#and he just doesn’t believe kara when she says that she’s better off *because* of him

[slozhnos]

i think the most heartbreaking moment in childish things is winn and kara’s conversation at the docks bc like “no, you don’t really need me.” bit hurts me so much every time

[tortillamastersblog]

✐ Seven Years | Kara Danvers ✎

Pairing: Kara Danvers x reader

Warnings: slight angst

Summary: Seven years is a long time, but you’ve never given up on Kara.

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Seven Years Ago

A knock on my door makes me shoot up in bed. After crash landing on earth with Mon El I’m still getting used to my super hearing.

I rub my eyes and check my phone for the time, frowning when I see it’s two in the morning. I get out of bed and use my x-ray vision to see who’s at the door.

Much to my surprise I realize it’s Kara and the way she holds herself is very unusual. She’s leaned against the doorframe, her hair a mess and her glasses are askew on the bridge of her nose.

“Hey, what are you doing here this late?” I ask when I open the door.

Kara’s head shoots up and her hazy, glassy eyes meet mine. She sways when she pushes herself off the doorframe and when she slurs a, “Heyyy,” I smell alien liquor on her breath.

I sigh and step aside, letting her in wordlessly. This isn’t the first time she’s shown up drunk at my doorstep and I’m pretty sure tonight it’s for the exact same reason as last time.

“What did he do this time?” I say, exasperated as Kara flops down on my couch face first.

Mon El. . .

I love my twin brother, don’t get me wrong, but he can be such a jackass sometimes.

Since he started going out with Kara, he has changed for the better, but sometimes he slips up and that’s when I get involved because not long after waking up here on Earth, Kara’s took an instant liking to me.

Unlike my brother I didn’t break out of the DEO, I didn’t send out a distress call that got me arrested, and I’ve never believed our people’s claims that the Kryptonians were responsible for all our hardships, which meant Kara and I became friends rather quickly.

And as her friend I’m one of the only people she can talk to about Mon El because I know him better than anyone and I’m more often than not the one who talks some sense into him whenever he messes up.

Now, I could say I don’t mind because that’s what friends are for, but I do because I hate how I was too shy to ask her out and when I mentioned it to him, he swooped in and asked her out himself.

It’s like he doesn’t even care about her and only did it to one-up me once again, the same way he’s been doing all his life.

Kara groans and I take a seat beside her head, taking off her glasses so she doesn’t accidentally break them. “He just doesn’t listen!”

Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.

I sigh and scratch at my eyebrow. “Why? What happened?”

I don’t want to know. It makes me furious, seeing how he treats her, but I want to be a good friend, so I’m offering her a shoulder to cry on.

Kara takes a deep breath before sitting up. She looks like a bug wiggling its legs in the air while doing so, but she manages to do it and sinks back into the cushions, her head landing on my shoulder.

It’s a familiar position and even though I know it’s friendly on her part, I can’t help the butterflies that erupt in my stomach every time she’s this close.

She smells like floral perfume and liquor, the latter being a little overwhelming for my sensitive nose, but I couldn’t care less. All that matteres right now is that she’s comfortable and safe.

God, what would the world do if they saw Supergirl in this state? Wasted over a fight with her boyfriend. . .

I shake my head and force myself not to think like that. Kara isn’t just Supergirl; perfect, charming and selfless. She’s also Kara and she, like everyone else, isn’t perfect.

“We were dealing with some bank robbers earlier,” she starts, still slurring her words but sounding more sober than before, “and I told him— I TOLD him— I had it under control, but he swooped in anyway.”

Yup, that sounds like him.

I have the same powers he has, but I don’t want to be a superhero. I just want to live a normal life, just like I’ve always wanted, even back on Daxam, and because I now have the freedom to choose, I choose to work as a manager and barista at Noonan’s. I like connecting with people and the simplicity of the job, which makes it perfect.

From time to time I do help the DEO of course, but only if I really have to. Otherwise I stick to my new, boring life.

I hum in acknowledgment and wait for Kara to continue.

“They got away with the money,” she says, “and I got a slab of concrete hurled at me. . . And then he has the audacity to accuse me of letting them get away, as if I didn’t have to use my body to shield them and prevent him from accidentally killing them with that piece of concrete!”

“I— Wow.” Is all I can manage to say and when I look to my left I’m startled to find Kara looking up at me with big, puppy dog eyes.

“Why can’t he just listen?” she whispers, her eyes darting between mine. “I mean, you listen. You always listen. Why can’t he?”

I swallow thickly and look at my hands in my lap. Mon El and I might be twins, but that’s where the similarities end.

I feel myself getting hot under Kara’s intense stare, so clear my throat and mumble, “I don’t know, Kara. But I’m sorry he’s acting like this.”

I would never do something like that to you.

I don’t say that because we’re just friends and because I’m not going to be the one who ruins their relationship.

Kara sighs and rests her head back on my shoulder, closing her eyes. She wraps her arms around my arm and within seconds her breathing evens out and I know she’s asleep.

Damn you, Mon El . . .

I shift around until I can get out of her embrace, carefully directing her so she’s lying on the couch. I take off her shoes and drape a thin blanket over her, knowing full well that she won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

Now

I cough and blink my eyes open. Everything is white and blurry, so I rub my eyes with my hands.

A familiar face swims in front of me and when I blink a couple of times, it comes into focus.

“Brainy?” I ask, coughing once more. “Are we back in the 31st century?”

He shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. “No. There have been some. . . complications.”

My eyebrows shoot up and I step out of the cryo-pod. My clothes are sticking to my body and I gladly accept the stack of dry clothes Brainy holds out. “What kind of complications? Where’s Mon El? Is he still asleep?”

Brainy’s eye twitches in a telltale way and he turns around when I start taking off my shirt. “No, he is awake. He is out looking for a power source for the ship.”

I narrow my eyes at the back of his head and finish changing, running a hand through my damp hair. “Where exactly is he? I know there something you’re not telling me, Brainy.”

He peaks over his shoulder to make sure I’m decent before turning back around. “There is nothing I’m not telling you, Y/N.“

I scoff and brush past him to the ships main computer to see what’s going on. Before I can get my hands on the control panel though, he slips in front of me, blocking my view.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

I raise an eyebrow. “What am I doing? What are you doing? Move, please.”

He shakes his head and grimaces. “I can’t do that.”

Frustration bubbles in the pit of my stomach and I clench my jaw so as to not snap at him. “Why not? What is going on?!”

Brainy opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water, but nothing comes out.

“Brainy, I swear—“

“Y/N.”

I spin around at the familiar voice and glare at my brother who’s dressed in his red Legion suit.

“Mon El.” I acknowledged him with a nod and send Brainy one last glare before asking, “What’s going on? Where are we? Or should I say when are we?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve got what we need and we should be back home in no time,” he replies and when my eyes drop to his hands I realize he’s holding a power cell.

Why is no one telling me what is going on?

My frustration turns into anger when Mon El tries to move past me without elaborating, so I grab his arm and yank him back.

“Either you tell me what’s going on right now, or I’m leaving the ship to find out myself!” I seethe through gritted teeth and it fills me with satisfaction to see him flinch ever so slightly.

He quickly reassumes his unfazed demeanor though and calmly replies, “Look, you weren’t supposed to wake up before I got back. We’re not home yet, which is all that matters, but I have what we need to get back, so don’t worry.”

I’m about to lunge at him when Imra boards the ship, also dressed in her Legion suit.

So they were out together. . .

“Mon El, Kara told me—“

She freezes when her eyes land on me and when it registers what she just said my heart drops. I let go of Mon El’s arm and turn to face her with shaking hands. “What did you just say?”

It’s almost a whisper but because it’s dead silent right now, Imra hears me.

“Y/N. You’re awake,” she says carefully, her eyes darting between me and Mon El.

“Yeah, no shit.” I take big step forward so I’m face to face with her, pointing at her chest. “Now tell me. What were you going to say?“

She swallows thickly, looking like a deer caught in headlights and when I don’t back down, her eyes drop to the floor and she mumbles, “Kara wanted me to tell Mon El that Winn managed to locate another power cell, should we need one that is. . .”

My jaw drops and my heart races in my chest. I spin around and stare at Mon El in disbelief.

“Kara?” I croak. “Kara?!“

Mon El sets down the power cell and hols out his hands to calm me down, but I’m way past the point of being calmed down now. “Y/N, please don’t make a big deal out of this. I—“

“No, you don’t get to talk to me like that!” I cried, feeling tears well up in my eyes. “How dare you not tell me we were back?”

His face is contorted into a conflicted grimace, and he tries to come up with an excuse, but I’m not having it.

“You weren’t going to wake me up, were you? You weren’t ever going to tell me about this, were you?” My voice breaks more and more as I continue speaking until I’m a crying mess.

“Y/N. . .” Imra places a hand on my shoulder, but I shrug her off, taking several steps back to glare at all three of my supposed friends.

“No, just stop,” I choke out, wiping at my tears. “I’ve waited, hoped, seven years for this moment, and you weren’t going to say anything.“

I stare at each of them for an explanation, or a reason as to why they weren’t going to tell me, but no one says anything, so I square my shoulders and use my sleeve to tame the never ending stream of tears.

“Wow. So much for family,” I scoff and make my way to the ship’s door. No one dares to stop me and as soon as I step outside, there’s only one thing left on my mind: Finding Kara.

Seven Years Ago

“Here you go.” I smile and hand Maya, one of our regulars, her coffee over the counter. She reciprocates the smile and thanks me before leaving.

I grab the next ticket and look it over, seeing that I only have to make a cappuccino and a hot chocolate.

I get to work, moving flawlessly around the space next to my coworker Conan, only to be pulled to the side when I go out back to grab a new crate of coffee beans.

“Kara, what the hell?” I shriek when I see the blonde grinning at me. She’s wearing her Supergirl suit and her blonde hair looks windswept.

“Hi!”

I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose and set down the coffee beans. “You can’t just sneak up on someone like that. One of these days I’m going to have a heart attack because of you,” I say, my lips twitching when she scratches her neck in embarrassment.

“You’re right I’m sorry,” she says, her smile not faltering, “even though I don’t think you could even have a heart attack if you tried.”

I roll my eyes playfully and pull her into a hug. She laughs and hugs back, and I’m pretty sure if I were human she would have broken my neck by now.

“Don’t get smart with me,” I warn with a chuckle when we pull back and she just smiles, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear. “So, what brings you by? Not my idiot brother again, I hope.”

Kara grimaces and shifts awkwardly. “Actually that’s exactly why I came by.”

I deflate and force myself to ignore the hurt that always claws at my heart when she talks about her relationship with Mon El. “Oh, alright then. What happened?”

For the first time ever, she seems to pick up on my change in mood pertaining this particular topic and she frowns. However, when I raise an eyebrow expectantly she clears her throat and a tentative smile tugs at the corner of her lips. “Well, I. . . I broke up with him.”

My eyes widen and I can’t stop a confused, “Why?” from slipping past my lips.

It was probably not the reaction she was expecting because she falters and starts nervously tugging at her skirt. “I-I just realized we don’t working together and he is just so different and— I thought you’d be happy for me.”

Seeing her pout I’m quick to grab her hands and make her look at me. “No, no, no. I am happy for you. I just— I thought maybe he broke your heart and you were sad about it and— I’m sorry. I’m glad you’re okay, and I’m glad you’re happy. That’s all that matters.”

Uncertainty flits across her face and her blue eyes search my face when she asks, “Really?”

I nod and squeeze her hands with a soft smile. “Really.”

Kara beams the next second and throws her arms around my neck. “You’re the best friend ever. How about we go out and celebrate tonight? I’ll ask Alex, Lena, and Sam to come, too.”

My heart breaks a little at the word friend, but I don’t let it show when I agree. “Sure. Just text me when and where and I’ll be there.”

“Yay!” Kara giggles and pulls back, her face lit up with happiness.

I smile fondly at the sight, feeling my heart flutter before scolding myself.

Stop, she’s your friend. Nothing else.

I sigh and gesture behind me. “I should get back to work.”

“Of course!” Kara’s eyes widen in realization, but she doesn’t lose her smile.

I return a half-hearted smile and get back to work, hearing the whooshing of her taking off just as the door closes behind me.

Since she broke up with Mon El three months ago, Kara has been around even more than before.

She shows up at Noonan’s daily just to chat which has gotten her in trouble with Snapper more often than not, and she spends most nights on my couch, passed out from her Supergirl duties.

Tonight was game night at her place and everyone except me has already left, leaving behind empty beer bottles and candy wrappers.

It was fun and filled with friendly competition, leaving a lingering warm feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I pick up the empty wine glass Lena drank out of and take it to the kitchen along with some empty beer bottles.

“I told you, you don’t have to do that,” Kara says, joining me in the kitchen with the empty popcorn bowl.

I shrug her off and take the bowl from her, placing it in the dishwasher before wiping my hands on my pants. “And I told you, I don’t mind.”

Kara’s blue eyes soften and she crosses her arms, her hands disappearing in the sleeves of her (my) sweatshirt. She borrowed it one night after showing up at my apartment covered in soot and ash, and she hasn’t returned it since.

The longer she watches me, the more nervous I get and I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “So, uh— How’s life?” I ask awkwardly which makes Kara chuckle.

She tilts her head adorably and smiles. “I can’t complain. How about you? How’s Maya?”

I cringe inwardly at the mention of Maya and shake my head with a soft laugh. We went on one date a couple of weeks ago because she asked me out, but I’m too hung up on the blonde in front of me, so I let Maya down gently.

Weirdly enough, Kara hasn’t stopped pestering me about it even though I keep telling her that there’s nothing going on between Maya and I.

“She’s fine I think. I told you I haven’t spoken to her since our date,” I say, drawing shapes on the counter next to me.

Kara raises an eyebrow and her eyes hold something I can’t quite place. “Well, is there someone else then?”

It’s a little weird how interested she is in my love life lately, but I try not to read too much into it.

“No,” I say quietly and Kara uncrosses her arms with a satisfied smile.

“Good. I don’t like sharing my best friend,” she says, placing a hand on my chest.

I swallow thickly and bite the inside of my cheek. “Yup.”

Kara squeezes my shoulder and moves past me, getting comfortable on the couch and looking at me expectantly when I don’t follow.

We usually watch a movie together after everyone’s already gone, but I don’t feel like staying tonight because it just hit me that she’ll never see me as anything other than a friend.

After she broke up with Mon El I thought I might get my chance with her after all, but now I know that that won’t be the case and all I want to do is go home and wallow in self pity.

“Actually, I think I’m going to head home, too,” I mumble, looking down as I drag myself to the door to put on my shoes and jacket.

Kara jumps off the couch and hurries toward me. “What? Why?”

I sigh and glance at her, seeing the confusion and hurt on her face.

“I’m pretty tired and I have an early shift tomorrow morning,” I say, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose again.

“O-Okay,” Kara stutters and I only hug her briefly before leaving, ignoring the way her eyes burn into the back of my head as I step into the elevator.

Now

I fly over National City, admiring the twinkling lights in the dark of the night as I make my way to a familiar apartment.

It’s cold and a few snowflakes land and melt on my face as I continue flying, but I ignore them and close my eyes briefly, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

The last time I was here, my lung felt like it was on fire but since being cured of my lead allergy in the 31st century, that is no longer an issue.

I descend slowly when I get close to my destination, feeling nervousness rise up in the pit of my stomach.

What if she doesn’t want to see me? What if she moved on? I mean, it’s been seven years. . .

Seven Years Ago

“What are we going to do?” Kara asks desperately, pacing back and forth.

We’re at the DEO, trying to figure out what to do about my mother’s attempt at invading the planet.

Alex looks to be deep in thought and Winn and Lena are talking in hushed voices a few steps away.

“Well, we could always use the device Lillian—“

Alex gets cut off immediately by Kara starting her down. “Absolutely not. We have to think of something else.”

I frown and glance at Clark who’s silently watching the whole scene unfold next to a defeated looking Mon El.

“What device?” I ask and when Alex and Kara go on bickering I ask again, this time louder and a little more aggressive. “What device?!”

No one says anything for a second but then Winn clears his throat and steps forward. “Lena and Lilian came up with a fail safe device that releases trace amounts of lead into the atmosphere when activated.”

I regret asking and immediately know why Kara doesn’t want to use it. It wouldn’t only force my mother and all the other Daxamites to leave, but also Mon El and me.

“I’m going to fight Rhea, and I’m going to win. There’s no other option. We’re not going to use that thing.” Kara states with a huff and it seems as though a decision has been made, but before anyone can leave I step forward with squared shoulders.

