arms. It stunned her, sometimes, how she could overpower a god with her tiny human hands. How she could stun the other whirlwind or a touch.

“Kara,” said Lena. “I don’t want someone else. I want you.”

“Me?” Kara squeaked.

Lena cleared her throat. “I wanted to tell you at the wedding. I mean, I didn’t dress like that and go stag for the hell of it. I just lost my nerve and you seemed so overwhelmed.”

Kara blinked a few times.

“You want me?” said Kara.

Lena felt a cold rush of terror. She’d just blurted it out, artlessly, unplanned.

“Like want me want me? Like kissing want me?”

Lena licked her lips. “Yes. I’d like to kiss you right now, if you let me.”

Kara settled back into the table, leaning forward. Lena leaned in, pushing her back slightly, moving her hands from shoulders to hips, scoring the way Kara tensed and trembled. She was hardly inexperienced, Lena knew, but something about this felt like a first kiss, even for her. It tasted like one, too, down to the quivery way their lips met.

Kissing quickly became something more. Lena didn’t know if she was pulling or Kara pushing. It didn’t much matter; the path led to the bed in Kara’s room, marked by a trail of shed clothing.

Years of anticipation overwhelmed them both; dinner was forgotten, and they didn’t even emerge until the next day.

It was in the morning sun, the light turning Kara’s skin gold, that Lena saw it. Twisted within one of the curling locks of hair, splayed around Kara’s head on the pillow, was a faintly visible thread of purest silver, chased through the gold like an engraver’s masterpiece. Lena couldn’t help but twirl the errant strands around her finger.

As Kara slept, she looked up through the window and watched the wind as it caressed the leaves.

[autisticlenaluthor]

Garden

After tutoring, Lena spends her afternoons in the empty backyard where nobody bothers her, pushing dirt around with a stick.

She draws faces, bumblebees, and butterflies, all in the spot that one day, is going to be a garden. And when that gets boring, which it does rather quickly, Lena begins to pace the strip of grass. She walks back and forth with her eyes fixated on the ground, using her stick like a cane.

Sometimes, she’ll look up over the top of the fence. There, Lena can vaguely see into the yard owned by the other half of the building. From the ground, there’s not much to look at except red metal bars and the four gray chains that hang off them.

Lena knows that together, they make a swing set. She can see the full thing from her bedroom window. It has two swings even though only one kid lives next door.

Lena isn’t sure if she’s supposed to know all this. But sometimes when she’s meant to be working on her flash-cards, she stares through the glass, at the blonde girl playing below.

She’ll see her hop off the swings and try to climb the metal poles like a monkey. There– she throws her head back and shakes out her hair before jumping down and landing on her hands and knees like a superhero. Other times, she hangs from the middle of the bar and swings back and forth. She knows how to hook her legs over the metal and dangle upside down with her arms swinging behind her.

A few times, she’s gotten stuck like that, and Lena’s watched her mom pull her down.

She replays the memory in her head as she turns the corner of her yard for what feels like the millionth time.

Dropping her stick, Lena releases a frustrated huff. She’s sure she’s been walking for hours by now. She has no idea when her new Dad will be home from work or if he’ll even want to talk to her when he is. Lex has already pushed her out of his room, and the nanny is inside cooking dinner– something French and gross sounding that Lena already knows she’s going to hate.

Turning her head, she lowers her brow and gives the wooden fence separating the yards a good hard stare. It’s made out of old wood with stains and mossy green stuff. On multiple occasions, she’s heard Lionel talking about hiring someone to tear it down to replace it because it’s just another eyesore in this ugly, old home.

Lena doesn’t think the house is ugly but it certainly is old. Maybe more than a thousand years. And the fence is probably even older. One of the boards has a hole in it, about a foot from the ground, exposing a glimpse of the flowers on the other side.

Curiosity piqued, Lena kicks her stick away and makes her way over to the fence. She squats down in the dirt and squints her eyes, then presses her hands into the wood. She tries to see as much as she can through the hole but the blobs of orange and red block her view.

She thinks for a minute, brow furrowed, before scooting away just far enough that she has room to stick her index finger through the hole. From there, Lena wiggles it around and wonders if she should call out to get someone's attention.

Back home– at her real home in the country, she wouldn’t have thought twice before yelling. She used to yell with her mom when they played in the garden all the time. Sometimes, her mom would even yell with her – just not in the scary way like other grown-ups do.

No, Lena’s real mom would call out pretend spells from their favorite fairy book while Lena shrieked with excitement, bouncing around and flapping her hands because what if a real fairy found them? She’d cackle with laughter when her belly got tickled after a bath, wrapped in a fluffy white towel made for someone five times her size, and jump through mud puddles in her favorite sparkly rain boots.

Her clothes were soft and always felt nice on her skin– all bright colors with different patterns and shapes. She used to wear her favorite shirt, the one with all the dinosaurs on it, almost every day. And when her mom let her pick her outfit, Lena would pair it with the pink tutu that made her feel like a ballerina, her fairy wings for when it was time to play in the garden, and, of course, her sparkly rain boots.

Here, things were different. Grown-ups were quiet and they didn’t play games. The yelling only happened at night and when it did, it was the kind that made her want to hide in the closet. The closet that was filled with itchy, boring clothes without dinosaurs or glitter.

As Lena looks back at the fence, she frowns. If she yells and Lex hears her, he’ll tell the nanny and she’ll get another consequence. So she continues to stare through the hole, zoning out as she wiggles her finger until she hears a:

“Hello?”

The voice is high-pitched and followed by a fierce giggle. Lena pictures the blonde girl from the swings on the other side and wonders how long she’s been there.

Without warning, a bright blue eye appears in the center of the hole.

Lena scrambles backwards and her own eyes grow wide. Her heart pounds, her mind rushing a mile a minute. She hadn’t thought this far ahead- she wasn’t prepared, she doesn’t know what to say!

This girl could be mean like Lex, she could be laughing at her. She could yell at her for poking her finger through the hole or worse, she could tell her mom who would tell their nanny who would tell Lillian who–

“Are you a spy?”

Lena swallows. She shakes her head and draws her legs in close. She should’ve just kept walking. The kids at her new school aren't as nice as at her old one and she isn’t sure she can handle another bully.

Silently, Lena watches as the other girl mimics her by poking her own finger through the hole, then giggles once more.

“Are you playing a game?”

Lena shakes her head. She pulls back even further and hugs herself as tight as she can.

“Well, do you want to play a game?”

“Um…” She isn’t sure why she says anything. She’d just wanted to get a look– maybe touch the air on the other side. But now the girl is talking and she isn’t being mean. She’s aggressive with her excitement, sure, but the scariness it ignites isn’t like the scariness Lena’s used to.

“What game?”

The girl goes silent for a second. She’s no longer holding her eye to the hole so all Lena can see is a flash of blonde hair and the blue on her shirt.

“I dunno,” she says. “Why were you poking your finger in here?”

Lena shrugs. She leans forward and rests her chin on her knee. The girl's voice is high and soft. It makes Lena think of caramel.

“Just, um… got bored.”

“Don’t you have any toys?”

Lena shakes her head.

“I can’t see you, silly!” The girl exclaims. “You gotta talk!”