“No, you are not fighting our poor excuse of a mother,” I say calmly. “We are using the device. No one else has to get hurt and if it means Mon El and I have to leave as well, then so be it. Right?”

I look at Mon El and despite not seeing eye to eye on most things, he agrees with me and nods solemnly.

Kara whips around and glares at me. “We can’t just—“

“Yes you can,” I interrupt, turning to Alex before Kara can say anything else. “Get the device ready. Mon El and I will get our affairs in order and return to the DEO as soon as possible. You said Kara’s spaceship is still in working order, right? We’ll use it to get off Earth as soon as the lead is released.”

Alex pulls me in for a hug and lets out a shuddering breath but agrees to the plan and orders Winn and Lena to finish making the distributor.

Clark regards me with reverence and bows slightly, leaving shortly after to help in the ongoing fight against the invasion.

Mon El leaves too, shaking Alex’s hand and hugging Kara briefly, leaving me behind with the two sisters.

“I can’t believe you just did that!” Kara seethes, jabbing me in the chest with her finger. “I can fight Rhea. I can win!”

“No!” I argue, shoving her hand away and taking a step back. “You can’t win. My mother fights dirty and you will lose and I won’t let that happen. Not when there’s something I can do about it.”

Alex watched us with an uncomfortable look on her face before deciding she’s seen enough. She wordlessly slips out of the room and makes sure the door is properly shut behind her.

“Well, I’m not going to let you jet off into space with nowhere to go. You will die out there!” Kara spits through gritted teeth, the vein on her forehead pulsing dangerously.

“You don’t know that! But I know that you will get hurt if you fight my mother!” I shout and it makes her flinch because I’ve never raised my voice at her.

“But I can try! Why won’t you just let me do this?”

“Because I love you!”

I slap my hand over my mouth and watch as Kara’s eyes widen.

Well, I guess it’s out there now. . .

I sigh and take off my glasses, folding them before sliding them into my pocket.

“I love you, Kara, and not in a best friend kind of way. I won’t let you get hurt.”

Kara gapes at me and when she doesn’t say anything I clench my jaw and brush past her. “Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go home and get my affairs in order. There’s not much time left.”

Hurt claws at my throat when I leave the stunned superhero behind and I don’t try to stop the oncoming wave of tears.

I knew she didn’t think of me as more than a friend, but her blatant rejection of my feelings just now hurts more than anything I’ve ever felt before.

There’s not much I have to do when I get home because there isn’t much I can take with me, but I do sign the lease of the apartment over to my coworker Conan. He’s been looking for a new place to stay for a couple of months now and the apartment is payed off until the end of the year.

I also sign a resignation letter for work and put it on the kitchen counter next to my spare set of keys.

I’m just about to take some of the picture frames off the wall when I notice a nearing, familiar heartbeat.

I turn around just in time to see Kara coming in through the window with tears streaming down her face.

“What—“

I get cut off by a pair of lips on my own and my eyes widen before slamming shut.

Kara’s desperately pulling me closer by the back of my neck and I have to place my hands on her hips to stop myself from toppling into her.

She kissed me passionately and frantically, and I wince when I taste her salty tears.

I push at her hips, effectively breaking the kiss and stare at her questioningly. “What are you doing, Kara?”

I can’t let her play with my heart. Not now when I’m about to leave.

Another tear makes its way down her cheek and I fight the urge to wipe it away. She looks utterly hopeless and broken and when she whispers, “I love you, too’” the world stops spinning for a moment.

“It’s why I broke up with Mon El in the first place. You get me like no one else does. You listen to what I say and you’re kind, and modest, and your soul is beautiful. I can’t just let you leave. I-I want to go on dates with you. I want to hold your hand and wake up next to you. I want to make you breakfast in bed and kiss you until you’re breathless. Please don’t leave. Please. . .”

I feel my bottom lip tremble and squeeze my eyes shut. That is what I’ve wanted to hear for so long, and it’s so unfair that it’s just a little too late now.

“Kara, I can’t,” I whisper, opening my eyes again to find her blue eyes already on me.

She whimpers and surges forward, capturing my lips in another heated kiss.

I don’t fight her at all, pulling her closer by her waist until there’s virtually no space left between us.

Her lips are soft and warm, even though they’re moving against mine quite aggressively, and I sigh against her mouth when she buries her fingers in my hair and tugs me even closer.

I could get lost in this kiss and if it weren’t for the sudden burning sensation in my lungs I probably would have.

My grip on her waist involuntarily tightens and I pull back to double over and cough violently. It feels like I’m breathing fire and my throat closes, making me wheeze.

They released the lead.

I look up with tears in my eyes to find Kara watching me in horror.

“No, please. Not now,” she says, desperately cupping my cheeks.

She raises a hand to the comms device in her ear and frantically says something to the person on the other end. I’m assuming it’s Alex, but I can’t focus on what’s being said because the next time I cough, I’m coughing up blood.

It runs down the side of my mouth and I’m suddenly too weak to wipe it away, so Kara does it with alarm written all over her face.

She grabs me around the waist and hoists me over her shoulder, dashing out of the window within the blink of an eye.

The position is a little awkward and uncomfortable but I can’t focus on anything other than trying to get enough air in my lungs.

When we touch down on a field in the middle of nowhere, I see Mon El is already there, waiting and coughing next to Kara’s spaceship.

Kara sets me down gently and cups my cheeks again. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

I shake my head and press a kiss to the inside of one of her wrists, my hands landing on her hips as I sway dangerously on my feet.

I’m too weak to say anything so I just smile weakly, hoping it’s enough to show her that I’m not mad.

“I love you,” she chokes out, pulling out a necklace from beneath her suit. I realize it’s her mother’s and I try to pull away when she presses it into one of my hands. I can’t take something so valuable from her, but she just nods her head adamantly and pleads, “Take this. . . take this, please. It will keep you safe.”

I give in and cough again, holding my breath when she presses her lips against mine one last time.

When she pulls back and pushes me toward the ship, her face is twisted in agony and I know there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her not to feel this way.

But there’s nothing I can do, so I get into the ship behind Mon El, clutching her necklace against my chest as the hood materializes above us and we start to ascend.

I mouth I love you, and watch her shrinking figure through the glass. She waves goodbye and I almost break down completely at the sight of her watery smile.

Now

I land on Kara’s balcony, suddenly no longer sure about whether or not I want to do this, but then I see her through the window.

She’s curled up on the couch with a thin blue blanket draped over her. The TV is off and she’s not on her phone either, making me frown and wonder what she’s doing but then I see her wiping her cheek with the back of her hand.

My heart drops at the sight of her looking so dejected and I step forward without thinking and knock on the door.

She freezes for a second before slowly looking up. Her eyes widen when the land on me and she stumbles to her feet, almost tripping over the blanket in her haste to get to the door.

She flings it open, breathing heavily and staring at me with her bloodshot eyes.

“Hey,” I whisper softly and it takes only a couple of seconds for her to throw her arms around my neck and sob into my shoulder.

For the first time in seven years it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her infinitely closer.

The familiar smell of her vanilla shampoo makes my own eyes sting and I choke out a sob.

“You’re here,” she says against my skin, refusing to let go. “I don’t understand. Mon El said you stayed in the future.”

I want to be angry at that revelation, but I just can’t be when I have her in my arms. I press a kiss to her temple and let my lips linger for a moment. “No, I’m here. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere ever again.”

Kara’s arms around me tighten and I bend down to pick her up by the back of her legs, carrying her inside.

She wraps her legs around my waist as I close the door behind us, and breathes heavily against my neck.

I move toward the couch and sit down, holding her in my lap as she continues to cling to me.

We stay like that until her sobs die down and she pulls back to look me in the eyes. Her hands cup my cheeks and she traces her thumbs over my cheekbones.

“I love you,” she croaks and I let out a shaky breath, pressing my forehead against hers.

My hands find their way to her hips and I squeeze carefully, whispering, “I love you, too.”

Kara brushes her nose against mine and pecks my lips tentatively. It sends sparks through my body and I respond immediately and move forward for more.

She hums, satisfied, and deepens the kiss by tugging at my bottom lip with her teeth. I gasp in surprise and she uses the opportunity to slip her tongue past my lips and brush it against my own.

It’s a feeling I’ve been craving since she kissed me for the first time and I haven’t stopped thinking about it for the past seven years.

Much too soon for my liking, Kara pulls back. She rests her hands on my chest and traces her index finger along the chain of the necklace she gave me. “Listen, I know it’s been seven years for you, but you have to know that it’s only been seven months for me since you left,” she reveals quietly and I feel my stomach drop when she adds, “So, you know, I get it if you’ve moved on. I mean, Mon El got married, so surely you—“

I cut her off with a soft kiss, letting my lips trail over her cheek and jaw before they land on her neck.

I nip slightly at her sensitive skin, drawing a barely audible moan from her before pulling back completely to meet her eyes.

“I would wait a lifetime if it meant I got to see you again,” I admit, my eyes darting between hers. Then to lighten the mood, I joke, “But I sure hope you haven’t moved on yet because if you have you’re going to be in quite a bit of trouble.”

The smile that lights up her face makes my heart flutter and she quickly shakes her head, denying that she’s seeing anyone.

“I haven’t gotten over you since you left and I honestly don’t know if I ever would have, but that doesn’t matter anymore. You’re here now and I’m not letting you go again.” She whispers that last part and closes the distance between us again to press a kiss to my neck right below my ear.

It makes me shudder and when she smiles against my skin, knowing exactly the effect she has on me, I pinch her side playfully.

She giggles and trails kisses up the side of my face, all the way across my forehead and down my nose until her lips land on mine in a short peck.

“So, what now? What’s going to happen to you and the Legion?” she asks, finding my hand to play with the Legion ring.

I shrug and trace patterns on her lower back with my unoccupied hand. “I will have some words with Mon El and the others about not waking me up, but I can promise you that I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. You’re stuck with me now.”

Kara laughs softly and squeezes my hand, wiggling forward on my lap so she can rest against my chest, her head tucked into the crook of my neck. “Good because I really want to go on dates with you and make you breakfast in bed.”

I smile and kiss the top of her head. “I can’t wait.”

________________________________________________

Jesus, that was a long one, but I needed a break from No Matter What. . .

[swaps55]

Fugue - 17 - All The Time

Art by @eluvisen. From left to right, Corporal Muriel Aslany, Lieutenant Commander Kaidan Alenko, and Specialist Kara Pendergrass.

Pairing: mShenko

Rating: M

Tags: Angst, Grief, Major (Canonical) Character Death

Summary: Alchera, and the two-year gap.  

Chapter Summary: Epilogue

Thank you to everyone who stuck with this story. I started writing it in the fall of 2020, and it’s been the most difficult writing journey I’ve ever taken. Writing Fugue was like fighting a war, and there were many times I didn’t think I would get to the end. The story was too ambitious, outside my scope as a writer, and just too difficult to do justice. But it was very important to me, and I wanted to give it my best shot. The fact that I am posting the epilogue is in large part because of everyone who read it, commented on it, supported it, and encouraged me through it. You believed I could do it when I didn’t. Thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart.

Chapter 17: All The Time | Read on Ao3

23 October 2185, Sol System, Local Cluster, Earth, Vancouver

Light rain starts to fall when Kaidan heads back to his parents condo in Vancouver, a fresh jar of saffron tucked into his pocket that will, at least in his mother’s eyes, save dinner from being a disaster.

Shadows from the surrounding skyscrapers loom large in the quickly fading light as he heads up the street and around the corner, wishing he’d thought to bring an umbrella. The rain and wind with winter on its mind make the last eleven weeks he spent at the Villa a distant memory. Should have grabbed a better jacket.

He shakes rain off his boots as he gets in the elevator, checking his omni-tool one more time to make sure his mother hadn’t thought of anything else she’d forgotten, or worse, Pendergrass had found some way to make the oven explode in his absence. Leaving her and Aslany alone in a confined space with his parents feels like a tactical misstep, but the afternoon had passed without incident, if you didn’t count Pendergrass’ elcor sex joke. Which, given his father’s fifty year career in the military, probably wasn’t anything they hadn’t already heard.

Besides, his mother had laughed.

Light and a blast of warmth spill into the hallway when he opens the door, on the heels of Pendergrass’ laughter. The smell of the stew, Khoresh-e Fesenjoon, made special for Aslany, is enough to make his mouth water. He’s pretty sure the saffron isn’t going to make much difference in the end, but you can’t tell his mother that.

Pendergrass and his father stand in the living room, eyes on the photo wall that his mother has so carefully tended over the years. Normally his mother is the one who tries to embarrass him with old photos, but apparently his father is on duty tonight.

Kaidan kicks off his boots in the foyer so he doesn’t track in the rain and heads to the kitchen, where his mother and Aslany peer into a dutch oven. Aslany has a spoon in her hand and a look of concentration on her face.

“Not sweet enough, is it?” Kaidan’s mother says.

Aslany shakes her head. “Needs more molasses.”

“Or saffron,” Kaidan says, handing her the jar.

“Goodness, is it raining?” his mother exclaims at the sight of him. “Hang on, there’s a few spare towels in your old bathroom, and I can grab one of your dad’s sweaters.”

“I can take care of it,” Kaidan tells her with a chuckle, hand on her arm to keep her from charging out of the kitchen. “Take care of the stew.”

“I don’t know, I think Muriel’s got it,” his mother says, offering Aslany a proud grin. “Don’t think I’m even needed here.”

Aslany ducks her chin, flush building at the back of her neck. Leave it to his mother to be able to charm Aslany right out of the gate. His mother straightens his collar and smiles at him. “Thanks for running to the store.”

“Can’t have a chicken stew without saffron,” he says in mock horror. “What would the neighbors think?”

Her smile deepens, and suddenly she tugs him into a hug. She squeezes him tight before she lets him go.

“What was that for?” he asks.

“Good to see you smile again,” she says, before making a face and wiping at her shirt.

Read from the beginning | Read the rest on Ao3 | The Fugue Playlist

[saiilorstars]

Ch.10: The Solar Hybrid

Story Masterlist ◦ Anais’ Masterlist ◦

Also on: Fanfic • Ao3

Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​ @arrthurpendragon​​ @anotherunreadblog​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​ @stareyedplanet​​ @foxesandmagic​​

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

It was late at night when Anais got word that their unconscious man was not so conscious anymore. The man had woken up and attacked Kara and about half a dozen other DEO agents before making his escape into the city. When Anais sped into the place, things had already been done.

"Are you guys okay?" She rushed up to Kara and Alex.

Kara seemed relatively unharmed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just a little shaken. Where is he?"

"He disappeared into the city," Alex said, having watched it with her own eyes.

"Which is just what I don't need," J'onn stopped beside the three, "A rogue Kryptonian on the loose just as the President is due for a visit."

"We haven't proved that he's a Kryptonian," Anais reminded them. "And — wait," she paused, "Did you just say that the President is coming here? Like, here, here?"

Even Kara was surprised at the news.

"Yeah," J'onn nodded, "she wants to tour the DEO while she's in National City to sign the Alien Amnesty Act."

"The Alien Amnesty act?" Anais felt way behind on the news. To be fair, she had not watched the news in a while.

Kara was very much up to speed on the matter. Her entire face lit up. "It's amazing, an executive order allowing aliens on Earth to come out of the shadows and live as full citizens. She's making history!"

"Not in my book, I think she's making a big mistake," J'onn's words pulled Kara down from her happy state.

Anais looked at the Martian curiously. "You don't think it's a good idea?"

J'onn shook his head. "It's been my hard experience that humans and aliens don't mix."

"What about us?" Kara made a gesture at all three of them, apart from Alex.

"What about us? We can look like them, we blend in, a lot of aliens can't. And people in this world don't have much tolerance for others who look different. I say that as an alien and as someone who's worn the face of a black man for 15 years."

"He's making some good points," Anais mumbled, earning a dumbfounded look from Kara. It didn't help when Alex joined in as well.

"J'onn's right. I can count the number of good aliens I know on one hand, with two fingers to spare."

Kara couldn't believe her ears. "Well, I'm just glad the President doesn't see things the way you three do."

"Hey, I haven't made my opinion up yet," Anais pointed out. "I see both sides and their validity. I had to hide, Kara, and the humans did kill my mother…because of my own human father."

Kara was smart enough not to argue with that detail.

"Well, you two better be on your best behaviors when you meet her," J'onn said, drawing both their attention.

"What?" They simultaneously blinked.

"She expects National City's highest-profiling aliens to greet her on the tarmac."

"I'm meeting the President?" Kara pointed at herself.

"No fucking way," Anais mumbled under her breath.

"Unless you're too nervous to do so," Alex teased the pair.

"Nervous? No!" Kara laughed, absolutely nervously.

"Yes!" Anais wasn't afraid to admit it. "This is the woman who signed my freedom! I-I get to meet her!?"

"You two will be representing this entire organization," J'onn continued sternly, "I expect you'll be professional."

"Yes!" Kara and Anais exclaimed dutifully, but still both giggling nervously.

"And for the record, she's the one who's lucky to meet you two," J'onn said with a wink.

"Should I get a blow out?" Kara suddenly asked, picking up a strand of her hair for a better look.

J'onn's pride waned at that moment. "Oh, dear God."

"Maybe I should cut my hair," Anais started debating. It started a whole discussion between her and Kara about their appearance for that day.

~0~

To start the day off at CatCo., James called an editorial meeting with everyone about the President's arrival and Amnesty Act. He leaned back on his desk, facing the crowd of employees around him, including Kara and Anais.

"Welcome, guys, to an editorial meeting for the history books," he smiled, "I truly believe, one day we'll stand in front of our kids and tell them where we were when the President stood up for all individuals' rights. Regardless of birth planet. So, we need a banner headline. Thoughts?"

"We're going to stand here and pitch headlines?" Snapper cut in, looking unsurprisingly grim.

"Well, that's kind of how it goes around here, Snapper," James replied.

"You don't come up with a headline first, Olsen. You go on the street first, find the news peg. The headline comes second."

"Well, Cat Grant—"

"Puff princess did it this way. Put the cart before the horse. You said that already. Are you gonna be a pale carbon copy of your former boss or are you gonna be a hard news man? Make your own mark."

James had not expected to be called out, and neither did Kara or Anais for that matter. Both blondes looked between the men anxiously. James had a lot to say but he felt saying them in front of the entire company wasn't his best move.

"Okay, um...let's take a pause on the headline then," he ultimately said, ignoring the smug look on Snapper's face. "Our first priority is to get an exclusive with the President. Everything else today is icing."

"I say everything else is bread and butter," Snapper once again cut in and practically tool over the meeting as he started handing out assignments, "Scope, call the AFL for a response to the bill. Do the unions fear legal aliens are gonna flood the labor market, lower wages? How does the American worker feel about competing for jobs with aliens?"

James would let it be in favor of keeping the atmosphere light. "Fine, great. So next meeting—"

"Addison, on the CDC. What bacteria and diseases are these aliens bringing from other planets? What medical protocols are in place? Morris, you do the human-interest piece. "Inter-planetary marriage." Get quotes from priests, rabbis, Mormons, Unitarians. As for the POTUS interview—"

"Danvers is on that," James managed to cut in.

"Danvers is a rookie," Snapper remarked, "We need someone hard-hitting."

"Believe me, she's hard-hitting."

Kara nodded fervently. "Trust me, I can pack a punch like you would not believe. Plus I may or may not be running into the President later."

Snapper didn't seem to have heard Kara when he handed out her assignment to someone else. "Parker, you get POTUS. Danvers, you get Lena Luthor. Her brother is infamous for his anti-alien sentiments. The desk needs all your copy by noon, and if you want to keep your credentials, it better be clean."

Anais glared after the man as he declared the meeting over and led the others out. "I really hate that guy," she bluntly said afterwards. "James, I can't do your job. I would've fired him already. Literally. I'm saying like into the sun." She has heard things about him from Kara but seeing it up close was another thing.

James only smiled at her. "It's fine."

No, it was not fine. Not at all.

~0~

Supergirl and Solar arrived at the scene on the airport track just as the President was supposed to emerge from her plane. There was already a huge crowd waiting for her. The two aliens landed in front of the crowd, beside a young girl holding out a sign for the president.

"It's pretty awesome, right?" Supergirl asked the little girl. It was hard to tell who the girl was more awed by: the President or Supergirl?

"Do you know her?" The girl asked.

"No, no, not yet, but...I'm pretty sure we'll be cool. You know? Right?"

Solar snorted and chuckled. "Here she comes!"

The crowd started cheering when the President finally stepped out of the plane. She waved at the crowd as her security guided her down the steps.

Out of nowhere, a fireball slammed into one of the security, engulfing him in flames.

"Oh, my God!" Someone cried in the crowd and the poor security man rolled down the stairs, burning alive.

Another fireball came striking down and hit another of the security.

"Go! Go! Go!" Solar yelled at the crowd, ushering them away from the sight.

Supergirl flew into the sky to scope out the flaming enemy. Solar zipped around the area getting those lingering civilians out of the way. More flames came directly for the President. One almost hit her as her security tried getting her into her car.

Solar had taken the security to the proper medics and returned in time to see another fireball coming straight to the President. She waved her arms in front of her like a windmill, creating enough air to blow it out.

Supergirl landed next to the President, ensuring she was okay. She met Solar's eye once the latter turned around — neither one had seen who was behind the attack.

~0~

In the aftermath of the attack, the DEO showed up to clear the area of civilians and start examining their crime scene. Alex came to speak with Sueprgirl and Solar and to share what they had found so far.

"So, where's the President now?" Anais asked as the three walked a bit away from the scene.

"They're taking her back to the DEO," Alex said, eyeing her sister curiously. Despite the situation, Kara had not stopped grinning.

"She was...she was so nice!" Kara giggled girlishly. "And grateful, and she called me Supergirl. And Solar!"

Alex raised an eyebrow at Kara then looked at Anais. The latter just shrugged — Alex was grateful that at least one of their superheroes wasn't completely sidetracked.

"That is your name," Alex soon reminded Kara.

"Yeah, I know that but…" Kara crossed and uncrossed her arms, still giggling, "When she says it, it just sounds better. 'Supergirl'! How did anyone even vote for that other guy?"

Alex grew tired and cut through Kara's excitement. "When you're done fawning over your new best friend...the burn pattern is consistent with a heat-vision signature.

Kara immediately frowned. "Our escaped Kryptonian's been awake six hours and the first thing he does is try and kill the President?"

"Woah, now wait a minute," Anais raised her hands in front of her, "We need to stop assuming things. Kryptonians are not the only ones with heat-vision. I have heat vision, so does Arun. So do a dozen other aliens."

Kara heard Anais and made a gesture that she was acknowledging Anais' opinions, but Anais knew better. Kara had already placed the blame on their guy.

"Winn's working on tracking him," Alex said, "In the meantime, let's gather whatever evidence we can find."

"I think I'll go back to the DEO," Anais said, "Make sure that everyone is being vetted the way they should be." She flashed Kara a knowing smile and sped off.

~ 0 ~

Anais had called in Arun to discuss the matters of the attack. While she had no suspicions about Arun, she wanted to check out his connections. Arun almost laughed in her face when she revealed her intentions.

"I don't have any other alien friends, Anais," Arun said, taking a seat at an empty desk chair.

"Like, nothing?" Anais brought her hands down on her hips. "You expect me to believe there isn't one single alien friend you know of? Acquaintance?"

"When I said I 'lay low', I fully mean it," Arun said, "I keep to myself. It's how I survive."

Anais curiously looked at Arun for a while, and he completely let her. From a distance, she saw the President walking into the bullpen with J'onn and Supergirl. "What do you think about the Amnesty Act?"

Arun looked at her like he was about to laugh. "Seriously? That's what you want to talk about? Not 'hey, when are we finally going to start training?'"

"I'm serious," Anais shrugged, "I've heard plenty of different opinions but…what do you think? You've lived as a human and this new law will allow you to come out to the world as who you really are."

Arun sized Anais for a moment then turned the tables on her by asking what she thought about the Act. Anais didn't have an answer, at least that's what she kept claiming.

"You want my opinion?" Arun asked, bringing his hands together on his lap and crossing his legs.

"Yeah," nodded Anais.

"I think it's a useless law," Arun said bluntly. "The world is not sunshine and rainbows. There are plenty of humans who fear people like us. Hell, even your own friends will fear you."

"What?" Anais scoffed. "My friends do not fear me."

"They might not know it," Arun said, shrugging, "But deep down, they always have a little fear. I mean, take your computer friend over there," he made a nod towards Winn working hard at his desk tracking their missing alleged Kryptonian, "You don't think if you went full-on Solista on him, he wouldn't be afraid of you?"

"That's completely irrelevant," Anais said, crossing her arms. "I would never do that to Winn or anyone else for that matter."

"Never say never," Arun wagged a finger at her. "I'm just saying that this Act won't benefit anyone. Sure, there are some humans who will accept us but for the most part, I don't see the humans respecting the new law."

"So…you wouldn't reveal yourself?" Anais asked.

Arun shook his head. "Not in this lifetime, no."

Anais lowered her head pensively. It didn't take long for Arun to ask her about her opinion again. "I'm not sure," she confessed. "My own father had my mother killed because she was an alien. If the DEO hadn't rescued me, he might have done away with me too."

"So it's fair to say that you have some resentment towards humans," Arun said.

Anais' eyes widened. "No! I…I know that not everyone's the same. I guess I could say that…I'm wary of the Act. I don't know what's going to happen, and I definitely don't know if I'll be revealing myself."

"Fair enough," Arun smiled at her.

Anais let out a sigh and looked towards the President and J'onn.

~ 0 ~

Kara was fuming again when she returned home from her interview with Lena Luthor. Anais was on the couch eating some strawberry shortcake ice cream from a bucket.

"Woah, what's got you all…like that?" Anais waved her spoon at Kara.

"Lena Luthor is completely xenophobic!" Kara dropped her bag on the kitchen aisle. "I mean, so much for wanting to change the perspective on the Luthors!"

"Woah, woah, woah, let's back it up and put some context into this, shall we?" Anais fixed her position on the couch to sit cross-legged. "Can we start from the beginning?"

Kara nodded but as she explained her interview with Lena, she paced back and forth just a tad strong enough to create a draft in the living room. "She's created this-this alien identifier!" She went on to explain how the device would work once it hit the market. "Isn't this horrific!?"

Anais' eyebrows raised as she considered the future with such a product on the shelves. "I mean…I think the world is very troubled, Kara. Yeah, maybe this device might actually do some harm but…if you're telling me the details correctly, wouldn't it only work on people who choose to stick their finger into that thing?"

Kara stopped pacing and flashed an incredulous glare at the Solista. "You support this thing!?"

"I did not say that," Anais said, "But you didn't answer my question either."

Kara groaned. "Okay, yeah! I suppose people would have to choose whether or not they want to stick their finger in but—" she raised a finger at Anais— "who's to say that restaurants or-or bars wouldn't have these posted on the entrances as requirements for customers to be able to go inside?"

"That's a good point," Anais acknowledged the new point, "So, yeah, it would be bad."

Kara groaned again. "Anais, just make up your mind already! Are you for or against this!?"

"I honestly don't know," Anais continued to answer calmly and perhaps that's what irritated Kara even more. Why was she so calm in a situation like this? "I think about it from every angle that I hear, being completely unbiased but…it's hard to make up my mind when I'm so divided. I mean, I'm even biologically divided in this matter. Half alien, half human."

To Kara, she had not heard anything useful. She declared she would go write her article about Lena to turn it in the next morning to Snapper. Anais wouldn't deter her.

~ 0 ~

Anais wasn't remotely surprised when, late in the afternoon, Kara had come to the DEO angrier than ever because Snapper had rejected her article. Anais did, however, know to keep her mouth shut and not future agitate Kara.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Alex came with the news that she had an idea where their missing Kryptonian had gone to hide in.

"How'd you figure it out?" Kara asked while the three women watched Winn pinpoint the location on his computer.

"Never mind that right now," Alex said quickly, "Winn?"

"Check it!" He exclaimed. "Deep space signal. Loud and clear."

"Where is it broadcasting from?"

"The Mount Pride Observatory. And that's where we'll find our alien John Doe."

"He must be trying to contact Krypton," Kara said. "He doesn't know it was destroyed."

"Actually, no. He did not dial Krypton," Winn said the more he looked into the scan.

"Where is the signal going to then?"

"Well, according to these very cool DEO star charts, he beamed a signal directly at a planet called...uh, Dac... Daxam?"

Kara's expression immediately dropped and was quickly replaced with disdain. She took off without saying a word to anyone.

"Um, is that supposed to be significant?" Anais said, completely lost. "Alex, what's the info on Daxam?"

"I-I don't know!" Alex exclaimed, just as confused about Kara's behavior.

Anais sighed and fled the room to catch up with Kara. Even with her speed, she still joined Kara in the observatory a tad late as the Kryptonian and their missing alien fought hand-in-hand.

"Supergirl — stop!" Solar called, but Kara kept going with an unusual aggressiveness in her punch.

"Stay down, Daxamite!" Kara said with an equal disdain in her voice after slamming the man on a table.

"You know where I'm from?" The man looked up at her, groggy yet still lucid enough to be confused.

"Yup!" Supergirl nodded. "And you should have stayed there." She went to grab him again when Solar swept across the room, ramming Supergirl down.

"ENOUGH!" Solar yelled at her and then quickly got up, speeding back beside the man, shooting Supergirl a daring look for her to try fighting again. She grabbed the man's hand and pulled him up, surprising him in the process with her strength and speed. "You, you have a lot of explaining to do," she warned him.

~ 0 ~

The DEO had locked the Daximite in a holding cell and were watching him from the security feed. Kara was absolutely livid with the mere presence of the man, and she was no less angry with Anais as well.

"So…our mystery alien is from Daxam…" J'onn curiously glanced at Kara. He, like everyone else, were trying to decide whether or not this was her most angriest moment.

"I've never heard of Daxam," Winn said, expecting to now hear a lot about it.

"It's a sister world to Krypton," J'onn explained, "Both capable of sustaining life, both orbiting the same sun."

Alex looked over at Kara. "You've never mentioned it before."

"Do the Hatfield's mention the McCoy's?" Kara retorted.

"I take it your planets didn't get along," Alex nodded.

"You don't say?" Anais sarcastically mumbled and ignored Kara's look.

Kara was happy to explain the situation for their understanding. "Hundreds of years ago, Krypton and Daxam fought a bloody war to a stalemate. Thousands of lives were lost on both sides because of a pointless war Daxam started."

"What were they fighting about?" asked Alex.

"Krypton was a democracy. A world of explorers, philosophers, scientists, and Daxam, was a monarchy. With kings and queens who ruled a population of hoodlums. We had a saying on Krypton for Daxamites, "May tex kolar Daxam.""

"And that means…?" Winn asked.

"Nothing I can repeat in English."

Winn wouldn't ask again. "So, if Daxamites are as bad as you just apparently said they were, then it's no wonder this guy is trying to kill the President, right?"

"We don't know that," Anais said again, "Because we haven't really looked into it. Other aliens have heat vision, guys."

"She may have a point," J'onn said, "His reasons for trying to kill the President are unclear."

"I'll ask him why," Kara said, taking off towards the holding cell.

"Uh, are we sure we want to let her do this?" Anais turned to the others, crossing her arms. "She hates the guy and we don't even know him."

"We don't know that he didn't do it," Alex reminded.

"We don't know that he did," Anais countered. "It's biased which, coincidentally, has been Kara's problem these past days." She turned back to the screen and watched as Kara walked into the holding cell. "Let me go in there, J'onn," she said a moment later, "I don't know a single thing about Daxam which means I'll think clearly."

J'onn wouldn't argue with that statement because, had it been another situation, he would have gladly let Anais go instead of Kara. "Let's wait to see how this pans out."

Anais rolled her eyes. She knew exactly how it was going to pan out. And when Kara stormed out of the holding cell, she looked at J'onn again. "I know I'm technically the youngest around here, but I do know my stuff sometimes."

She sped down the hall to the holding cell and then walked right in. The man was lying down on the long bench and didn't bother looking at her when she approached his cell.

"What, are you coming to yell at me too?"

"I don't know, should I?" Anais crossed her arms.

The man gave a sour smile and glanced in her direction. "Thanks for helping out back there. I take it you're not a Kryptonian."

"Careful what you say," Anais warned him, bringing her hands behind her back. "No, I'm not a Kryptonian and while my friend is very upset with me right now, I won't tolerate any slander against her."

The man chuckled lightly and pulled himself up to a sitting position. "She's already blamed me for this attack on a pres-pres — whatever that thing was called. What are you in here for? Proper arrest or something?"

"I'll let you know in a bit," Anais said, "Why don't we start with the basics. What's your name?"