“Just… um… chess,” Lena says. “But I had-a play it a lot.”

“Ummmm, well, I could play a game with you,” the girl says. “And we can be friends! My name’s Kara and I’m five and three-quarters! What’s your name?”

“Lena.” Lena removes her arms from around herself and puts them on either side of herself, her heart rate finally starting to even out. “‘m five.”

“Hi, Lena,” Kara responds, smiling bright like the sun. “Your voice is funny. I like it.”

“Oh… that’s ‘cause I’m from Ireland.”

“Where’s I-ruh-land?”

“Far.”

Lena leans forward and tries to look through the hole again. She hugs herself tightly as she moves, her fingers moving up and down her torso the way her mom’s used to.

“I flew a plane,” she says. “But… um… I was only four. A long time ago.”

“Was it scary?”

“Yeah… but…” Lena looks down, knitting her brow with thought. “I was small. And now I’m kinda scared of planes but, ‘cause I’m a lot bigger, it’s not as much. But… so… when I get really big, like, when I’m ten, I wouldn’t be scared at all. ‘Cause I’d be big.”

Kara hums and nods knowingly.

“I’m scared of volcanoes,” she says.

“There’s no volcanoes in Top-o-lis.”

“Yeah, that’s what my mommy says.”

“But… then why are you scared?”

“I dunno.” Kara laughs. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Um… green?”

“Mine’s blue. Did you know I can do a cartwheel?”

Lena furrows her brow. “How would I know that?”

“‘Cause I see you watching me in your window,” Kara says matter-of-factly. “I tried to watch you too but all you do is walk in circles with a stick.”

“Yeah! ‘Cause I already told you, I don’t have any toys!” Lena frustratedly retorts, any remnants of her anxiety having been forgotten. “Don’t you pay attention?”

“Well, then, why don’t you just come to my house?” Kara asks. “We could go on the swings and I have lots of toys and a dollhouse we could play with.”

Lena’s about to answer when a door creaks open loudly behind them. It’s followed by the sound of Kara quietly groaning and mumbling something unintelligible to herself.

“Kara, love, come on, it’s time for dinner,” a voice calls out. It’s an older woman– her mom, Lena figures.

“No!” Kara cries. “I’m talking to the girl in the other house– just gimmie five minutes and I’ll come inside!”

Her voice is shrill and high– it makes Lena want to cover her ears.

Somehow, she resists the urge and instead, pulls her knees back into her chest. She considers leaning over to tell Kara through the hole not to talk back because, maybe she doesn’t know yet, but if you’re disrespectful, you get consequences. You have to listen so the yelling doesn’t start.

But if the woman notices Lena whispering she might get mad at her too. She’ll tell Lillian that Lena was being distracting and Lillian will get mad again.

“Kara–”

“Please!” Kara begs, the word long and drawn out. “Pleasepleaseplease just five minutes?”

“Honey, I already gave you five minutes,” the older woman responds. “It’s time to come in now before your food gets cold, okay? I made mac-and-cheese like you wanted.”

She says the last bit in a sing-songy voice like the one Lena’s pre-k teacher would use when she called the class over for circle time. She isn’t loud or angry, she's just… she’s nice.

“But Mommy, I was just asking if Lena can come over, maybe, this weekend or a different day like– like on my birthday or after school so we can go on the swings and play in my room.”

There’s a moment of silence before Kara’s mom sighs.

“Okay, you can ask Lena and then it’s time to come inside. You understand?” She asks.

Kara nods eagerly and scrambles back to the fence, pushing her face right up against the hole.

“Lena!” She exclaims. “Do you wanna come to my house on a different day for a playdate?”

Lena doesn’t say anything. She’s too focused on Kara’s mom and the sound of her voice. How soft it was, like it’s never been raised before– not even a single time. How even when Kara whines, she doesn’t change. She stays kind and soft, like the kind of mother who means it when they say I love you.

Lena hugs herself tighter as her mind begins to wander.

She wants mac-and-cheese too, not gross French food from her nanny. She wants the orange kind that comes out of the box that her mom used to make, sometimes three days a week. She wants to eat it on the couch with the TV on, watching cartoons after a long day of running through puddles and reading books about dinosaurs and the ocean. She wants her mom to talk to her in the soft voice that Kara’s mom uses; so quiet and gentle, without an ounce of anger to be found.

Lena’s face feels hot as she thinks about it, her eyes welling up with tears. She can still see the old house in the back of her mind– the grassy overgrown lawn and her little playhouse in the back. Her sparkly rain boots and closet with clothes that don’t itch– clothes she actually liked, that her mom would help her pick out.

Why does Kara get to have it and not her?

“Lena?”

Lena’s lips pull down into a frown. Her chin quivers and quakes– eyes stinging like they’re on fire.

She wants to run right back to her mom.

Sometimes she still thinks maybe when she comes downstairs– she’ll be there in the kitchen making breakfast. She’ll have tracked down the new house after months of searching and when Lena runs to her, she’ll pick her up and hold her so tightly– tighter than she’s ever been held before– then tell her it’s time to go home.

The hole in Lena’s heart will get stitched back up. Her aches and pains won’t be gone but she’ll be able to live with them because finally, they will have been tended to. She’ll be scarred and stapled, sure, but at least she’ll have been pieced back together.

Lena does all she can do to keep from crying in front of her new friend but the effort isn’t enough. The tears are falling– hot and furious. They make her want to scream because it isn’t fair. None of it is fair and gosh, she just wants to go home.

Determined not to let Kara see her, Lena scrambles to her feet and brushes the dirt off her thighs. As Kara calls her name again, Lena sprints right back to her house.

[itsalliebitheway]

make a move, do your thing

chapter 8: pine, L-Corp, chill

Familiar boots thudded on her balcony at L-Corp and Lena felt a smile creep onto her face. Since Kara had revealed to her that she was indeed National City's resident superhero, their relationship had gotten a lot closer. Whenever it suited her, Kara dropped by with a coffee or a snack or a whole meal when Lena forgot to eat, so they spent more time together than ever. 

“Kara, what a surprise, come on in,” Lena said as she opened the balcony door with a smile.

Kara was carrying a paper bag, her hair slightly more tousled than usual in her supersuit getup and her cheeks abnormally red.

“Is everything okay with you? You look frazzled,” Lena pointed out and put a stray curl back behind Kara’s ear from where it had stubbornly been stuck in her eyelashes.

Kara blushed an even deeper shade of red and haphazardly pushed more hair out of her face. Then, she reached into her paper bag and held something out for Lena.

“Here, I got this for you,” she smiled and without another explanation, Lena held a card in hand. On it was a pine tree, the crown a rougher, glossy texture to stand out, the tree trunk with a face on it and two stick arms and hands holding a red heart in front of the trunk. A speech bubble indicated that the tree was saying ‘I pine for you’.

Lena took it all in, the very obvious valentine’s day design and even the artificial pine scent emanating from the card and then looked up in confusion to her best friend.