The man tilted his head at her, his dark eyes squinting at her.

"Okay," Anais nodded, "I'll go first then. My name is Solar. I am from Solaris, if you happen to know about it."

The man seemed to recognize the name and even stood up. He looked at her from head to toe at least twice before he spoke. "I've never been to Solaris but we had trade with them. It's supposed to be a beautiful planet with beautiful people to match. The golden hair is a trademark of exquisite beauty."

"Thanks…" Anais said slowly, "But I'm not here to talk about beauty. "What's your name?"

The man smiled lightly. "Mon-El."

"Getting somewhere now," Anais smiled back, "So, Mon-El, you want to tell me why you attacked one of the human's most powerful, if not the most powerful, figure of authority on this planet?"

"I didn't," Mon-El said, "I mean…no offence but that guy didn't exactly seem like an all powerful authority figure. He seemed like a kid."

"Wait, are you talking about the guy from the observatory?"

Mon-El shrugged. "It's the only human I've come across and made contact with."

Anais looked back at the security camera up in the corner of the room. Bingo. He's not our guy. "Um, Mon-El, what…what exactly is it that you want to do now?"

"Well, clearly, it's to get home," Mon-El said, "I don't belong here."

Kara didn't tell him about Daxamite. "Um…"

"You seem to be more kind and, not angry at me," Mon-El said, "Do you think maybe you could talk to whoever is in charge of this place and get them to help me? All I want is to go home, I swear."

Anais let out a heavy sigh. "Let me…see what I can do. Just stay put."

Mon-El opened his arms to remind her of his current place. "I don't think I have much of a choice there."

Anais smiled lightly. She zipped out of the room afterwards.

~ 0 ~

"You're here late," Winn remarked as Anais dropped into the empty chair at the desk next over.

"So are you," she countered.

"I work here. And I'm keeping an eye on our Daxamite."

Anais rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, I'm avoiding Kara right now. She's not very happy that I interviewed Mon-El after her."

"Yeah, you do seem at opposing odds these days."

"I can't help it. I see things differently," Anais shrugged. "Is that wrong?"

"No," Winn shook his head, "But I think we also need to take into account everything Kara's been through lately. It must have been hard seeing a Daxamite here knowing their relationship from the past."

"I hear you," Anais said, "But then what am I supposed to do over here? I see things from a different perspective because I'm neither Kryptonian nor a Daxamite. I'm telling you, Winn, I don't feel like this is our guy. He didn't even know what a President is. And given what we know about Daxam and their monarchy, I'm sure this guy has zero clue what a democracy looks like."

"I hear you too," Winn assured her, "So how about we do this: let's let Kara cool down for the night and you and I can stay here and look through some aliens in our database with heat vision powers?"

A smile spread across Anais' face. "You are such a good friend, Winn." She sped her chair next to his, startling him, and very excitedly pushed her hair back. "Let's get started!"

~ 0 ~

The next morning, Anais and Winn had compiled a decent list to bring up to J'onn and Kara. While J'onn was willing to go through it, Kara resisted.

'It's him, guys,' she had reiterated. She was kind about it at least, giving the impression she had cooled down somewhat but not enough to truly listen to them.

Since the President was going to be signing the Amnesty Act that afternoon, both Solar and Supergirl needed to be present and totally not arguing with one another. One took the sky to patrol and the other the ground to speed around. Alex also helped to scope out the crowd gathering together.

"Does it all look okay?" She asked the two superheroes while still keeping her eyes peeled.

"All clear," Supergirl was happy to report. "With our wayward Daxamite locked up, I don't think we'll have any problems."

Solar walked through the crowd, unable to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Even though it's not him?"

"It is," Supergirl said sternly. Solar said nothing else about it.

Shortly after, the President made her appearance on stage. "My fellow Americans. Over a century ago, this nation erected a monument in New York Harbor. A Statue of Liberty. That Statue looked down upon Ellis Island, where thousands of immigrants came to seek refuge, from a home country that didn't want them, that wouldn't have them. But America took them is our story. The American people today, stand as one with history. No longer will our alien visitors be strangers, committed to the shadows, forced to the fringes of a hostile and unwelcoming world. They will be granted the full rights and privileges of American citizens. The Statue of Liberty will stand for aliens, too. And now, if uh... if someone would just hand me a pen…"

The crowd, along with the President herself, shared a laugh together. One of her colleagues handed her a pen so she could sign.

"Here we go. History." Just as the President was about to sign, a fireball struck the Amnesty Act itself and turned it into flames.

Supergirl immediately looked down from the sky to see the culprit. Solar dashed towards the President, getting her off the stage in a snap.

"Madam President, are you alright?" She asked the woman.

"Yes, thank you," the President nodded shakily.

Solar took the President straight into her car, leaving her in the hands of the Secret Service, and returned to the scene of the fight. A woman in a leather black jacket and bright red hair was throwing constant flames everywhere.

Supergirl landed in front of the woman, warning her to stand down. "Put 'em out or I'll put you out."

The woman didn't listen and continued throwing flames. Supergirl landed a lunch before the woman grabbed her in a chokehold and burned the farmer's hand.

Anais zipped by and threw the woman across. "My turn." Her eyes flashed a bright gold. "And fair warning, we're samesies." Her hands lit up with golden energy and she started to throw one after the other towards the woman.

The woman growled angrily and enveloped herself in flames. Solar smirked with Supergirl, both knowing exactly what to do. Supergitl flew over the woman and started going in circles. Solar ran around the woman in circles as well until they eventually sucked out the oxygen.

The woman fell to her knees, her red curls hanging over her face. Just as Solar and Supergirl approached her, she burst into flames and threw them both back. She made a run for it and crashed into Alex and another woman. She threw Alex into the water fountain with a firey hand and grabbed the second woman in a chokehold. Flames circled around them until they were both gone.

Supergirl hurried to the fountain to pick Alex up and brought her safely to the ground. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," nodded Alex, her eyes sweeping over the leftover scene, "But where's Maggie?"

~0~

Kara couldn't be more miserable. She sunk down in a chair at the DEO, listening to J'onn confirm that Mon-El was not their culprit.

"We should probably let Mon-El go now," Anais said, hearing Kara's questioning 'hmm?' on the side. She looked at Kara with bemusement. "That's his name — Mon-El."

Kara's brows furrowed. "When did you learn his name?"

"When I asked him." At the answer, Kara grew even more confused so Anais explained. "I went in to interrogate him after you left. I found out his name and that he's just trying to get home."

Kara let out a frustrated noise and rubbed her face. "I'm awful. I am completely awful. If I hadn't been so blinded by how I felt about Daxam, we could have been out there searching for the real assassin. And then Detective Sawyer wouldn't be missing.

"Kara, everything will be fine," Anais said, "The important thing is that you saw the light and now we're getting back on track."

"I should have listened to you," Kara said, sinking further down in her chair. Her legs dangled out a great deal. "I'm supposed to be your mentor and you caught this before I did."

"Just because you're my mentor doesn't mean you have to get everything at all times," Anais said, "That would make you God."

"Thanks for not rubbing it in my face," Kara said, sighing.

"That's not what friends are for," Anais said, "So don't even worry about it. Let's just focus on catching this person."

"Alex said she may have a lead," Kara said, straightening up in her seat. "Let's give her a call."

Anais completely agreed.

~0~

Scorcher was their target's name and according to Alex, she had a preferred hideout — a hideous foundry. She had Maggie Sawyer chained up with her arms above her head when they arrived.

Solar decided to go first. She sped down the place, unhooking Maggie and returning her to safety. "Mind if we pick up where we left off?" She then asked Scorcher.

"If it's where I was winning then sure!" Scorcher threw a flame ball at her. Anais easily zipped to the other side, forcing Scorcher to spin around after her.

"From where I stood, it looked like you ran away," Solar remarked with a smirk. "Gonna do that again?"

Scorcher growled and drew her arms back to literally fore again when Supergirl flew down and slammed her foot on Scorcher's back.

"Well," Scorcher coughed and groaned from the ache on her back, "Why am I not surprised that the President's little pets came to her defense? You're both traitors to your people."

Supergirl landed a few feet beside Solar and looked at Scorcher. "It's not us against them."

Scorcher pulled herself up. "Not yet. But I've been to half a dozen planets just like this one. You want to know what they all have in common? The locals lock away anything that they think is different. Out of prejudice, out of fear. There's a reason that you two hide your identities. And it's because the humans can't be trusted."

"No," Supergirl scrunched her face, "It's because criminals like you can't be trusted."

"I mean, let's be honest, this right here—" Solar motioned to the current predicament— "doesn't exactly speak well of you."

Scorcher looked at them with a strange smile. "I think highly of myself."

No one was surprised about that.

Scorcher acted fast and threw a series of flames towards the other women. Solar brought caught each of the flames in her hands, skidding back on her feet, and threw them back at Scorcher. Supergirl flew towards Scorcher then, punching her to the ground.

Scorcher grabbed Supergirl's arm and flipped her over, landing the Kryptonian behind her. Just as Scorcher got up to her feet, two familiar flame balls hit her square in the back, sending her toppling over a table. When she lifted her head, someone hit her with a broken pipeline across the back of the head, finally knocking her unconscious.

Maggie Sawyer kept the pipe piece drop on the ground and looked over at them, completely grinning from side to side. "You guys are fun."

~ 0 ~

The next day, CatCo. was buzzing with news for their readers. So many things had happened in the span of a few days that James had to call for another, almost emergency, editorial meeting. He had most of the reporters in his office, including Kara and Anais, taking notes.

James stood behind his desk, addressing the reporters with the final details of their upcoming issues. "Our banner will read, 'Supergirl and Solar defeat extremist alien, saving the day'," he said proudly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Snapper came stalking into the office, ignoring the looks of the other employees.

James more or less expected that kind of entrance and went along with it. "Dictating the headline after we went out and got the news peg. You got a problem with that?"

"Not that," Snapper slammed an article down on James' desk, "Did you tell someone to kill the first graph on my story?"

"No, I didn't tell someone to do that. I rewrote the piece myself."

Somehow, that seemed even worse to Snapper's ears. "What? You can't just rewrite my piece."

"Actually, Snapper, I can," James was happy to clarify the situation. "'Cause I'm your boss. Doesn't feel good to have somebody encroach on your job, does it?"

"This is outrageous," Snapper said, his voice deadly quiet, "I have complete control of editorial content."

"No. No, you don't. I do."

"Then I'll walk."

With what was one would describe a smug smile, James leaned forward on his desk, looking Snapper in the eyes. "Get to walking."

Anais and Kara exchanged glances with each other. Neither one knew how the other was keeping in their snickers.

Snapper stepped back from James' desk. "All right, Olsen. What do you want?"

"What I want, is a newsroom governed by respect. You stay out of my lane, I'll stay out of yours."

"Fair enough," Snapper muttered, turning away and walking out of the office altogether.

After that, James saw fit to end the meeting as well and sent the rest of the reporters out.

"Nicely done, boss!" Kara cheered for him.

"Yeah," Anais nodded, "That must have felt really good, huh?"

James wouldn't deny that it had.

"Um, okay, I gotta go," Kara started backtracking out of the office, "I have to go talk to the Daxamite — I mean—" she had winced at her own tone— "Mon-El."

Anais smiled at her. "Can't wait to hear how it goes."

"Anais, I'd like to show you something," James said before the Solista even thought about leaving too.

"Okay, yeah," Anais nodded and followed James out of the office. "Can I have a clue?"

James chuckled and led her through the bullpen down the hallway leading to the separate offices. "It's nothing new, really. I officially processed your promotion and so that means…" He stopped beside his old office and opened the door for them, "This is now your office."

Anais' eyes widened. "My office?"

"Yeah!"

"Like…my office?" Anais pointed a finger at herself.

James laughed again. "Yeah, come on in." He opened the door wider for them and motioned Anais to go inside first.

She stepped in and looked around. James had already taken down his personal things and left it bare and neutral for whoever would take it next. "I'm sorry, this just feels so surreal to me."

"Soak it in because the real work starts now," James said, "You can redecorate, of course."

"Ha…redecorate…" Anais felt her mind racing already.

"I'll let you get started…" James walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.

For a speedster, Anais sure felt like time was running slow around her because there were about a dozen things she thought of doing to the office but not enough time to actually do them by tonight.

It was only exactly one hour later when she got her first official visitor in her new office.

"Come in!" She giggled. That would take some getting used to. It helped when she saw just Winn coming in, carrying a laptop in his arms. "Hey! Can you believe it? I got my own office!"

Winn didn't look all that excited. In fact, he seemed kind of grim. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Anais watched him lock the door curiously. "Uuh, yeah…"

Winn hurried over to her new desk and set down his laptop. "I need to show you something."

"DEO related?" Anais asked, presuming it had to be given the privacy of the room.

"Technically," Winn nodded. "I intercepted a message for you."

"For me? I get mail at the DEO?"

"...something like that." Winn reached over to his laptop and brought up an audio file.

'For the girl who is neither nor, the Solar hybrid, we will ensure that you are only from one side, the right one. Cadmus will free and gift humans strong enough with power from you. You, Solar, will fuel the army that will wipe out the intruders on this world. Joining is not an option.'

The audio finished then, leaving a moment of silence as the message settled.

"This is…ridiculous!" Anais exclaimed. "Of course they can't do that! They can't — what? — give people my speed? My powers?" She expected to hear Winn agree with her but when she looked at him, it seemed like he was considering the factors. "Winn!"

"They gave Corben Kryptonite powers," Winn said, to his credit very calmly, "I'm sure CADMUS is not short of advanced technology."

"So? They can't just steal my powers."

"Anna, you're still new at this whole superhero thing. I have seen Supergirl fall sometimes — we both have. I can't imagine what would happen if someone got ahold of your powers. Faster than the speed of light. We have to do something. We have to tell—"

"We don't tell anyone!" Anais snapped. "I'm thankful you only showed this to me. Now do me the solid of keeping it to yourself.

"Anna—"

"Please?"

Winn recognized her puppy-eyed face and also knew that he was not strong enough to say no, however…

"Okay, I won't tell anyone," he said first, giving her a false hope.

"Oh, thanks—"

"But I will be modifying your suit and who knows how long that can take," he finished with a wide smirk.

Anais' eyes were wide in alarm. "What!? But you just finished modifying it!"

"It's my tinkering head," Winn said, grabbing his laptop off the desk. "It never stops working. Even when I'm asleep, it's still coming up with new ideas!" He side stepped Anais and headed to the door. "And these new ideas may take a while to add to the suit so you probably won't be going out for a while!"

"What — Winn!" Anais turned after him. "You can't bench me!"

"Bench?" Winn scoffed. "I'm not benching you. You're just waiting until I finish modifying the suit, that's all. And hey, if it keeps you safe, then it's a win-win. Ha, get it?" He laughed at his own joke and left the office, leaving behind a stunned Anais.

It took her several minutes for it to sink in and the implications it would mean for her future. "Winn!" She sped after him. This could not be.

[ghost-town-story]

FebruarOC Day 26: Zephyr

Aiden walked right past the hallway and a few steps beyond before he registered the dark red that was most definitely not a part of the Sky Palace. He backtracked to the hallway. “What are you doing?”

Alec startled, whirling around. “Nothing,” he said, in that voice Aiden was used to hearing whenever Alec was definitely getting into trouble. But his hands were empty, and Aiden couldn’t immediately see anything out of place.

“Mhm.” Aiden made his way down the hallway. “I’d be more inclined to believe that if you didn’t look so guilty.”

“No I don’t,” Alec muttered, his cheeks coloring a muted indigo as he blushed.

Aiden tsked softly, but let the matter go. It was probably better for him in the long run if he could tell when Alec was doing something he shouldn’t. “What are you doing here?” he asked again. “And don’t tell me nothing; I’d only believe that if you were sick, and you’d be in bed if you were.”

Alec grumbled softly, scuffing at the floor in lieu of answering. Aiden patiently waited him out, smoothing out the errant feathers on the edges of Alec’s wings.

“Got curious,” Alec finally mumbled. “And wanted to prove Kara wrong. She says I’m not a proper Sky prince, because of…” He trailed off for a moment, feathers rustling. “But I knew these paintings were here and I wanted to prove her wrong, that there was another Sky who looked like me.”

Aiden felt his chest ache. He had gotten lucky, with eyes and wings of the Sky and hair that was on the least offensive side of Flame. Alec, with his dark red hair and ember-ash eyes, hadn’t.

“Listen,” he said, putting a hand on Alec’s shoulder and crouching so he was at eye-level with his son. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you look more Flame or Sky. What matters for a prince, for a king, is what’s in here.” He tapped Alec’s chest.

Alec gave him a confused look in response.

“Who you are,” Aiden clarified. “Whether you are kind, and just, and everything else that makes a good leader. Those are the ways you should compare yourself to the past rulers of the Sky, not whether or not any of them look like you.” He glanced at the portrait next to them, and couldn’t help a wince. “Though perhaps not this one in particular.”

“Why not?” Alec asked.

“That is King Zephyr,” Aiden said. “My grandfather. I will say, he did care about our people’s wellbeing. Other than that, though…” All of Aiden’s opinions of the man were tainted by the memory of Zephyr’s contempt for his Flame blood. He cared about the Sky, true, but only the pure Sky.

A part of Aiden, the part of him that was petty and vindictive and loved a bit of drama, couldn’t wait for Zephyr to meet Alec and realize that the next king of the Sky would be a boy who looked more Flame than Sky.

“Well, let’s just leave it at that,” Aiden finished. Alec was still young. There was still time before he would have to learn all about the complicated history of Flame and the Sky, and Zephyr’s and Aiden’s and even his own place in that history.

[chaotic-super]

An Icy Meeting

Supercorptober Day 17 - Café

Kara shifts in her seat, uncomfortable in the tight space she’s sat in. Leave it to her friends to pick the most cramped table in the whole café just because it’s their favourite place to sit. There is barely anyone else around, but they are still sat right next to another table where a small group of women are sitting.

Since Kara arrived last because she had to get an article submitted before lunchtime, she got the last seat available, the one squished in right behind one of the women from the other table.

She has already had to have an awkward exchange with her to get into her chair and she’s dreading the moment one of them has to get up because they’ll have to have another.

The worst part is that Kara can’t even complain to her group about the cramped seating arrangement because she’s sat so close to the other woman that she will hear every word without a shadow of a doubt so she can’t risk being rude, it’s just not in her nature.

“Hey Kara, did you get that article finished up before the deadline?” Nia asks from across the table where she has plenty of space to sit like a normal person instead of having her chair pushed into the table uncomfortably.

Kara nods, trying to ignore the relentless jabbing of the table into her ribs so she can give the stranger behind her as much room as possible. “I did, just in the nick of time. I’m actually pretty proud of this one.”

Alex perks up from her coffee, Kelly by her side with her arm looped with her wife’s. “What’s this one about?”

Kara opens her mouth, but no words come out because her whole body is frozen and liquid is dripping down her face, her now wet hair pressed to her skin.

Out of pure instinct from having a freezing cold iced coffee thrown all over her, Kara shoves her chair back and attempts to race to her feet. The only problem with that is the chair behind her is also begin thrown back, shoving them both back down into their seats in a mess.

Both women turn to see what is blocking their way only to see one another, both dripping from the spilled drink. Above them a less than sorry looking man stands over them.

“Luthor scum.” He hisses and tosses two empty cups to the floor, not at all sorry that he also got an innocent bystander soaked through with his hate stunt.

Every eye in the café is on them, staring them down and waiting for them to do something. Even Alex, who would usually be up on her feet and ready to fight so she can protect her little sister, doesn’t know what to do and is sat there frozen.

To their credit, the ladies handle it with as much grace as they possibly can given the situation. They take it in turns standing up and then both make a beeline for the bathroom, leaving a trail of coffee behind them as they go.

Neither say a word, just each find a sink and stare at their own reflections in the mirror, lost at how they can make themselves more presentable after having coffee upturned onto them.

Since Kara is scuppered as to how to fix her appearance, she decides to take a peek over at the stranger that she now recognises as Lena Luthor. She wouldn’t be a good reporter if she didn’t recognise her. She wants to see if Lena is having a better go of fixing herself up, but it seems that Lena was planning on copying her.

When they make eye contact Lena finally speaks. “I’m sorry you got caught up in that.”

Kara snorts out a laugh. “Believe me when I say that I’ve been caught up in worse. A little coffee won’t hurt, it might even soak into my skin and make me super productive after lunch.”

Kara’s attempt at humour isn’t great but it seems to be enough to put Lena at ease because a tiny smile has made its way onto her face but quickly obscured by her hands as she splashes water onto her skin, washing away the sticky mess the sugary drink left behind.

“I wish it worked like that. I’d be taking caffeine baths on a daily basis.”

Both of them wash off as much of it as they can but still look like drowned rats because of their soaking wet hair. “Damn, we look awful.” Kara complains, mostly to herself.

“Speak for yourself.” Lena mutters, rolling her eyes.

“Sorry, I meant me. You look great, soggy but great. Really pretty.” Kara stutters out, mortified that she just insulted not only a stranger, but a billionaire stranger with more connections than dollars.

Lena only responds with a laugh, absolutely overjoyed with the reaction she got. “I’m just messing with you, you’re right, we do look awful.”

“We really do.”

They find themselves chilled to the bone, laughing to themselves in the bathroom of a café and have no idea how their days have come to this.

“I don’t know about you, but I think I’m just going to sneak out and not have to deal with all the looks from my friends.” Kara states when they’ve finished giggling, thankful that she grabbed her purse on the way in here so she doesn’t have to go back out to the table and can sneak out the side door where the staff go out to smoke.

“I’m with you, I need a shower and don’t want to deal with my friends either, not that I can really call most of them that, they’re all vultures.” Lena grabs her own purse, gesturing for Kara to lead the way.

They sneak out of the bathroom, being careful to go slow to not draw too much attention and manage to slip right out into the open air of the alley with no problems. Only when they are outside to they text their own friends to tell them that they’re bailing and will catch up another time.

Lena finishes up her text to Sam, apologizing for ditching her but not being willing to face Andrea looking like she does. Her eyes glance up at the time and widen immediately, panic setting in. “Shit.”

“Is everything alright?” Kara questions, just about to head home to call it a day, she can work from home instead.

“There’s no way I can make it back home to shower and be back at L-Corp for my meeting in time. I’m going to lose an investor all because of a cup of fucking coffee!” Lena grips her hair between her fingers, tugging lightly and trying to come up with a solution.

Kara coughs awkwardly. “Um, my place is around the corner, do you want to use my shower? I can lend you some clothes too, but they aren’t as fancy as yours.”

“Are you certain?” Lena peers up at her, desperation leaking out of every pore.

Kara just nods, walking down the alley with quick steps, trusting that Lena will follow her. Lena falls into stride with her quickly, walking beside her as if she knows where she’s going.

They make timid conversation, both trying not to be too weird because they have gotten themselves into quite an abnormal situation.

“This is strange to ask but are you going to murder me? I don’t usually invite strangers into my place, so I think it’s probably best I check.” Kara blurts out in the middle of Lena chatting about how sunny it is out today, so maybe she isn’t doing too well at not looking weird.

Lena breathes out of her nose, not quite laughing but showing that she finds Kara funny. “I don’t have the energy to be murdering anyone today.”

“Oh cool, I can start watching my back tomorrow then.”

“Good plan.” Lena can’t help but actually like Kara, she doesn’t try to hide what she’s feeling or thinking, a breath of fresh air from the suits she is forced to socialize with outside of her best friend Sam.

Kara lets them into her loft, Lena’s eyes brushing over every little item in the place, finding the apartment cute, if a little small. She’s jealous how Kara has made it feel like a home, something she has never been able to achieve at her own penthouse apartment.

“The shower is this way.” Kara takes her through her bedroom to the bathroom. “Do you want to take a look and see if any of my clothes will be good enough for your meeting? I have a few nice shirts.”

Lena feels uncomfortable flipping through kara’s clothes, not wanting to insult the woman that seems to wear a lot of button ups and cardigans. She finds herself at the end of the rail fairly quickly, right where Kara keeps her best clothes. She doesn’t want to be rude and take the nicest clothes she has but she needs something appropriate for her meeting.

Her hands land on a plain black blazer and blue shirt. They’ll have to do. Her skirt has fared alright in the icy attack, and since it’s dark it won’t show the coffee splodges. “Is it alright if I borrow these?”

Kara takes a look at what Lena is holding, surprised that she actually found something to her tastes. “Sure, take whatever you need.”

With a nod of thanks Lena heads into the bathroom, finding that Kara has set a towel down on the sink for her.

Lena struggles to get the shower going and is disappointed by the lack of pressure but beggars can’t be choosers. Having the coffee properly washed out of her hair is a delight she wasn’t expecting, and she’ll smell of the blonde’s fruity shampoo for a while now.

The clothes don’t fit perfectly but she’s sure she can pull them off, she just leaves the shirt unbuttoned more than she usually would because of the tight fit and pretends that the wide shoulder of the blazer is a fashion choice.

She steps out of the bathroom towel drying her hair. Kara points to the hairdryer with a smile, already plugged in for her by the mirror, and takes her turn in the bathroom.

Lena gets right to work on her hair, making it as presentable as she can.

Kara must be quick at showering because Lena is still working on it when she heads back out, hair damp and looking comfortable in her sweatpants and loose tee. She looks hot, and Lena has to admit that when she looks at her now, all relaxed and soft, she is a very attractive woman.

“Thanks for helping me, I promise that I will get everything back to you as soon as I can.” Lena turns to face Kara, a lot more presentable than she was earlier and feeling confident again for her meeting. “I really appreciate it…I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name, how rude of me.”

“Kara, Kara Danvers.” Kara holds a hand out to shake Lena’s gripping the woman’s hand softly. “And don’t worry about it, I’m going to work from home for a couple of days now so just drop them by when you get chance. I’ll give you my number too just in case that doesn’t work for you.”

Lena doesn’t get a chance to respond before a piece of paper with a list of digits is pressed into her palm. “Thank you, Kara. I’m really sorry to have to rush out on you after everything you’ve done for me, but I do have to go.”

“Don’t worry about it, and don’t worry about you clothes, I have to take a trip to the dry cleaners anyway, so I’ll take yours with mine. Text me and we can trade clothes at a later date.

Lena can’t help but swoon at Kara, the perfect stranger that is somehow not made that she got covered in coffee because of her and is helping her out in every possible way out of the kindness of her heart. “You’re the best.”

“I know, have a good meeting.” Kara walks Lena to the door, noticing that Lena keeps checking her watch and tapping her foot nervously.

“Thanks, see you soon. I’ll text you.” Lena slips out of the door, wishing she has time to look back but knowing that she’s going to be seeing more of Kara Danvers, and she’s definitely not mad about it.

[urwelcomeforthis]

Alex’s tattoo shows up the day after she punches Marcus Hinkle.

He had been picking on Kara in the hallway, dangling her math book above her head, taking advantage of his summer growth spurt.

Kara still doesn’t know what possessed Alex – Marcus Hinkle had been a thorn in her side since she had landed on Earth and started school a year ago, but whatever the reason, today was the day Alex couldn’t take anymore.

Eliza had been furious. Jeremiah had been (not so) silently proud.

Kara didn’t know what she had felt, really. Especially not when she asked Alex why, and the older girl had just shrugged and said “You’re my sister. It’s what we do.”

Up until this point being sisters meant fights in the hallway over the bathroom and ignoring each other at the dinner table.

Apparently, things were changing.

Kara is just waking up when she hears Alex’s hushed “What the hell?”

“What is it?” She asks, groggily sitting up and wiping at the sleep in her eyes.

Her sister is holding her forearm up, frantically scrubbing at a spot right in the middle, her eyes frantic.

“I don’t…. I don’t know! It’s like a tattoo but I didn’t get a tattoo! Fuck, Mom is going to kill me.” Alex sounds panicked as she continues scrubbing at the spot, and Kara feels her heartbeat speed up.

“You had a tattoo just appear on your skin?” Kara asks slowly, her mind suddenly far away on a planet that doesn’t exist anymore, in a culture she had been forced to leave behind.

Alex stops scrubbing and looks at Kara with a piercing gaze. “Yeah. It’s some funny symbol too, like the way you used to write before you learned English. Did you do this to me?”

Alex leaps off the bed and crosses the room in two quick strides, arm held out like an accusation.

Kara shrinks in on herself a little but nods. “I think so. I didn’t know it was possible here, but well, on Krypton when your soul mate reveals themselves, a tattoo linking you appears. I should have one too, somewhere, if you do.”

Alex stops dead in her tracks, her eyes wide. “Soul mates? But we’re sisters! That’s so gross!”

Jumping up from the bed, hands held up in surrender Kara hastens to explain further. “No! Not like that, I promise! Back home, people had different kinds of soul mates. Sometimes it was the romantic kind like you talk about here on Earth, but other times it could just be a compatible soul, someone who was meant to be a part of you.”

Alex still looks wary, if not relieved, as she tentatively holds out her arm. “So, what does this mean? What kind of soul mates are we?”

Stepping forward Kara delicately traces the symbols on Alex’s forearm. “It literally means “sister of the soul.” Je shesur. The symbol after it is unique, the way we would know we were linked. If this had happened on Krypton it would mean we were soul sisters. Not from the same parents but family just the same.”

Alex nods. “And here on Earth? What does it mean here?”

“The same thing. At least that’s what it means to me.” Kara refuses to meet Alex’s eyes, not sure she wants to see what waits for her there.

There’s a long minute of silence after Alex takes her arm back. The clearing of her throat brings Kara’s eyes up from their place on the ground.

“Where’s yours?” Alex asks, eyes burning with curiosity.

Kara shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s not on my arms like yours is. It must be hidden. Can you look on my back?”

“Sure.” Alex nods. “Lift up your shirt.”

Kara turns and tugs her shirt up and over her head. It takes a moment, but she hears her sister gasp followed by the feel of fingertips against her left shoulder blade.

“It’s the same as mine.” Alex says reverently, and Kara closes her eyes against the emotion welling up there.

Who would have thought she would get to have this piece of home?

“So, I guess I’m stuck with you. For like, ever, huh?” Alex smiles once Kara has turned back around.

Kara grins back. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Alex shrugs. “Could be worse. But you have to tell Mom about this, because she’ll never believe me, and she is going to be pissed that I have a tattoo.”

“Sure, I can tell Mom.” Kara grins, a piece of her heart settling in place. She hasn’t felt at home on Earth, not really, but at this moment she feels like it isn’t all that bad.

--

The next person to get a tattoo is, interestingly enough, James.

It doesn’t come when they’re dating, or whatever it was that they were doing, no.

It comes after he has revealed himself to be Guardian, and he and Kara have the biggest fight of their friendship.

Kara wakes up the morning after tired, groggy, and more than a little cranky. Its as she’s stripping down to get in the shower that she notices it – the Kryptonese scrawled along the inside of her right bicep.

Throniv Shesur. Protector of the soul.

Kara heaves a deep, deep, sigh and grabs her phone.

She meets James at the DEO, both tentative around each other after the yelling match of the day before.

“So. I woke up with a tattoo. Kryptonese. Any idea what that’s about?” James looks smug, like he’s won some kind of battle with Kara and god, at that moment she wishes they were in the training room and she could just punch him.

“Yeah. I did too. It means “protector of the soul.” She crosses her arms against her chest, desperately trying to hold onto her anger from yesterday but the wide grin on James’ face is making it hard.

“I know. I asked Clark first thing since I figured you’re still pissed at me. He was a little surprised, but he translated it for me.”

“Where’s it at?” Kara asks, still pretending to be upset but truthfully it was hard given the glaring message from home telling her that James was meant to be Guardian. That they were meant to protect each other. Protect others together.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” James says with a waggle of his eyebrows and that’s what finally breaks Kara, a laugh ringing out across the room.

It wasn’t who she expected to have a tattoo, not in this way at least, but if it had to be anyone, she’s glad it’s James.

--

Mon-El doesn’t get a tattoo. Kara wishes she were more disappointed.

--

The last person to get a tattoo is someone Kara had desperately hoped both would and would not get a tattoo.

For a long time, she feared what that tattoo would be, if it were to happen. She feared having to explain it, having to explain herself.

She had checked with Clark a few times, when paranoia would get the better of her.

No, he always told her. Lex did not have a tattoo. They were enemies, yes, but it hadn’t been decided by destiny or fate. It just was.

That mollified Kara because she couldn’t stand it if she and Lena were to become Clark and Lex. She would fight against it, fight against fate to keep it from happening.

And then, well. It kind of happens anyways.

They aren’t enemies, not really. Lena just hates Kara and aims a few Kryptonite cannons at her and tries to mind control the entire planet, but really everyone is allowed a brief lapse of their sensibility, right?

And what matters is she came around, in the end.