“Why are you giving me this, it’s October, Kara, there’s a very obvious autumn chill in the air.”

read more here on ao3 :)

[thesebitchesrgay]

leaves

sctober drabbles, part 1: leaves

~~~

Kara can’t take her eyes off of Lena. 

That’s not an unusual sight, nowadays. Wherever Lena is, Kara is guaranteed to be nearby - watching her speak, whispering to her, and depending on the day, touching her - holding her hand, laying in her lap, having an arm wrapped around her. 

So today, when Lena is spending an afternoon off from work, and Kara coincidentally has nothing better to do, and they both end up taking a short walk in the park, which has somehow turned into them sitting underneath a tree with Kara’s head resting on Lena’s thigh as she reads something on her phone - it’s not an unusual sight, at all, not even when Lena puts her phone down with a sigh, and Kara’s eyes follow her as she watches her lean against the cold bark of the tree.

She watches her eyelids flutter as she fights to keep them open, eventually giving in and letting them fall. Her hand reaches up to brush back some stray hair - hair that Kara has noticed getting wavier and wilder ever since she started letting herself relax - and then she rests one hand on the ground, and the other goes to join Kara’s. 

Kara holds her hand close to her chest, and splays it over her heart. If Lena is surprised, she doesn’t let it show.

She hums, and uses her other hand to stroke Kara’s hair. 

Kara really doesn’t want to take her eyes off Lena, but the week has been tiring. The tree towers over them and its shade is like a cool blanket. The breeze carries the scent of the flower shop across the street, and Kara can only hear Lena’s soft breaths, and feel her warm touch. 

She closes her eyes. 

***

When she opens them, she can’t see. She can only feel Lena’s hand covering her eyes. 

She comes back to herself slowly - she’s half on the ground, but the rest of her is cushioned by something soft and bumpy. 

Kara takes a deep breath - it somehow smells cold. 

She can hear a voice through the fog of her mind. 

“Kara,” she can hear this voice reverberate through the body beneath her. “Are you up?”

An arm tightens around her middle, and Lena’s hand moves slightly off her eyes, stroking her forehead. 

Kara groans, pushing her eyes back beneath her hand. She can feel Lena’s laughter. 

“Come on, now, my leg is numb,” she admonishes her, flexing her legs beneath Kara’s back, “At least open your eyes.”

Kara turns her head out from under the shade of Lena’s hand, and she lets out a shocked gasp. Their spot - the empty spot underneath the large tree that was previously covered in shade - was now covered in at least two or three inches of leaves.

Various tones of yellow, red, orange, and brown surrounded them in the form of leaves the size of their palms. 

Lena just laughs again, and scoops up a few to scatter over Kara’s face. She jolts up and sputters - they were crunchy and now they were in her eyes and her mouth -

“It’s not my fault you decided to sleep under a giant tree on the first day of autumn,” Lena stands up and dusts herself off, and Kara is once again hypnotized by her. 

Her shirt is rumpled and untucked, her dimples are on full display as she laughs at Kara, her darkened eyes are as droopy as they get in the late evening, and to top it all off, there are leaves stuck in her hair. 

“I love you.”

Lena smiles wider, and the crunchy leaves in her mouth don’t matter much to either of them when she holds Kara’s shoulders, pulls her in, and kisses her.

[lespetitesmortsde]

Lena gets a tattoo. Kara ends up seeing it.

or

The one where they get together.

Day 25 of Supercorptober 2024. Prompt: Ink

Beginning excerpt:

It’s not her first tattoo and, honestly, it probably won’t be her last. The big one on her back was, perhaps, misguided for a first one, but she doesn’t regret it. Some days she still longs to be that young, that reckless, that carefree. She misses her tongue piercings, too, but the holes have long closed up by now. Those are probably ones she shouldn’t bring back just for simplicity’s sake.

Sam would never let her live it down, either. She’d go on about how she’s having yet another quarter-life crisis and then ask if she was going to do something else dramatic, like pierce a nipple.

[Read the rest on AO3]

[tedgruver69]

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Supergirl (TV 2015), Kara Danvers - Fandom, Lena Luthor - Fandom Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers Characters: Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers Additional Tags: Supercorptober 2024, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Endgame Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Bisexual Kara Danvers, Bisexual Lena Luthor, Supercorptober Summary:

An emotional conversation with Alex during sisters night leads Kara to finally acknowledge her deeply buried romantic feelings for Lena. Walking aimlessly around National City in the peaceful early morning darkness to clear her head she arrives at the decision that it’s time to stop fearing what facing that truth could mean, so she texts Lena to come sit with her at the place her unfocused walkabout has led her to, the harbor side Supergirl statue.

[cardcaptorsakura96]

A Christmas Miracle-Chapter 4

Fandom: Supergirl

Characters: Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers, Ruby Arias, Santa Claus, Streaky the cat, Lillian Luthor, Alex Danvers, Cupid

Summary: After her last two breakups, Lena doesn't think there is love out there for her. However, will Ruby's wish to Santa make Lena a believer in miracles?

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Kara and Lena stared at each other like deer caught in headlights in complete silence for several minutes. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Kara felt a great deal of emotions. She was excited to see Lena. She had been thinking of the raven-haired beauty all day. However, she was scared out of her mind. 

What do I say to her? It was so messed up the way we left things last time with the shoot-out.

However, a more mortifying thought came to Kara as she slowly looked down at the keys in her hand. 

I have her keys in my hands. How do I explain that? I could tell her that Santa wanted me to find her after the mugging to make sure she got this. Yeah, that sounds good….or does it? What if she doesn’t believe Santa sent me? What if she thinks I have ill intention….

As Kara spiraled, Streaky looked up at his owner with mild amusement. He looked over to Lena who was in a similar state. Streaky shook his head and wiggled out of Kara’s arm, jotted over to Lena, started to purr loudly, and rubbed against her leg. 

Suddenly, both women were shaken out of their inner turmoil and noticed their surroundings. 

“Streaky, don’t do that!” shrilled Kara as she started to jog over to Lena and the cat. 

Lena chuckled as she picked up Streaky and started to cuddle with him. Lena looked up at Kara with a smile which caused Kara to stop dead in her tracks and blush. 

She looks so pretty when she smiles. 

Lena blushed as she looked down at Streaky and said, “Don’t be mad at Streaky. He is just what I need after the day I had.”

Kara frowned and asked. “Are you okay?”

Lena tried to chuckle, quickly wiped a tear from her face, and said, “Nothing that a bottle of scotch couldn’t cure.”

Kara came closer and pressed her hand on Lena’s shoulder which caused her to blush. 

“I know I am not scotch, but I would be happy to lend an ear to listen.”

Lena looked at Kara conflicted and asked, “Are you sure? I don’t want to derail any plans you have.”

Kara chuckled and said, “Streaky and I don’t have any set plans.”

Streaky looked up at Kara with narrow eyes, ears flattened downward, and purred loudly.

Kara rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, “Food will be included in whatever we do Streaky.”

Streaky purred happily as he pounced back into Kara’s arm.

Lena chuckled and said, “If you guys are sure, I would enjoy the company.” 

Kara beamed and said, “If you like, we can go to my apartment, and I can brew us some coffee.”

Lena smiled and said, “That sounds perfect. I can drive us.” Lena smirked at Kara and said, “As long as you can hand back the keys, which I am curious about how you ended up with by the way.”

Kara chuckled hesitantly and said, “It’s a long story. The short version is that Santa sent me in your direction.”

Lena looked at Kara baffled.

Kara looked at Lena mortified and exclaimed, “I know how it sounds, but it’s true! I was over at the park and….”

Lena stared at her hesitantly for a moment.

It can’t be the same Santa, can it?

Lena quickly shook her head, slightly smiled, and said, “No, it just sounds really eventful, and I would love to hear more about it on the way back to your place. Let’s head out.”

Kara smiled brightly and said, “I would love that.”

Streaky purred loudly and rubbed up against Kara’s face. 

Lena chuckled and said, “It looks like Streaky agrees too.”

Kara chuckled and said, “Streaky is just happy that he is about to be fed.”

Streaky nodded in agreement. 

Lena cackled as she, Kara, and Streaky got in the car and drove off.

Read the rest on AO3

[spaceman-earthgirl]

Supercorptober 2024 Day 5: Alone

ao3 fic link.

Lena wakes up, and she knows instantly she’s alone. Panic sets in for a moment, because Kara wouldn’t just leave, not after last night.

Lena would though. Lena has, after a one night stand where they did what they needed to do so she left in the early hours of the morning.

But this isn’t like this, this is Kara. Kara who told her she loves her, Kara who kissed her so gently that Lena cried.

This is Kara, her best friend, the person she trusts most, the person she loves the most, and now she knows Kara loves her too.

Lena sits up and looks around, blanket clutched to her chest. She sees her clothes neatly folded in a pile, which is definitely not where she left them last night. She’s pretty sure some didn’t even make it into the room. 

Lena blushes at the memory.

She looks around for her phone, and realises it didn’t make it to the room with them either, that it’s probably still in her purse in the living room.

That’s the first thing she needs, to find Kara. That, and she needs coffee. She debates for a moment putting on her clothes but instead decides to grab a hoodie and pair of Kara’s pants instead.

The hoodie smells like Kara, this whole place does, and for a moment it makes her want to bury herself back in bed and wait for Kara.

Because she knows Kara wouldn’t just leave her, knows Kara will be back.

It’s in the kitchen that Lena figures out where Kara is gone. Or at least that she’ll be back, a scribbled note on the table.

Be back soon. -K x 

It’s still early, and Lena knows she probably should go back to her own apartment, shower and get ready for work. But she’s not going to do that, not yet. Because all she can think about is seeing Kara, kissing her again and making sure that she doesn’t regret what happened.

Lena doesn’t.

Lena hasn’t even had time to consider making herself a coffee when the door clicks open and Kara is walking through the door.

“Oh,” Kara startles, clearly not expecting to see Lena. For a moment, Lena wonders if she should have left, but she doesn’t need to worry when Kara continues. “I was hoping to surprise you in bed.”

Lena had been so focused on Kara, she hadn’t noticed the paper bag and coffee cup holder in her hands.

Lena suddenly doesn’t know what to say. This is all new to her. Not only has their relationship changed overnight, but she doesn’t want to mess this up. Kara is too important to her and she can’t lose her over this. Lena doesn’t have a great track record with relationships and she’s never felt like this about anyone before, never wanted a relationship to work out like she wants this too.

“Are you panicking?” Kara asks, suddenly much closer than before, food no longer in her hands.

“No,” Lena replies. Kara raises her eyebrow and Lena knows she’s been caught. “Ok, maybe a little. I don’t want to mess this up.”

Kara takes her hands, and Lena instantly feels her thoughts settle, the warmth of Kara’s hands seeping into her skin.

“I know, me too. I don’t know what’s going to happen but I do know that you and me? We can do anything together. So, we probably will both mess up, but I know that no matter what happens, we can get through anything, because it’s us.”

Lena smiles. “Thank you.” 

She knows this will be a constant worry but for now it’s quietened down, both because of Kara’s words but also because Kara is smiling now too and it’s hard to focus on anything else when Kara is smiling at her.

Kara leans forward and Lena gets the memo, meeting her halfway in a kiss that feels so much like coming home that Lena feels like crying again.

“Good morning,” Kara mumbles against her mouth, Lena can feel her smile against her own.

“You taste like cinnamon,” Lena replies, and Kara pulls away. Lena would regret her words but Kara is grinning, looking sheepish in a way that’s too cute for words.

“I got hungry.”

Lena laughs. When is Kara not hungry?

“I like this, too,” Kara says, tugging on Lena’s shirt. “You look good in my clothes.” Kara pauses. “You look good out of them too.”

Kara’s blushing as she says the words, it’s adorable.

“Is that so?” Lena asks, and it’s her turn to lift her eyebrow.

Kara leans forward, clearly embarrassed as she hides her face in Lena’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Kara mumbles and Lena laughs, wrapping her arms around her best friend. ...Or girlfriend? She’s not sure, but they’re going to have plenty of time to figure that out.

Lena grins. “Good to know.”

[kmsdraws]

❤️💙SUPERCORPTOBER 2024 IS HERE!❤️💙

It's that time of the year again, folks: Supercorptober is upon us again!

Create whatever you like for our beloved Supercorp using the daily prompt list below, and be sure to use the hashtags. Have fun!

[natalievoncatte]

3. Dress

Kara wore dresses. Lena had seen her wearing sundresses and skirts and even a cocktail dress once, and of course she’d worn a dress at the wedding and look very

(Painfully)

pretty

(Gorgeous)

in it.

So it wasn’t as if Lena had never seen her in a dress before. Still, if you asked Lena to picture Kara in her head, Lena would imagine her best friend in khaki pants that hugged her hips and displayed the impressive girth of her thighs, and of course the buns of steel. She would further visualize Kara wearing a plaid button-down tucked into a broad belt that emphasized the inhumanly flat plane or her muscular belly or the broad set of her block shoulders.

(If she didn’t visualize her wearing nothing at all)

Dresses simply didn’t seem to be her thing. She just felt right when she was a little… masc, one might say. Kara had a way about her, a swagger that worked with the belts and a habit of setting her arms with her hands in her hips that emphasized her physique.

Lena sometimes wondered how a pair of glasses had actually fooled her.

For the last eight weeks or so, Lena had been living in Kara’s apartment, sleeping on the couch in a weird state of limbo after she sold her penthouse. They had decided that Lena would soon be moving, but not where or when. Obviously she’d stay close -her life was here now, after all- but she wanted a change.

In a way, Lena was following in Kara’s footsteps, trying to relate to the world as her whole self. She’d come upon the idea of using a sort of checklist- reinventing herself with the same ruthless efficiency she brought to the lab and the boardroom. That was one part of herself that needed to go.

Lena’s whole life was constructed. She did everything she for a purpose, and that purpose no longer meant anything anymore. There was no longer a Lex or a Lillian to outmaneuver, no longer a board to persuade or dominate. She was running the Foundation, but from her laptop, and had hired Sam to handle the financials. She wasn’t even meeting with benefactors; she had people for that. Her main work focus now was a science education program for elementary school girls.