It did take time, however, for them to build back to what they once had. It was different now, but in the way that things once broken and fixed usually are.

It was better, if anything.

They were back to shared lunches and dinners, quick breakfasts and coffee breaks. They were back to game nights as partners and movie nights as friends, and the occasional sleepovers as best friends.

Things were finally back to normal, so of course Kara had to go and absolutely, irrevocably, mess it up.

It was Alex’s fault, really.

If she hadn’t said anything, if she hadn’t asked Kara what was up between her and Lena lately, Kara probably never would have stopped to think about it.

She never would have stopped to think about the way her heart sped up when Lena entered a room, or the way her palms got sweaty when they hugged, or the way she just could not stop staring at Lena when she laughed at game nights.

But now she had thought of it and had come to the very scary conclusion that she was in love with her best friend.

Her best friend who didn’t have a tattoo.

She would, after all this time, have a tattoo, the tattoo, if they were meant to be together, right?

Kara mulls it over for weeks. It haunts her. She asks Lena about tattoos, and if she has any.

She learns that yes, in fact Lena does have tattoos and boy howdy one of them is on her lower back and it is seared into the back of her eyes now that she has seen it.

But she doesn’t have any kryptonian tattoos, which is really what Kara was aiming for.

Much like it was Alex’s fault that Kara even realized she was in love, it’s also Alex who reminds Kara of one important detail.

“Well I didn’t get my tattoo until after I punched what’s his face. Maybe you have to tell Lena how you feel and then she’ll get the tattoo.”

Kara feels dumb struck, right there on her own couch, because of course, Alex is right.

The tattoos always come after the person has already revealed themselves.

Then of course comes the true fear: what if she tells Lena and she still doesn’t get a tattoo?

That’s the question she’s mulling over the next night as she and Lena sit on her couch watching some documentary that had been put on Netflix.

Lena looks beautiful, face bare of makeup, hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, glasses slipping down her nose.

She’s eating a piece of pizza, a rare treat after a long week of work, and Kara decides that it doesn’t matter if Lena doesn’t get a tattoo.

She’s hopelessly, desperately in love with the woman and she can’t let a tattoo that may or may not come dictate her life.

“I’m in love with you, you know.” Kara blurts out, like this isn’t a life changing moment, like it’s the easiest thing in the world to say. (It is.)

Lena chokes a little on the bite she was swallowing, her hand coming up to her chest as she sets down the slice.

“Excuse me?”

Kara laughs. She’s never felt more free than in this moment. “I’m in love with you. I just thought you should know.”

Lena looks at her, shock written all over her face. “Oh. I guess that’s good.”

“Just good?” Kara nudges Lena’s thigh with her knee.

Lena shakes her head. “I mean it’s more than good, considering I’m in love with you too.”

“Yeah?” Kara could float up to the moon, she thinks.

Lena smiles, nose crinkled. “Yeah.”

It’s the next morning that Lena calls and asks if Kara can stop by. She has this tattoo she didn’t have yesterday, right on her ribcage, and it looks like it’s Kryptonian.

Kara frantically searches her own body, finding the script on her hip, on the left side.

Zhao Shesur. Love of the soul.

It took them five years to get to this point, but Kara knows, this moment was more than worth the wait.

[from-a-reckless-writer]

RE: the tags about being tempted to post a half finished fic and guess the ending, well you are a reckless writer for a reason

this is long overdue, so here have a fic.

It has come to the point that nothing fazes her anymore.

A kidnapping? Been there, done that. It means calling Sam Arias to intimidate the board of members into temporary submission.

An explosion at the office? Just a typical Tuesday. It means relocating to the 23rd floor and sharing the desk with two other interns for 2 months tops.

An assassination attempt? It means bracing herself for at least 3 deliveries of donuts and coffee for the two following weeks that Kara Danvers would be protectively hovering over L-Corp, until her boss snaps and shoos her away back to CatCo.

She’s seen it all, endured it all and she sure as hell is prepared for it all. She’s got three different ironclad statements ready to publish for whatever PR disaster will most likely turn up that week. She’s got contacts from the FBI, DEO, CatCo, Daily Planet, Gotham Gazette-- hell she even has Lillian’s personal cell (just in case the Luthor matriarch ever tries anything y’know? ) and yes, even the number of that 'Mexican place at 5th and Spring, you know the one Kara likes, Jess?'

She’s got two pairs of heels, a raincoat and four sets of outfits neatly folded in a duffel bag, at the back of the office, reserved for any emergency that requires a change of clothes.

The point is, she is an independent Asian-American woman who has worked her ass off for the better part of the decade and has long learned to take no shit from anybody.

Not even stupid superpowered Kryptonians.

See, it takes a lot to be her. It takes unlimited patience to put up with a woman like Lena Luthor, not because she’s a terrible person. Oh no, no, the complete opposite, actually. She is so overwhelmingly kind to a fault, and she doesn’t want nor let anybody see it. It’s infuriating to see sometimes. Okay, fine, she sides with the Krytonian on that one matter. But oh, ho, ho, not today. Today, she’s mad.

She’s livid, actually and it’s all Supergirl’s fault. (and Lena Luthor's too.)

Jess has had her fair share of ‘I-Should-Not-Have-Been-Here’ moments, like that one time she forgot to knock and stumbled unto Lex mid-yell with Lena whose eyes were shimmering but was still keeping a rigid posture.

Or that one time when she thought her boss had long left the office, only to be greeted with quiet sobs and an empty bottle of scotch rolling on the floor. Or that time she happened upon Lena, skirt and sleeves on fire with fumes rising from a green solution.

Apparently, her staff from the lab refused to let her in after three days of their CEO holding herself in isolation with the experiment. Lena had gotten the great idea of smuggling the chemicals to her office instead. Luthors are nothing but determined. Jess still remembers the adrenaline rush of holding a fire extinguisher—as if she were the chosen 5th grader for a school fire drill—and shoving her boss out of the way.

Like she said, nothing fazes her anymore she’s seen it all, except maybe, this one. Yep, definitely this one. This one just made a hot ball of fury unfurl at her very core. This one might just take the cake.

Jess was just going about her day, returned from a hearty lunch and feeling reinvigorated from that dose of sunlight and fresh air. It was a quiet day today, she noticed, which should’ve been a foretelling.

Nothing really is ever quiet. Well, when it comes to L-Corp, at least.

She’s been sitting on her desk for about a good fifteen minutes and finished with screening a few papers from their new contractors, when it occurs to her that the latest blueprints from R&D are still on her desk instead of already being reviewed by her boss.

She grabs the drawing tube and quickly makes for her boss’s private office. They’ve spent enough time with each other that Jess could just come and go as she pleases, instead of having to knock each time. Saves both of their time, that way.

Although, usually, she buzzes through the intercom first to double check, but it was 1:20 P.M and she knows Lena doesn’t have anything scheduled after lunch. So, she pushes the door, confidently strolls in and promptly stops in her tracks.

Jess stops breathing for a moment, blinks once, twice, stares at the scene before her.

Lena Luthor sat atop her work desk; blouse open, eyes closed, cheeks flushed, neck currently being ravaged by Supergirl with legs wrapped around the waist.

She probably should’ve just turned and left while they haven’t seen her yet. That would’ve been the smart decision, right? Yes. Yes, it was so very clearly The Right Decision.

Of course, she doubts she could look Lena in the eye for the next few weeks after that, but at least she wouldn’t know that Jess walked in on them during an er- make-out session? Office tryst? Oh God, she shudders internally. It sounds even worse.

Incident? Yep. Yeah. She’s sticking with incident. Indecent incident sounds more apt really.

She should’ve left. Would have left, if her eyes didn’t just land on the desk—well, more like Miss Luthor’s as- backside—and felt the stirrings of rage make itself known. Because there, underneath Lena’s ass (Backside!! Jess, that’s your boss!) is the squished—probably crumpled—pages of a contract.

A contract they’ve spent 5 months securing!!

Jess decides to do what everyone else would have done in a situation such as this; she clears her throat. Loudly.

Classic move.

Supergirl’s head immediately shoots up and Lena’s eyes snap open.

“Jess!” Supergirl squeaks and she sees the exact moment the realization hits Lena. Her eyes widening at her girlfriend’s exclamation, whips her head to the side, spots Jess, hands scrambling to a panic to close all the buttons of her blouse.

She hears Lena hiss, “Fuck, shit. Oh my God. Shit. How did she even- You have superhearing!!!” as she pushes Supergirl—who lets herself be pushed, stunned by the intrusion, face redder than a tomato.

Lena gets off the desk, fixes herself all the while to futile results. Her hair is tugged down from her usual ponytail, her neck and chest is marked, her lips swollen.

Supergirl's hands twitch at the sides and Jess sees her gulp as blue eyes frantically dart to Lena and her, and then Lena, and then back to her.

Lena finally turns around after those few awkward beats.

"Jess," she begins, clearly trying hard to put on her business bitch persona, but come on, there's a hickey under her jaw for fuck's sake.

"It's not what you-"

Jess doesn’t let her finish, she stomps her way across the office and forcefully puts the drawing tube on the desk. It makes a hollow thump.

“Jess I-”

“Supergirl, do you know how long it takes to finalize a business proposal, pitch it to the board, persuade the board and finally have a contract drawn?”

Supergirl gulps again. Lena’s eyes are wild next to her, she doesn’t like not knowing what the next best move is, Jess knows this all too well.

“Uhhh- no?”

Jesus Christ, you’d think after years of shadowing Cat Grant, she'd had at least learned a thing or two. Then again, if somebody is full on glaring at her after getting caught red-handed, Jess doubts she could answer coherently too.

“That’s right,” Jess says, “You don’t.”

“Jess,” Lena repeats pointedly. She knows that tone. It’s a warning.

“Ms. Luthor.”

A period not a question mark. It’s a challenge.

"I've spent all my evenings working late on that, do you know how many dates I've had to cancel? Just so I can secure a meeting with Qatar and simultaneously sync it with Beijing's time? My boyfriend hasn't seen me in two weeks!” Jess bursts out.

“Two weeks, Supergirl!” She gets close enough to jab a finger to the Girl of Steel’s chest. A feat she will gladly tell all her coworkers later when she’s calmed down enough.

“Not to mention, the 10 other people who worked their ass off trying to make sure that Miss Luthor's presentation is airtight, bulletproof and waterproof!” Lena has the decency to look a little guilty at this point, nothing big though, just a slight tug at her lips, but it was enough for Jess.

“IT TOOK ME 3 FUCKING MINUTES TO PRINT THAT GODDAMN CONTRACT WHICH MIGHT NOT SOUND LONG—” Jess raises a finger in emphasis, “BUT BELIEVE ME WORKING IN L-CORP? A 3 MINUTE DIFFERENCE CAN MEAN AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT OR PSYCHOPATH PRESS!”

Supegirl of all people should already know this! For fuck’s sake!

Jess’s chest is heaving. She takes a deep breath, kneads her knuckles to her eyelids, “So, please if you're gonna have sex in the office, please, pleaseeeee clear the desk first. And at least, lock the door.”

She stares them both down, till Lena gives her a solemn nod; cheeks and ears still red. Supergirl squeaks out an, “U-understood, Ma’am.”

“Good. Glad we’ve come to an agreement.” Jess gives them one final nod before finally fulfilling what she came in here to do, “Miss Luthor,” She turns to Lena, “here are the R&D blueprints. Good day, to you Supergirl. I'll be going now. "

When she finally goes home, tells her boyfriend, and wonders aloud if she’ll still have a job the next morning, he tells her she’s such a badass.

And well, Jess can’t disagree with that.

*****

"Did I just- Did I just get yelled at by your secretary?? D-did she just chew us out?"

"She did, and she deserves a raise."

[spaceman-earthgirl]

Supercorptober 2021 Day 26: Afternoon

Fic link. Series link.

“Did you see Kara and Lena on your way up?” Nia asks, as soon as Alex steps off the elevator. Alex looks up from her phone from where she’d been texting Kelly, to find Nia and Brainy watching her.

Alex frowns. “No, why?”

“We haven’t seen them in a while and we think they might me downstairs…you know,” Nia says with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“You think they might be, what?” Alex asks, looking between Nia and Brainy, Brainy looking like he doesn’t want to be a part of this conversation and Nia looking too excited for what Alex thinks she might be implying.

“You know,” Nia replies, putting emphasis on the words like that helps.

“If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, then-“

“I think they’re down there having sex,” Nia grins, Alex suddenly fighting the urge to throw up.

“I, for one, do not think that, but Nia seems to think that they are,” Brainy adds, turning away from the conversation and back to his computer. Alex wonders if he’d just been waiting for someone else that Nia can talk to so he doesn’t have to be involved anymore.

“What makes you think…that,” Alex asks, knowing she’s going to regret this. She can’t even say the words out loud, doesn’t want to think about it at all.

“They’ve been down there for the last hour and we haven’t heard a sound. Though, if they were down there having sex, maybe we would be able to hear,” Nia jokes.

Alex slaps her hands over her ears. “Why would you say that.”

“I’m just saying,” Nia shrugs. “Maybe one of them finally snapped because you know how they’ve been recently, it’s on a matter of time.”

Alex has to swallow her disgust. “You know this is my baby sister you’re talking about, right?” Though, Nia does have a point.

“Ever since the Phantom Zone,” Nia says. “Those two have basically been attached at the hip. Don’t tell me you don’t want them to get together too.”

“Of course, I do,” Alex says, face screwed up. She can’t believe they’re talking about this. “But we’re at the tower and it’s the middle of the afternoon, surely they wouldn’t…” Alex doesn’t actually know that for sure.

“You saw Lena earlier, with the turtleneck and the boots, Kara couldn’t keep her eyes off of her. Lena’s outfits have been getting out of hand recently, she’s definitely trying to get her attention,” Nia replies. She still looks far too excited by this idea and Alex just wants it to stop.

Okay, so she has noticed Lena’s outfits recently, has noticed how Kara hasn’t been able to stop staring at her, has noticed how much closer they seem. She also noticed how Kara had definitely been about to kiss Lena when she first got back from the Phantom zone. She’d seen it with her own two eyes, she’d seen Kara lean in before she’d stopped herself.

She doesn’t want to see this though, if Nia is right.

Alex is happy for Kara, she knows how happy Lena makes her and how happy Kara makes Lena in return. She wants them to get together, but she doesn’t want to find out like this.

“Maybe she is, but they could at least wait until they’re in the privacy of their own place before they act on said attraction. Oh no,” Alex says, realising something else. “This better not become a common occurrence.”

Apparently, she’s accepted it now, that Kara and Lena must be downstairs having sex.

She thinks she might throw up again.

“Come on, then,” Nia says, already moving towards the elevator.

“Where are you going?!” Alex blanches.

“If something really is happening downstairs, we have to put a stop to it now, before it sets a precedent of what’s okay in the workplace.”

Nia makes a good point, so Alex follows her to the elevator, hoping against hope that Nia is wrong.

Right before the elevator opens on the floor below, Alex throws her hands over her eyes. She doesn’t want to have to ask J’onn to erase her memories later but at least that’s an option.

“Damn,” Nia mutters, Alex’s vision black so she can’t see what Nia is referring to.

“Alex? What are you doing?” Kara’s voice asks from across the room.

With great reluctance, Alex separates her fingers, peeks through slowly, ready to slam her eyes shut at the slightest sign of anything. What Alex finds, is definitely not what she’d been expecting, and now she understands the disappointment in Nia’s voice.

Alex isn’t disappointed at all, she’s entirely relieved, because all Lena and Kara are doing is sitting opposite each other, a game of chess between them.

“We thought you two were-“ Nia’s words cut off before she can finish the sentence, by Alex’s hand over her mouth.

Kara frowns, Lena looking equally confused.

“You thought what?” Kara asks. “Do you need something?”

“Nothing,” Alex replies, already hitting the elevator button to return them to the above floor. “And no, it’s fine, have fun.” Alex presses the ‘door close’ button, trying to get the doors to close quicker.

At least they weren’t having that sort of fun.

The last thing Alex sees before the door closes is a confused look between Kara and Lena.

Nia pulls Alex’s hand from over her mouth. “That was disappointing.”

Alex pulls another face. “You wanted to see something?”

Nia’s own nose turns up this time. “Definitely not, but I was hoping those two had figured things out between them, it’s obvious they belong together.”

“It is,” Alex agrees. “Hopefully one day soon they’ll finally realise that too.”