It was so liberating, not having to be the badass boardroom bitch. She’s stopped straightening her hair, abandoned her contacts in favor of chunky glasses, and, in a colossal shock to everyone, Kara included, stopped dyeing her hair black, a habit she’d picked up and kept because it pleased Lillian and kept up because stopping would be annoying.

She had even worn sweatpants. In public. Everyone in her family had been gifting her goofy clothes to wear; she was currently swaddled in a “Why Hex a Little When you Can Hexalotl” t-shirt that Kara had regifted, originally from Nia.

That was when Kara walked out of her bedroom area of the loft and Lena’s brain spun around and smacked against the front of her skull.

Kara was dressed to the nines in a black a-frame halter top mini dress that bared her shoulders and magnificent back, and she’d matched it with dark eye shadow and plum lipstick that was striking against her sun-kissed skin, and a pair of strappy high heels.

“Hey,” she said, sounding glum.

“Where are you off to?” Lena said, trying not to add the mental dressed like that.

“A date,” Kara sighed.

Lena kept her face even, despite the fact that her mind had just ripped in half. She was desperate to know why Kara sounded so glum, and also flat fucking terrified.

The idea of Kara going on a date horrified her. It made her instantly sick with worry -not just for Kara which was honestly a little silly- but because… because…

Lena was suddenly very aware that she didn’t want Kara to date. At all.

(Because she should be dating me)

Which sucked, because Kara was straight, because there was a god and he hated Lena Kieran Luthor and her accursed blood. That had to be why Lena was cursed to suffer a crush on

(be madly in love with)

the perfect girl who came from the sky.

“You look lovely,” said Lena. “Have fun.”

Kara blushed for a moment, then Looked at Lena a little oddly, a little forlorn.

“I’ll text you.”

Okay.

Kara left, and Lena was alone in Kara’s

(their)

loft with just herself and Zillow open on her laptop.

Lena browsed for a while, but none of the places looked right. They were all as if HGTV had puked onto an old house. The minimalism and open concepts reminded her too much of her Old Life. She wanted quirky. She wanted unique. She wanted a place that reflected who Lena really was.

Jesus H Christ, was this a mid life crisis? She wasn’t that old.

Lena was startled out of her reverie when the door swung open and Kara stormed in, slammed it shut, and kicked off her shoes, storming barefoot across the loft.

“Fucking asshole,” said Kara.

Lena blinked, stunned by the profanity, only to be filled with outrage.

“Kara? What happened?”

“This is the last time I let someone at work set me up on a date. I didn’t even want to go, Alex badgered me into it.”

Lena put her computer aside. Kara grabbed a pair of beers from the fridge and popped the lids with her thumbs as she sat down, which was literally one of the hottest things she did on a regular basis. She offered Lena one and took a pull on her own.

“He was a jerk,” said Kara. “I tried asking him whether a hot dog is a sandwich, and he just said ‘who cares’.”

“Kara, a hot dog is a sandwich. We’ve been through this.”

Kara glared at her. “I’m not doing this again, Lena. Not until you admit that a burrito is a sandwich.”

Lena rolled her eyes.

“The last straw was when he told me I shouldn't work out so much. He said my muscles make me look like a man."

Lena blinked. "Where did your coworkers find this jerk?"

"Accounting. He wouldn't shut up about his finance degree. He insisted on paying for everything, too. Oh, and he told me I eat too much! All I did was order some appetizers!"

Lena drained her beer and grabbed another. She listened patiently as Kara vented about this guy and the other various jerks she'd gone one date with.

"I'm doomed, Lena. Every guy is a dick and insecure around me."

At around this time, she finished beer five. Lena nodded.

“Even if I think it’s working I lose the spark. Like when James finally wanted to go out with me and I was just like ‘nah.’”

“James… was nah for me too,” said Lena.

(Honestly, Kara, you should try dating girls.)

“Wait,” said Kara, “What?”

Oh.

She said that one out loud.

Shit.

“Um,” Lena said, lamely panicking, “I um, that was a joke, I meant… well it… worked out for your sister?”

Kara gaped at her.

Lena swallowed hard. “Would you believe it sounded funny in my head?”

“Have you… ever dated girls?” said Kara.

Lena’s stomach almost shot out of her throat. She put her most recent beer down to keep it from sloshing as her hands shook. She looked at Kara, who looked back, expectant… and hopeful?

“Yes,” Lena admitted. “Jack was the only man. I ever dated except James, but there have been women, too. Not that many. Despite my reputation I was never that social.”

“Who?” Kara asked, immediately.

Lena licked her lips. “Andrea.”

Kara stared. “Andrea? Andrea Rojas? Really?”

“It was a teen thing that ended in our eariy twenties, but it was serious. So do you remember how I told you I knew Roulette from boarding school?”

Kara nodded.

“Well, I knew her, um, biblically.”

Kara snorted. “No way. Who else?”

Lena smiled. At least she wasn’t being weird about it.”

“You’re not saying no to trying it yourself,” said Lena.

Kara looked away.

“I…”

She took a drink of beer.

“There are no queer people on Krypton, Lena. There weren’t, I guess I should say.”

The pain in Kara’s voice made Lena shift closer, set aside her drink and curl a hand softly around her arm.

“You don’t have to tell me this if it hurts.”

Kara shook her head. “I… my culture would not allow anything, uh, gay. Or homosexual. Like we literally don’t even have a word for it, it’s so foreign to us. We were taught that the only acceptable pairing was for the best possible offspring. Most of my people didn’t have sex at all, it was all artificial. My aunt and uncle were some who did, they had Clark naturally.”

“So Kryptonians can’t be gay?”

Lena’s heart sank.

“I didn’t think so, but, there was this girl once and she made me feel something I never felt before… and seeing her made all of my other feelings feel different. After I saw her I suddenly felt like I was just going after guys because I was supposed to. Even when I was with Mon-El I had this feeling that… I mean it felt good and I liked being able to cut loose but it felt like…”

Lena waited, not wanting to push her.

“Frankly, it felt like using him as a sex toy. Nothing else in our relationship really felt that deep. Even when he came back and went to Argo with me, I was more happy about my mother seeing me continue our family line than I was about him actually being with me. The second time he left I almost felt relieved.”

“That’s a lot, Kara. I had no idea.”

“I had no idea you liked girls either,” said Kara.

“I really do,” Lena admitted. “Who was she, this girl that stole your heart? High school crush?”

“No,” said Kara. “I met her as Supergirl. The first time I ever saw her, I saved her.”

“Very romantic.”

Kara sighed. “She was the prettiest. She’s so soft, so inviting, and whenever she looks at me I feel like she’s staring right through me, seeing everything in a good way. She’s smart and kind and brave and she has the prettiest blue-green eyes and one of them is a little more blue and the other is a little more green.”

Lena felt the blood drain from her face as her hand shook. Kara smiled wistfully.

“I was always too scared to say anything. I didn’t think she’d ever want me the way I want her.”

Lena looked up and met Kara’s gaze.

“I want more than to not be alone,” said Kara. “I want to be understood. I want to be with someone but I want to be together with someone I can be alone with. Somebody who gets me, who likes what I like, who takes joy in sharing the things we love. Who looks really cute in my clothes. Especially the hexalotl shirt.”

Lena blinked.

“Oh.”

(Oh)

“I like all that stuff but also blondes with big muscles who fly.”

Kara lunged across the couch and had Lena’s arms in her grip, and suddenly was lying on top of her, in that dress. Lena stared up at her.

“I wonder who we know who fits that description,” said Kara.

“I want you to kiss me.”