It’s a few weeks later, that Alex regrets those words. She doesn’t find them in a compromising position, thank God, but she can tell immediately that something has happened one day when she walks into the tower. Kara keeps giving Lena what can only be classed as “dopey” looks, Lena blushing every time she catches Kara looking.

It would be fine if that was all it was, Alex is obviously happy that they’re together. But it’s not just that, because suddenly they’re very touchy, it’s like if they’re in the same room, they have to be close.

And then there’s the kissing. 

Again, it’s nothing bad, they’re always fully clothed, but Alex does not need to see her sister making out with Lena, thank you very much.

Alex eventually has to institute a ‘no kissing’ rule at the tower because she gets sick of having to break them up.

[mrs-bartowski]

Brace for impact y'all cuz my brain is being Extra Rude this fine Sunday. OKAY, so...

What with Lena's new unemployment status, obviously we have all these hcs about her being unable to afford the penthouse and moving in with Kara.

Then of course we have all the accompanying hcs about Lena's time in the apartment between now and when Kara gets back (blanket sniffing, inability to sleep in Kara's bed, ready-to-pack corner of belongings so as to not alter Kara's home, and all those other super fun things that make me wanna cry).

I see all of those (and love them) and I raise you one: the Mxy tapes.

So, we see right after Mxy leaves when Kara picks up "The One Where Lena Decided To Work With Lex" which is what, in combination with her realization that telling Lena the truth always has "huge" consequences, motivates her to make that super OOC decision to absolve herself entirely of her guilt and tell Lena she'll treat her like a villain if she works with Lex, yes?

Now, what if that wasn't the only tape Mxy left behind? What if he left a recording of each of those alternate timelines because, after seeing Kara twist what she learned to fit her frustration over Lena's continued cold shoulder and hearing what she said to Lena, Mxy decided she might want to watch them again at some point to remember the real takeaway: she's fighting for the relationship that saves the world...

Kara found the tapes stacked on the coffee table when she got home, with a note that said "You found the magic. Now don't lose it." She wanted to get angry, but instead she just put the tapes in a box on the shelf under the TV and tried to forget about them.

----------

Lena's hand shakes slightly as she slides the key into the lock, feeling the ghost of Alex’s hand rest gently on her shoulder as it had when she’d pressed the cold metal into her palm a few hours earlier with a silent offer and an encouraging nod. The door swings open slowly, and Lena is hit by a sudden wave of cold. Not temperature, but energy. It’s too quiet - no NSYNC on the speaker or Bachelorette on the TV. It’s too empty - no smell of fresh (slightly burnt) bread or yarn strewn all over the counter from Kara’s various crochet projects. It’s too...Kara-less.

Lena shakes off the feeling and slides her bag off her shoulder in the corner by the bookcase, careful not to knock Kara’s favorite cinnamon candle off the stool beside her, as she tells Alexa to play Nina Simone. She zips open her bag to pull out her favorite copy of Mrs. Dalloway and finds it missing. Realizing she must have left it in her desk drawer at LexCorp, Lena makes a mental note to send Brainy in after it tomorrow with the promise that he can change all of Lex’s passwords one more time before they leave the game for good.

Lena stares at the blank TV screen for a moment, dreading the thought of watching anything in this room without Kara’s head on her shoulder or in her lap. So, she crouches to look at the shelves of the TV stand, hoping to find at least one of the books she’d gotten Kara for her birthday last year wedged between the latest issues of CatCo Magazine and the recipe books Alex had gotten her in the hopes of spending less money on pot stickers every week.

She’s just zeroed in on The Color Purple when she notices a box she doesn’t recognize laying across the tops of the books on the other shelf. She reaches for it on instinct, then hesitates. She hasn’t touched anything of Kara’s since their falling out, and what if Kara’s “what’s mine is yours” rule no longer applies to her now? She considers leaving it alone and waiting for Kara to get back and explain, sliding The Color Purple toward her without taking her eyes off the box, before her curiosity gets the better of her and she caves, tossing the book onto the coffee table.

She opens the lid and starts at the sight of VHS tapes. Hasn't she taught Kara better than this? They'd converted all her old tapes to DVDs months into their friendship ("Kara, these things deteriorate so easily and the picture quality becomes awful, don't you want something that will last?"). She picks up the first tape and reads the label on the side: "The One Where Lena Doesn't Make It Back In Time." Her brows furrow as she stares, unblinking, at the title - demanding answers she knows only one person can give her.

She glances around, but doesn't see a VHS player anywhere, so she sets the tape on the floor beside her and picks up the next one. "The One Where Lena Can't Save Sam Or Herself." Lena shoves down her growing horror and discards the tape, hoping the next one will be less ominous. She picks it up and chokes back a sob as she reads: "The One Where There Are No Survivors."

Lena can't wait for answers anymore, so she gathers the tapes back into the box, grabs her purse and Kara's key, and heads to the closest library. Lena finds the old CRT sitting on a rolling cart in the back corner of the library, tucked between the stacks of kids' books. She pulls the first tape out of the box and slides it carefully into the slot.

30 minutes later, with tears and too-cheap eyeliner streaming down her face, Lena picks up the last tape. "The One Where Lena Was Never Your Friend." And here she'd thought things couldn't get worse. Lena takes a deep breath as she inserts the tape.

At the sight of the ruin that meets Kara and Mxy, Lena stifles the urge to laugh. Of course this is what a world without her best friend looks like. This exactly how it feels now, and she's only been gone a few weeks.

Lena's breath catches as she hears herself ask "who's Kara?," the mere thought of a world where the reporter had never believed in her, never cared enough to love her, almost too much to bear. Her hand drifts absent-mindedly to her chest as she watches herself reveal a kryptonite heart, and for a moment she can hear the sounds of her own screams as her mother's experiments rob her of the last of her humanity.

She presses her hand closer to her heart, sure that it's stopped beating at the sight of Kara on the ground, in pain at her hands but still refusing to fight her. Feels it shatter when her worst self says exactly the same words she'd said to Kara in the Fortress when asked why she had pretended to be Kara's friend for so long.

And she thinks it might kill her, this agony that's filling her body like acid. She wonders for a moment if this is what kryptonite feels like to Kara. Because it sure feels like her skin is getting seared off her bones and there are nails in her blood and it sure seems like she won't survive watching herself kill her best friend as she lies helpless and desperate on the floor.

And when Mxy pulls them out, Lena's breath returns full force until she's hyperventilating because Kara is gone and she doesn't know how long it will be until they get her back; and she was terrified of what she'd become when she lost Jack but she survived because of Kara; and if this is what losing Kara without ever having her in the first place looks like, Lena has never been more afraid than she is as she realizes what will happen to the world if she doesn't get Kara back. What she'll do to the world if it dares to take Kara from her.

So, when she gathers the tapes and goes to return them to the box and finds a note at the bottom that says "You found the magic. Now don't lose it," Lena promises herself that, for as long as she lives, she will do everything in her power to keep the magic that is Kara Danvers in her life.

----------

Alex knocks on the apartment door three days later and finds it unlocked. She pushes the door open and her hand drifts to her gun, but relaxes as she sees Lena's sleeping form curled up on the couch. Alex approaches a box she knows the contents of all too well and finds it open and empty on the table before she notices the VCR player and tapes strewn across the floor. She smiles softly as she recalls the image of Kara in the exact same position months earlier. And, as she carefully plucks the handwritten note from Lena's clutched fist, she smiles at the knowledge that, once Kara returns, no force in the world will be able to keep them apart again.

UPDATE: Ask and ye shall receive

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

[pippytmi]

1, 4, 14?

The one hope Kara has for her roommate is that Lena Luthor will not be a smoker.

Alex had told her not to have high expectations; after all, this roommate arrangement was all organized through Winn, and Alex has always stated that she doesn’t trust this man’s self-preservation tactics. (“Once, during an earthquake drill, he started to climb up the building. Kara, what kind of a moron does that?”)

But Kara isn’t as cynical as her sister…or quite as mean. So she trusts that Winn’s people skills are better than his survival skills, and resolves not to write off Lena by virtue of association alone. It’s expensive enough to live in National City; when Winn had promised a roommate that “probably won’t be tempted to murder anyone anytime soon,” that had honestly been a good enough draw. (That had, of course, been sandwiched in a perfectly normal explanation about Lena being the best student in their shared pre-med classes—Winn maintains that anyone pursuing med school that rigorously will be too tired to consider recreational murder on the side.)

So Kara takes her tentatively-moderate-expectations—along with a box of donuts as a gift—and makes her way to apartment 9b. This is technically her first time ever being a real roommate; her only other experience was sharing a wall with Alex during their teenage years, and occasionally during their college years when they weren’t driving each other crazy. So maybe, because she’s never had to deal with boundaries or tact with her sister, she kind of…abandons all formalities and just uses her brand new key to open the front door.

(In hindsight, she really should have knocked first.)

“Golly!” Almost immediately, Kara is jumping right back out into the hallway, and the box of donuts is falling to a tragic death on the carpet. Oh no. Oh gosh. This is more embarrassing than trying to climb up the library during an earthquake drill—

She is still sitting on the floor, dumbstruck, with maple glaze smearing on her jeans when the door opens again. Lena Luthor pokes her head out, and she is simultaneously everything Kara expected and everything she didn’t. Per Winn’s description, Lena is indeed “classically beautiful,” and she has one of those faces: slightly closed off, hesitant to emote much. And when she has clothes on, she truly does have the fashion sense of an aspiring college professor, albeit with a touch more lipstick than Kara would expect.

“Okay, maybe I’m crazy,” Lena says slowly, “but did I hear you say that out loud?”

Kara immediately lifts her head up to squint at the direction of the strange voice. Lena has very pretty green eyes, but they are exceptionally confused at the moment. “What?” she says, echoing that same perplexment in her own voice.

“I could’ve sworn you said ‘golly,’ like some kind of peasant in a Christmas Carol or something,” Lena says, as if that’s a totally normal route of conversation to take after being caught naked. She leans halfway out the door, looking down at Kara with that attractive, baffled expression on her face, and all Kara has taken from this encounter so far is that her new roommate is hot.

“I...did say that,” Kara says after a beat. “But in my defense, I was completely surprised.” As one might be walking in on anybody naked, she thinks, but doesn’t actually say out loud.

“Right.” And then Lena frowns, slightly, in a manner that makes her lipsticked mouth twist down a corner. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were coming by today. I could have sworn your text mentioned your move in day being the third.”

Kara stretches her leg out and pretends the sole of her shoe isn’t caked in chocolate icing. “Today is the third,” she points out, and then hastily adds, “And um—I’m sorry. I should have knocked. I just didn’t know you were…”

“Showering,” Lena finishes, at the same time Kara says,

“...a nudist.”

Lena stares. And then she blinks, and then she stares some more. “What?” This time, that careful kind of confusion entirely drops, and now she’s looking at Kara like she has grown two heads. “How do you automatically jump to that?”

“Because you’re naked in the middle of the day?!” It’s pretty self-explanatory in her opinion, but Kara still gets up off the floor in order to better face her new roommate (and because it feels strangely like she is the one being judged right now). “Everyone knows that showering is a night or a morning time thing—walking around naked any other time is weird.”

“Wow,” Lena says, and she actually crosses her arms, further cementing the whole Kara-is-the-one-being-judged thing. “I can’t believe you think nudists are weird. That’s pretty ironic coming from Tiny Tim.”

“Hey, I never said I thought nudists were weird. Just, their hobbies are. Is being naked a hobby?” Kara considers delving into that discussion, but Lena is squinting at her (and Lena has a very piercing squint), so she drops the subject. “Anyway, it’s fine if you’re a nudist. I can just…start wearing sunglasses inside, or something.”

“Because my naked body is that blinding?” Lena scowls. “I don’t go out in the sun much, alright, so sue me for being pale—”

“That’s not what I meant!” Kara blurts, helpless, and she knows in that instant she’s gone entirely red in the face. “I, uh. I didn’t mean to sound judge-y. Really, I don’t care what you do in your spare time. Unless…can I ask if you smoke?”

And it is with that sheepish question that Lena’s affrontive attitude slowly begins to fade. “No,” she says, in a manner that is faintly amused. “But I’m glad that’s your priority. Seriously? Are you really just going to say you’d be fine if I spent every single waking moment in our apartment naked?”

Kara shrugs, still flushed up to the tips of her ears, and makes a valiant effort not to think about that when Lena almost-smiles she can see the indent of a possible dimple on her cheek. “Well, if that’s what you want,” Kara says. “I won’t…stare or anything, I promise.”

“That’s comforting, but I’m not a nudist.” Lena smiles, and yep—dimple—Kara is pretty much done for.

“Okay.”

“No, I mean it.” And then that smile drops as Lena suddenly reconsiders something. “Also, why do you assume it’s weird to be naked in the afternoon?”

Kara gestures vaguely with her hands to where her watch would be. “Because,” she says, “it’s weird to shower in the afternoon.”

“But what if I had been naked for another reason besides showering?” Lena apparently has the ability to raise her whole eyebrow, and it’s unfair how mesmerizing that is.

“Like…non-nudist reasons?” Kara asks, and Lena’s smile comes back in a mischievous form.

“Yes, exactly.”

“Uh,” Kara says ineloquently, and suddenly her mind is coming up with far too many scenarios that she really shouldn’t. “That would be fine. Too. I mean, I can wear earplugs with the sunglasses. Or I can just wait out here too, until you’re…done. The carpet here is pretty comfortable. Is it the same in the apartment? ‘Cause if so, I mean, the landlord really outdid himself. I’ve had carpets that aren’t half as fluffy in hotel rooms that charged way more than—”

Lena cracks the door wider, and then her gaze drifts over towards where Kara’s housewarming donut gift has landed. “Have I broken you?” she asks. “Or are you always this awkward around naked women?”

“I’m—what?” Kara sputters. “I’m completely normal around naked women. Sometimes I am also a naked women.”

“Right,” Lena says, “when you shower in the morning. Or night.”

Kara frowns. “Yes,” she says, “and that's completely normal. And not weird.”

“Noted.” Lena pulls open the door the rest of the way, then throws a dangerous sort of smirk over her shoulder. “You are Kara Danvers, right? I’d hate to have to re-do the apartment tour, so if you’ve just come to break in, I have to warn you: I’m saving for med school, so I pretty much own nothing of value.”

“Yeah, no, I’m...Kara,” Kara says, slightly bewildered, but she gathers her bag and her donut box trash and follows Lena inside; she’ll have to deal with the mess outside later. “Sorry I didn’t introduce myself. I just forgot, with the whole…”

“It’s alright.” Lena scrunches her nose up apologetically, suddenly quite sheepish; if Kara had to pick a word, she’d call the tic adorable. “I didn’t exactly introduce myself either. Well, at least in the traditional sense.” She leads Kara into the kitchen, where there is a bottle of wine sitting on the table. “Can I make it up to you with a drink?”

And Kara doesn’t know how, exactly, she’s going to live like this—going to live with the knowledge that her new roommate apparently showers in the afternoon, and drinks a whole bottle of wine alone, and makes sexual references to people she’s known for all of twenty minutes. In other words:

“Yeah,” Kara says, nudging her glasses up her nose and delighting in the curve of Lena’s ensuing smile. “I could go for a drink.”

[oreoambitions]

1.1

They are an hour outside of National City before Alex becomes aware of the exhausted numbness that has taken root somewhere deep within her bones. Her hands on the steering wheel seem like someone else's hands, and it's someone else's eyes on the dusty excuse for a road over which it feels like someone else is guiding the SUV. The static pouring out of the radio seems to be coming from somewhere very far away, even - or perhaps especially - when Nia reaches over from the passenger's seat to twiddle the dial from static to desperate call for help to static again. The map on the GPS device seems almost dreamlike in a strange, shimmering, distracted sort of way. There is a part of her that can't stop thinking it happened so fast, it happened so fast over and over again, and the rest of her is quiet. Focused and efficient. Execute the next task and the next task and the next task until things get better.

There is a part of her that suspects things are not going to get better. In the rearview mirror she can just see Kara, seatbelted in and slumped over, blissfully unconscious the last two hours or so but beginning to stir now. Lena sits in the backseat beside her, face an impassive mask, one hand fiddling endlessly with the bandage wrapped tight around the other arm. It's a gunshot wound - Alex verified herself - but it will put her at risk if they run into strangers on the road. Everyone is going to be a little overcautious for a little while; for so many reasons, it's better to keep out of sight. Hopefully the others understood the seriousness of the message when Alex told them not to travel in the dark, because headlights right now might as well be a flashing neon sign reading "I'm here! Shoot at me and steal my supplies!"