Kara smirked and leaned down, bringing her lips to Lena’s, and Lena honest to god moaned into her mouth as the kiss deepened, panting with excitement. As if her intentions weren’t obvious, Lena ground herself against Kara, working her thigh between her legs.

“I thought you were straight,” Kara blurted out.

“As spaghetti,” said Lena.

“What?” Kara blinked.

“I’ll explain later. As great as that dress looks on you, darling, it’d look better on the floor.”

[autisticlenaluthor]

Lena

TW: mentions of drowning, dissociation, 4-year-old Lena in intense distress, and witnessing a dead body

The sky above the lake is painted black with a heavy brush– cut through only by the gray clouds rumbling above it. The moon, which used to be so clear, now hides behind the fog. It pokes out every so often to make the smallest of appearances, reminding Lena it’s still there.

At night the trees, all tall and stocky, look more like people than plants. They’re skinny giants with lanky limbs and their eyes are stuck on the little girl standing at the shore. It’s all Lena can seem to think about– how the air is so cold and her mom isn’t holding her anymore. She’s alone again as they watch her, waiting for the right moment to pounce. 

Her mom always tells her monsters aren’t real. She checks the closets and under the bed every night before bedtime just in case. She always tells her they’re safe.

But the glimmering water they spend every Sunday dipping their toes in just swallowed her whole and sucked up all the air bubbles with her. The waves they paddled in together under shining skies had turned dark and suddenly, the world was upside down. 

The lake was their spot. The water belonged to them. And now, her mom belongs to the water. 

Lena stares straight ahead of her, as she’s done since the sun was still shining, and holds pieces of her swimsuit in her fingers.

The material is mostly dry now. It hangs loose on her body– the damp spots making her shiver whenever they meet her skin. Mom had told her she would grow into it. Lena isn’t sure. 

She isn’t sure that the trees won’t come to life and finally attack. Isn’t sure she’ll ever be able to move again. Isn’t sure if any of this is real at all or if it’s just another bad dream she needs to wake up from. 

Lena hopes it is. She hopes her mom is at the other end of it– ready to pick her up and rock her back to sleep. 

As Lena tries to find the strength to pull her swimsuit away from her, she can hear something crunching behind her. It sounds like footsteps in the gravel only louder. It makes her wonder if the Monster Trees have decided to come for her– if they think she isn’t aware of their plans to take her too.

“Hey!” A deep voice calls out to her. “Hey, are you alright?” 

More footsteps approach. They’re shining a light now too – a big one. It makes Lena shiver even harder and her stomach twist. When did it get so cold? 

“Hey– kid.”

Slowly, Lena turns her head and wrinkles her eyes at the white beams hitting her. There’s an ambulance in front of her– over by the edge of the trail. It looks like the ones that sometimes drive by their cottage, to the house at the end of the road where Mrs. Porter lives. Mom says it’s because she’s so old, she gets sick very easily now. Sometimes, she needs help making it to the doctor. 

“Hey…” The voice softens. 

Lena squints at it– the light is getting unbearable– and tries to step backward. But her legs have forgotten how to move and the stones beneath her are so slippery. She stumbles in her haze and her feet slide beneath her. She falls hard onto her bottom. 

A noise escapes as Lena looks down at herself. Her fingers dig into the sand, grasping piles of pebbles and sea glass.

“It’s okay– I’m not gonna hurt you.”

But it does hurt– her legs and her arms and her eyes and everything else. There’s pain shooting through her hips– the rocks are so hard. And as Lena’s fingers tighten around the pebbles, cutting deep into her skin, she can feel her face getting hot. Her jaw clenches and quivers beneath the tension so hard it feels like it might snap in half. 

She should be crying, Lena thinks to herself. 

It hurts worse than it did when she fell off her scooter in the street last week. But the tears don’t fall. It’s like her brain can’t remember how. 

“Oh… sweetheart, you okay?”

When Lena looks up, she sees the man with the voice crouching down in front of her. He’s wearing big green pants and an orange vest that glows in the dark. They crinkle when he moves– like plastic bags being smushed together. 

“Are you cold?” He asks, holding out a silver square for her. When Lena doesn’t move, he unfolds it and it transforms into some sort of tin-foil sheet. “It’s okay– you can stay there. I’ve just got a blanket in case you’re chilly. Sound good?” 

Lena releases her grip on the pebbles and stares at him. 

Even in the darkness, it’s clear how pale she is. Her face is ghastly and white– it’s as if it’s never seen the sun before.

“My name is Kieran,” the man continues. “I drive that big truck over there with my friends. I’m just here to make sure you’re alright and to give you some help.” 

He waits for a moment then slowly approaches. Kneeling down at Lena’s side, he drapes the blanket over her shoulders. It’s thin and crinkly like an old sheet– laid on so softly it hardly touches her.

Goosebumps are covering her arms and legs. She must’ve been out here all day, he thinks. 

“Here, kiddo… just want to warm you up a bit. We don’t want you catching a cold, do we?”

The blanket is big enough that it wraps around Lena’s front and falls behind her in a bunch. Lena glances at it for a second then looks back at the man. 

Behind him, two other grown-ups are stepping out of the ambulance. They pull out something that looks like a tall bed on wheels with straps going across it. They look at her for a moment and pause, saying something to the other that she can’t quite hear. But they don’t go to her– they walk to the water. To her mom. 

“Hey,” Kieran says when he catches her looking. “Hey… can you tell me your name?”

Slowly, Lena reaches for the blanket, wishing she could pull it tighter. She tells herself to move and tries to remember how her arms used to feel before this morning, when they still knew how to follow directions. But they soon fall beside her, unable to hold the material for more than a second. 

“Were you here with your family?” Kieran asks. “With your mom?” 

Mom. Lena’s stomach twists at the word. It makes her feel like how she gets when she’s been sitting in the car for too long. 

She furrows her brow ever so slightly and the tiniest whine escapes her. Her head is hurting– it feels too tight.

Puzzled, Lena looks at the man. She stares at him with her knit brow and hard eyes, waiting for him to read her mind. 

“You’ve still got your goggles on, hun,” he says. He stays seated on his knee and tilts his head, smiling at her. “Can I take them off? Is that why you’re makin’ noises?”

When Lena doesn’t say anything, he extends his hand slowly towards her face. Vaguely, she can see it approaching. She knows she should flinch. He’s so much bigger than she is. So much bigger than her mom. But she can’t move. 

So she sits stoic as the elastic band pulls the hair that’s dried against it. It peels slowly away from her like a hundred bandaids being removed at once. But after a moment, Lena can feel a pressure around her forehead release. 

“That must feel better, aye?” 

Lena looks straight past Kieran at the other two grown-ups in green pants and orange vests. They’re still walking the stretcher down to the lake, talking to each other in hushed voices, muffled by the wind. They’re going for her mom, she thinks, they’re going to find her. 

“Oh… no, you don’t wanna see that,” Kieran mumbles. 

He catches Lena’s semblance of attention again and this time makes sure to keep it. 

He whisks her up into his arms with a grunt as he stands back up, and keeps her securely wrapped in her blanket. 

“You’re being such a brave girl, you know that?” He coos, settling her on his hip. “You’re so brave.”

He brushes a piece of damp hair out of Lena’s face as he speaks and smiles softly at her. She’s so light in his arms, bundled up in the tin-foil sheet made for someone three times her size. It engulfs her completely– leaving only her head exposed to the world. 

“It’s all gonna be okay, yeah?”

For a second, Kieran looks past her at his partners. They wade into the abyss, water sloshing onto the shore behind them. Through the darkness– it’s hard to see more than the glow of the orange vests growing further and further away. But as they lock the stretcher onto the edge of the shore, he makes sure to bounce Lena ever so slightly to turn her away from it.

“Do you like rhymes?” He asks her. “Or songs?” 

Lena tucks her chin to her chest and releases a long exhale. Her eyes are starting to sting from being held open all day.  

“Why don’t we do some songs?” 

He looks at her pale skin and the few freckles scattered across her nose. Her white chapped lips, cracked around the edges from being left out in the cold for so long, and the bags that hang below her eyes. And as the paramedics go deeper into the water, he watches how she stares directly below her, not looking at anything in particular, and takes in her green eyes. He tries to imagine what might be behind them– the memories of what she’s seen. The moment when her mother went under. The hours of looking and waiting for her to return, all alone in the frigid air, with nothing but a soggy swimsuit and goggles on her forehead.

She must’ve known she wasn’t coming back, he thinks. No kid could stand there for twelve straight hours and not know. 

“Do you like…” 

Kieran pauses for a moment, then starts to sing. 

“Theeeee wheels on the bus go round and round,

round and round,

round and round.” 

He bounces Lena gently to the rhythm as he goes through the lyrics, his words hardly above a whisper. It’s just loud enough that Lena will hear him, just loud enough that she’ll have something else to focus on. 

“The wheels on the bus go round and round,

all through the town.

The wipers on the bus go–” He stops for a moment and gives Lena a poke. “How do they go?” 

She continues to look past him with her empty stare as he fills in for her and rocks her from side to side to show the motion.

“Swish swish swish

 swish swish swish,

The wipers on the bus go swish swish swish,

All through the town.” 

“What comes next?” He asks her. “Is it the babies on the bus? What do the babies on the bus do?”

In the distance– there are red and white lights poking through the trees. The first true signs of another ambulance coming to take back the woman in the lake. Lena’s mother. 

But Kieran keeps going with the song, even when Lena looks away from him. Even when she stares at the lights with more awareness than he’s seen from her all day. He just turns her around again and finds another rhyme, another story, another anything to keep her with him. 

“You’re alright, darlin’,” he says. “It’s all gonna be alright. We’re gonna take you on the truck in a minute and my friends are gonna check you out– make sure you’re not sick. And then you’ll get some stickers and you’ll get to turn on the big lights if you want. But it’s all gonna be okay.”

Lena doesn’t know if she believes him. She wants to. But everything is so wrong. 

“Now… let’s do another song,” Kieran thinks aloud. “That always helps my little girl when she’s feeling scared.”

He adjusts Lena in his arms, takes in a breath, then starts again. 

“Hush little baby don’t say a word,

Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird”

No, this isn’t right. 

“And if that mockingbird don’t sing…”

Lena can feel her face getting hot. There’s something sharp in her throat– her belly is twisting again. 

“Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring”

Her face is wet now. Silent tears creep from her chapped eyes for the first time all day. They make her cheeks burn with irritation and she wants to rub them– no, she wants her mom to wipe them dry the way she had this morning when Lena bumped her knee jumping off the sofa.

“And if that diamond ring is brass, 

Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glass”

Lena can see herself back at home– sitting in bed with her comforter bunched up around her chest. She can see her eyelids drooping, see her mom’s hand holding hers, trailing her thumb across her wrist, as she sings her to sleep. 

“And if that looking glass gets broke,

Mama’s gonna buy you a billy-goat”

Lena sees it so vividly she can almost feel it. Her fluffy pink pillow beneath her head, her teddy bear tucked under her arm, and her mom kissing her forehead as she allows sleep to gently embrace her. 

This isn’t right, Lena thinks. Her mom is supposed to be here. She’s the one who should be singing. She’s the one who should be holding her. 

Lena’s breathing increases rapidly. She squirms in Kieran’s grasp– she wants to be put down. She wants to go home. She wants her mom. She wants her now.

With a whine, Lena turns her head and tries to wriggle out of his arms. 

But what she sees behind her– it makes her freeze all over again. 

The grown-ups in orange vests are out of the water. They’re wheeling the tall bed back towards the ambulance and there’s a woman on it. Her mom. Her mom is on the bed.

Lena whimpers. It can’t be her mom.

This woman is soaking wet. Her orange hair looks black– it cascades over the side of the stretcher, stringy and thick, all clumped together, dripping onto the beach a thin dark liquid, which leaves a trail behind it. This woman lays there on her back, frozen and still, like she should be sleeping.

But she isn’t. Her eyes are wide open.

Lena makes a noise and tries to lean away from Kieran. Her heart is starting to pound– she can hear it in her ears. Big and loud like a drumline, drowning out the sounds of everything else. 

“Hey– hey, come back to me.” 

The older man’s voice is foggy and distorted. 

Lena sniffs as she leans further. She just doesn’t understand it– how her mom could turn so white and why her lips are so blue. It isn’t right– it isn’t her.

Her mom is supposed to be pretty like a princess. She’s supposed to be gentle. But now, she looks like the monsters Lena’s always been so afraid of. The ones she saw that night on the telly when she was meant to be sleeping and crept into the living room while her mom was watching a movie. She’d caught one glimpse and sprinted right back to bed so they wouldn’t be able to catch her, then hid under the covers, shaking, until she fell asleep. 

Lena sniffs again, whining through her fast-paced cries. 

Her mom is a monster and still, Lena wants to run to her. She wants to throw herself on top of her frigid body and shake her until she wakes up. Until she’s no longer sleeping with her eyes open like she’s frozen in time, paralyzed in the last second of her true existence twelve hours ago. 

Lena wants to hug her. She wants to bring her back to life. She knows she can– she knows if she could just be allowed to try, she could do it. 

So she fights with all she has to once and for all, throw herself right out of Kieran’s arms. She hurls her body forward– determined to run to her Mom one last time. She’s going to get to her. She’s going to fix her. She knows she can– she knows it, she knows it, she knows it. 

But Kieran’s too strong. He pulls Lena back and holds her even tighter, turning his body around again so she can’t see her anymore. 

He says something to her– something that’s supposed to be reassuring. But Lena can’t hear a word. 

Her fast-past cries turn into screams and she opens her mouth as wide as it will go, wailing with all her might. She sobs over Kieran’s attempts to calm her down, kicking her legs with all she has because if she’s hurting– he needs to be hurting too.

It’s gut-wrenching to watch. 

The cold air burns Lena’s throat and sears through her chest. Her cracked lips finally split from being open so angrily and each scream pounds in her temple upon its release. Her body is too tired for such emotion but Lena doesn’t care. None of it matters anymore. Her mom is gone. Her world is gone. 

So Lena does the only thing she can do– she cries. Even when snot bubbles from her nose and trails down onto her lips. Even when drool drips from her mouth, down past her chin. She cries so hard that Kieran thinks she might make herself throw up. He freezes a bit when Lena gasps for air with a heave so intense her entire body lurches upwards. Her shoulders shoot to her ears and her face scrunches up.

But all that follows is an even heavier sob. 

They get heavier and heavier until Lena’s entire body is shaking. Her screams grow raspy and strained– her vocal cords shot from the effort. 

Kieran tries to calm her down. He talks to her and rocks her, tightens her blanket then loosens it again– anything to make her more comfortable. 

But nothing works. Lena is utterly inconsolable. 

Behind them, the woman’s body is loaded into the rig. The crunching sound from earlier returns, only quieter this time, when the ambulance leaves to take her to the morgue.

Kieran tries not to think about what’ll happen afterward. When the autopsy is done and Jane Doe is identified– a social worker will have to decide what should happen to the little girl in his arms. They’ll place her in foster care or if she’s lucky, with a distant relative. Perhaps a grandparent.

At some point, one of his teammates approaches him, holding a small ratty backpack patterned with mermaids. They tap him on the shoulder to catch his attention. 

“We found this over by the benches,” The other paramedic says. She shines a flashlight on the tag on the inside, which is written on in neat cursive. “The name inside says Lena. Think it belongs to her?” 

“Lena…” Kieran says softly, shifting the distraught child in his arms. “Are you Lena?” 

Through her wails, Lena manages a nod. She gasps for air a few more times, her shoulders shooting up with each breath, then lets out a crackled whine.

“Oh, hun, it’s gonna be okay,” Kieran tells her. He rubs her back and tries to smile at her– not allowed to show that he wants to break right there with her. “Let’s get you checked out in the truck.”

[itsalliebitheway]

make a move do your thing

chapter 5: Lena

(continuation of chapter 3: alone)

The next morning, they were awoken by incessant knocking at the door. Kara groaned loudly beneath her, her arms tightening around Lena’s waist to keep her in bed.

“Darling if you don’t let me get up, they’ll keep on knocking,” Lena explained, her voice like sandpaper. “Also, I need water.”

Another wave of knocking convinced Kara to loosen her grip just enough for Lena to slip out. She slid into her morning robe and trudged to the door, squinting against the sunlight streaming into her living room windows.

Lena opened the door to a smugly grinning Alex Danvers, fist raised for another knock-attack, a rolling suitcase behind her next to Kelly and a very confused-looking Esme.

“What for the love of god are you doing here?” Lena asked, slumping against the doorframe, her eyes barely staying open.

“We’re moving in of course,” Alex grinned, moving past her with her suitcase and her smug smile.

read more here on ao3 :)

[fanfictionfaberrycentral]

Chapters: 1/31 Fandom: Supergirl (TV 2015) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor Characters: Kara Danvers, Lena Luthor Additional Tags: Supercorptober, Supercorptober 2024, Useless Lesbians, Domestic Fluff, Just really cute, Lena Luthor is So Whipped, Endgame Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor Summary:

Happy Supercorptober :p

This is my first year partaking, but here is my collection of little one shots based on the october themes. Hope you guys enjoy!!

Themes from kmsdraws on twitter!!

[lespetitesmortsde]

A night before Kara and Lena take the leap together, Lena decides to confess to her feelings.

Except Kara gets pulled away for a Supergirl emergency.

Except Lena gets time to talk herself out of it.

Day 2 of Supercorptober 2024.

Prompt: Courage

[tedgruver69]

Chapters: 2/3 Fandom: Supergirl (TV 2015), Kara Danvers - Fandom, Lena Luthor - Fandom Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers Characters: Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers Additional Tags: Supercorptober 2024, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Endgame Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Bisexual Kara Danvers, Bisexual Lena Luthor, Supercorptober Summary:

An emotional conversation with Alex during sisters night leads Kara to finally acknowledge her deeply buried romantic feelings for Lena. Walking aimlessly around National City in the peaceful early morning darkness to clear her head she arrives at the decision that it’s time to stop fearing what facing that truth could mean, so she texts Lena to come sit with her at the place her unfocused walkabout has led her to, the harbor side Supergirl statute.

[luthordamnvers]

👀 8, 9, 11, 19, 20, 21, 27

8. What fic meant the most to you to write?

[Answered here]

9. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

I'm always suffering when i'm writing 😂

But I guess Hell was the journey (but it brought me heaven) I really enjoyed to craft the story around Ms. Swift lyrics/music, and to explore the established relationship aspect of the fic, it's not something I usually do much. The "Kara POV" chapters were the ones I wrote this year for the most part, and I loved the story in them, it all became coherent with those chapters, and tied it all together at the end with Lena's POV, I think. So yeah, i think I had fun with this one the most.

11. What fic was the most difficult to write?

The one I'm currently writing, for the Dansen Big Bang. It's based/inspired by a pretty terrible movie that I freaking hate, but the synopsis is very Dansen, and I loved it for them. It's just been difficult to write for them, while keeping something from this terrible hallmark movie. And given the structure of it, I don't have my usual guest stars, so it's been a lot of rewriting, reordering and editing. Stuff I rarely do.

But since that's not published, let's go with my other DansenBB piece. Sweetest little part of Destiny  I love the idea of it for Kelly and Alex... But as someone who has never wanted kids of their own, that one was a trip to get in the mindset for it.

19. Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Suddenly I have never in my life written a piece of dialogue, my god...

I think this one, maybe?

“I thought you would’ve preferred to go to the DEO, or to The Tower with Alex.” Lena mentioned, while she scribbled something on a piece of paper. “Maybe train a bit with her to calm down.” Kara chortled, while looking at her phone, one mindless game loading. “Yeah, I would, but Alex is in a worse mood than me, and we will end up fighting. I don’t feel like fighting with my sister right now. Everything else is shitty enough.” “My, my, Kara Danvers… Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” “We both know I do worse things with my mouth that both my mothers are better off without knowing.” “Oh, my God…” “You started it.” Kara shrugged, smiling smugly. “Anyway, why? Are you trying to get rid of me?”

From: Hell was the journey (but it brought me heaven), Chapter 9

20. Share your funniest line

“Because apparently the universe hates me.” Lena commented. “When your ass is ready to fly to Metropolis let me know…”

(A Tale of Two Portals)

It's not funny without the context, but Lena is so done with Andrea(and Sam) on this one. Makes me laugh just to imagine her face.

21. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

Maybe because it's recent so it's fresh in my mind, but I got really emotional with the Esme & Alex scene in Sweetest little part of Destiny. Because again, I never wanted kids of my own, and I'm also not adopted, so it surprised me how emotionally devastating it was to write. I wanted a scene like that from the beginning so it didn't really change how I dealt with it, but still, hit harder than I thought it would.

27. How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

2 events.

I wrote 3 fics for @supergirlmayhem And 2 for my own @dansenbb... If i finish the second one, actually.

I DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN SUPERCORPTOBER'24, despite the ALLEGATIONS....

Thanks so much for all the questions, mel. it was fun I didn't know the answer to half of them 😂

[2024 Fic Year in Review]