The numb, quiet part of Alex sort of whishes someone would shoot at them so that she could shoot back, and that's a feeling she shoves deep down where she doesn't have to think about it for a while. Better to think about how only the most charitable of travelers might refer to this particular stretch as a road, and about how these aren't off-roading tires and AAA isn't coming to bail them out if she hits the wrong rock the wrong way.

She's trying not to think about how AAA probably isn't coming to bail anyone out ever again when Kara begins to mumble and then abruptly comes awake with a shout and a thrash that might, on a better day, have threatened to overturn the SUV. Alex and Nia share a glance, and Alex prepares for the onslaught of indignant questions. How dare you, and how could you, and how many people did you leave behind, and why in a thousand variations. Alex has been rehearsing answers in her head as if there are any acceptable answers to rehearse, but Kara doesn't ask. She buries her fingers in her own hair and makes a strangled noise that will probably break Alex's heart later when the numbness has begun to fade. And then she says, "Rao, I- There were so many, I- I'm so sorry."

Alex understands that there were so many will be Kara's it happened so fast and doesn't know what to say. She and Nia exchange another glance. Nia reaches for the radio, hesitates, and withdraws her hand. For a long time the only sound in the car is the static and the crunch of tires over dirt and Kara weeping quietly in the back seat until, with a deep shuddering breath, she pulls herself upright and peers out the window.

"Where are we going?" She asks.

It's almost a relief to have an easy question to answer. Alex passes back a ratty packet of tissues from the center console. "There's an old DEO safehouse in the desert," she says. "More like a bunker, really. Colonel Haley had it built just in case. Food, water, weapons, and shelter for a couple dozen people. Should be a really nice radio there too." She doesn't mention that the facility was built just in case Kara - specifically Kara - decided to turn on the American government, and she doesn't mention the kryptonite she suspects is still buried deep underground there. Those are details relevant to another life and another world.

"The DEO doesn't mind us squatting in their club house?"

Alex's fingers tighten on the steering wheel until her knuckles are white, and she's surprised to find she has to swallow hard before she can speak. "Pretty sure there is no DEO anymore," she says, "But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Kara swallows too, audibly, and her voice is rough when she says, "National City?"

Lena answers, "Lost."

Kara doesn't ask what Lena means by that, and the absence of the question is almost more difficult than trying to answer it might have been. It happened so fast. But Kara knows that. She knows how fast it happened because she was there at the parade when it all went to hell for National City. She knows because even she, super speed and all, could not keep up. Not that she didn't try and try and try until she solar flared. Not that Alex and Nia didn't try alongside her until it became a choice between Kara's life and a losing battle to save a city already half dead. In the end, that choice was surprisingly easy.

Alex swallows again and tries to relax her hands on the wheel. The parade is something from someone else's life. It’s something that happened to someone else, maybe some other Alex, some poor asshole who is going to carry around some gnarly emotional scars when this is all over. It has to be some other Alex because this Alex has responsibilities, and responsibility #1 is to get Kara to safety. Everything else - next steps, grief, anger, denial, whatever - can wait until they are safely underground. Almost there now. Just a little further.

They have maybe another three hours of daylight. The quiet focused part of Alex is thinking about the other two SUVs behind them, and when they might have left the city, and whether Kara is going to be able to sleep if they're still waiting on people when the sun goes down. She’ll need the rest. There are no sunlamps where they’re going and no one in this car has any idea how long it might take to recover from a solar flare without them. They’re twenty minutes or so from the safehouse now as they turn onto what is more clearly a dirt road and not potentially just a wide trail or perhaps a dry riverbed.

"We got Barry on the phone before the signal cut out," Nia is explaining. "He and Oliver are getting some people together and they're going to meet us here in a couple of days. It's a long, dangerous trip but we all agreed it was worth trying to rendezvous. We don't know how long this is going to last."

"Kate?"

"We haven't been able to raise anyone from Gotham."

Alex tries not to see Kara digesting this information in the backseat, tries not to see her putting the pieces together. Somehow so long as Kara is living in the old world, the old world is still alive, and Alex is still going to be okay. They're all going to be okay. They're going to get far, far away from this and wait until it blows over, and it's going to be fine. The dead will stay dead and the living will stay living and they’ll go on with their busy, blissfully insignificant lives. For a moment longer, Alex can still think these things to herself and almost believe them.

And then Kara says, "It's everywhere, isn't it."

Nobody answers that. Lena squeezes Kara's knee and offers her a thin, sad smile. Nia gazes out the window with tired eyes and a distant expression that Alex suspects is a mirror of her own. And Alex watches the road, quiet and focused and numb.

[nayona96]

"What would a good big brother do?" PART 2

Part 1

He should’ve known Auguste got the easier task.

The man texted him the next morning to say Laurent already agreed to attend their next party. Reluctantly and it required Gus to use 110% of his puppy eyes power.

Auguste’s part was done, Laurent was going to come to the party, so it was now Kastor’s turn to act.

And act he did.

After taking necessary hangover medication and a thorough shower, obviously. Going to his brother’s place with a stinking green cloud following him around would ruin everything.

So, when he finally knocked on Damen’s door, Kastor was shaved and with cheeks shining and smooth like a bare sheep’s butt, his hair was clean and shiny and he smelled like flowers (sometimes a man runs out of his own body wash so there’s no other option but to use his girlfriend’s, don’t judge).

The door was opened by a very irritated looking Nikandros, though, if he had to be honest, Nik constantly had the expression of being half done with life. And constipated.

The man leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms against the chest.

“If you turn around now, I’m going to pretend it was a cult member knocking on our door to convert us.”

Kastor frowned. “Why would you lie?”

“...Are you fucing serious?”

“Are YOU serious?”

Nikandros scanned his face before responding, “Why are you here? You’re not welcome.”

“I wanted to talk to my brother.”

The other man was seething. “The audacity to call yourself his brother after what you’ve done, you piece of cow shi--”

“Who is it, Nik?”

Something dropped in Kastor’s stomach. The sound of his little brother’s voice inevitably brought back the look on Damen’s face from their last encounter.

The look which was now back, as soon as Damen realized who it was at his doorstep.

“What do you want, Kastor?” It sounded so different from when it was Nikandros who asked this question.

He swallowed. “Can I come in?”

“Absolutely not.” Nikandros snarled, at the same time when Damen asked, “What for?”

“Just to talk. Please.”

The hostility in the younger Vallis lessened visibly and Nikandros must have noticed it even sooner than Kastor did. Nik turned around, placed a firm hand on his best friend’s shoulder and said sternly, “He doesn’t deserve to say a single word. Do not talk to him, Damen.”

After a lifetime of friendship, Nik should have realized his mistake right away. Hell, he’d get better results by keeping his mouth shut.

Because the second Nikandros Karas told Damen NOT to do something, one could be certain Damen was about to do the exact opposite.

Damianos smiled at his friend and asked him to get back inside. Nik’s face twisted in an odd mix of disappointment and annoyance. They quarreled for a while, completely ignoring the third man still waiting at the entrance.

Eventually Nik backed off, not without a heavy, theatrical sigh. Damn, this guy could be such a drama queen sometimes.

“So,” Damen said, after Nikandros slammed the door to what Kastor presumed was his room, “what did you want to talk about?”

Kastor had spent the entire morning and early afternoon trying to workshop a speech for this occasion. Not the easiest thing to do with a bitch of a hangover, mind you. But he got on the bus with a solid plan to convince Damen to come to the party and meet Laurent, his soon-to-be soulmate and love of his life. Yes, he still believed Auguste’s baby brother was his own brother’s destined partner.

The young twink was just too pretty and blond and wicked smart (emphasis on the wicked part) to not be perfect for Damen.

Damen, whose expectant eyes turned out to be worse than his old Akielon teacher in middle school whenever she had him recite a poem and caused Kas to forget most of what he had prepared.

What left Kastor’s mouth was, “Wanna go to a party?”

The younger man’s eyebrows shot up. “A party.”

“Yes.”

“With you.”

“Yeah.”

“And why in the ever loving fuck would I want to go anywhere with you?” Kastor’s smile fell, seeing the displeased expression come back on Damen’s face. “I don’t think I want to show my face publicly with you.”

No, it was all going wrong! How did Auguste do it? How did he convince his younger brother so effortlessly?

Probably by not fucking Laurent’s girlfriend behind his back, a judgmental voice at the back of his head proposed.

Has Laurent ever had a girlfriend? Probably not, as Gus always mentioned men whenever he talked about Laurent in this context. But one could never be certain.

What Kastor could be certain though was that his next words were crucial and the fate of his plan depended on his wit.

He could take the more ambitious route and think of some excuse but both he and Damen were simple men who preferred simple truths.

“I miss you.” Kastor said. “I feel bad about everything and I… I don’t want to not talk anymore.”

Damen was silent for a long while. Kastor let his brother search his face for any sign of dishonesty - something Damen would never do before the fuck up of the century with Jokaste - and he observed as his shoulders gradually lost tension when he found no lies.

There was, however, a lot of doubt in his eyes and Kastor would be worried about it, if Nikandros didn’t choose that moment to yell, “DON’T YOU DARE, DAMIANOS, DON’T YOU GO ANYWHERE WITH HIM!”.

Damen asked him for time and place and if there was any dress code.

Kastor did a victory dance. At home, of course, he wouldn’t deprive Jokaste of any opportunity to make fun of him.

Two days later he met his brother (and Nik the guard dog) at a friend’s house. It was more of a villa to be honest, as Pallas got lucky and married a rich guy with an affinity to marble dicks, if the amount of ancient Akielon style statues placed all around the premises were any indication.

The three men entered the villa. Damen and Nik looked around curiously, and so did Kastor, although he tried to spot two blond heads instead of simply checking things out.

He was beginning to sweat, not being able to find neither his friend nor Damen’s future perfect half, but as it turned out he needn’t to worry.

Damen had a fucking radar tuned to attractive blonds. “Who’s that? I don’t think I know him.”

Kastor’s heart did a happy flip when he heard Nik’s terrified groan. “Dude…”

And there he was, in all his glory.

Laurent Revere stood by the chocolate fountain. He wore black slacks and an equally black silk dress shirt, cuffed slightly above his elbows. The blond hair was gathered back and tied in a low ponytail over his neck. A lone strand fell out of the ponytail and rested against the sharp, pale cheek. Laurent’s skin was milky white and seemed almost otherworldly pale in contrast with his outfit. Slender fingers held a champagne flute gracefully to his rosy lips, in a gesture Kastor guessed was supposed to buy him time before he had to speak to the boring older guy who seemed resistant to the ice in the blond’s eyes.

Kastor glanced to the side. Damen looked as if he was struck with lightning. Nikandros looked scared shitless.

“Oh, him?” Kastor played dumb. “That’s Laurent.”

For the first time in six months Damen looked at his older brother with something that wasn’t hatred in his eyes. “Laurent?”

“Yup. Auguste’s younger brother. I’ve heard he just moved back to Marlas after finishing uni somewhere else.”

Damen nodded, gazing back at Laurent thoughtfully. The blond sneered at the older guy, said one sentence which had the creep blanche and run with his tail between his legs.

“Dude, think with your brain, please.” Nik begged. “Don’t be stupid and run after another mysterious blond. Just ignore him.”

Nikandros really was stupid sometimes, wasn’t he?

Kastor’s hyena mode kicked in and he jumped on the opportunity. “Want me to introduce you? I think I see Gus next to him now, we could go and say hi.”

“Damen, don’t.” Nik proved once again that whenever there was an attractive blonde involved, Damen would do the exact opposite of what Nikandros asked him to do.

“Sure. Lead the way, Kastor.”

Kastor was so damn excited he could swing Lazar’s expensive chandeliers while belting Sia.

Damen was about to introduce himself to Laurent.

The rest would go smoothly, they would go on dates, fall in love, get married and adopt a bunch of dogs.

Nothing could possibly go wrong, couldn’t it?

[bridgetserdocksketches]

We're suffering tonight, boys

Lena isn’t avoiding Kara, okay? She’s just very busy. That’s all. What with being the CEO of her own company, running her own experiments, and this new little passion project she has a lot going on. Her absence in Kara’s life these past few days has absolutely nothing to do with the black eye she’s currently sporting. Don’t be ridiculous.

Though, in hindsight, she really should’ve known she’d only be able to bail on lunch with Kara so many times before she came knocking.

Lena’s knee deep in some complex coding, trying to figure out what went wrong with this last test and fix it, when she gets the call. She barely even looks at her phone screen before answering. Not that she needs to.

“Kara, hi,” she says warmly.

“Are you avoiding me?”

Well, shit. “What? No. Of course not.”

“Are you sick? You know if you’re sick you can just tell me, right?”

“Yes, I-- no, Kara. I’m not sick.”

Lena can practically see the pinch in her brow. The confusion painted all over her face as she tries to puzzle out what’s going on with Lena.

“Okay, well you skipped lunch three times this week. Is everything alright?” Kara asks.

“Yes, everything’s perfectly fine. I’ve just been busy,” Lena assures her.

“So you’re not avoiding me?”

Lena breathes out a sigh that borders on a laugh. “No.”

“Alright, then can you come let me in?”

Before Lena can even ask where she is or what she means (as if she doesn’t already know), there’s a knocking at the door. Not the front door, of course. No, that would be far too mundane. It’s at the back door. The balcony door. The one that Lena always leaves unlocked, but Kara refuses to open without being welcomed in.

Her immediate reaction is to get up and open the door for Kara. But then Kara would see the black eye that much sooner. And if she can stall for even a few seconds longer, she will. So instead, she simply turns over her shoulder (careful to keep her left eye obscured) and calls out to Kara.

“It’s open.”

Still wearing the Supergirl suit and wielding a takeout bag, Kara strides into Lena’s apartment with a little spring in her step. Because as far as she’s concerned, Lena hasn’t been avoiding her. Lena isn’t hiding a few secrets from her and has nothing out of the ordinary going on. She’s just a little extra busy with that passion project she has outright refused to share any information about with anyone. There is absolutely nothing for her - or Lena, for that matter - to worry about.

“I figured you didn’t eat anything since you skipped lunch, again,” Kara drawls, the barest hint of disappointment in her words. “So I brought you dinner.” She walks around to get in front of Lena, finally, and plops the greasy bag of Big Belly Burger down on the counter. “Voila!”

There’s a five second gap after the delectable diabetic nightmare is presented before Lena. Five charged seconds where Lena simply waits for Kara to finally notice. At first, she’s a little too proud of herself. A grin so broad and brilliant and downright beautiful it could be considered blinding spread across her face. But then those blue eyes of hers track a little to the left and they go wide. Her mouth falls open. Her brow pinches. And several emotions flicker over her visage all at once.

Her lips work around a few words, spluttering on air briefly, before she finally settles on “Lena!”

And Lena can’t help herself. “Kara?”

Kara blinks. “What-- When-- Who did this to you?”

Lena exhales deeply and leans back in her chair. “No one did this to me.”

Kara’s around on Lena’s side of the counter in the space of a heartbeat. Her hands cradling Lena’s face like it’ll break under the slightest amount of pressure as she examines her.

“What happened?” She demands.

“Nothing. I’m fine,” Lena insists.

It’s almost believable, too. But then Kara’s thumb chances a little too close to her left eye. With a hiss of pain, Lena flinches from her hand. Kara’s brow furrows further and her frown deepens.

“Lena--”

“I’m fine, Kara. Really,” Lena says. She takes both of Kara’s hands in her own and pulls them down from her face. “It was just an experiment gone wrong.”

“What sort of experiment gives people black eyes?”

Lena breathes out an indignant little huff of air. “It’ll be easier to just show you.”

Kara’s gaze narrows. “Alright.”

Kara is right on Lena’s heels as they walk to the spare room. The room Lena has taken to calling the nursery, where Baymax is lying in wait. At this stage in his development, he’s pretty infantile at best. He knows a few key phrases and can identify a person as long as they’re standing in front of him. But he can’t hold a conversation and his object permanence is severely lacking. So, yeah. Lena’s gonna call his room a nursery.

Baymax is in his charging pod where she’d left him a few days ago (when their most recent test run failed spectacularly, leaving Lena with a shiner). There isn’t anything else in the room, though. Lena had removed a lot of it to make space for his assembly. Once that was done, she decided to keep the room empty after he broke her last laptop after a particularly nasty glitch. So the only thing in here, as far as Kara’s concerned, is some weird red luggage tucked against the back wall.

“What am I looking at?” Kara asks, the worry from before replaced with confusion and curiosity.

“Hopefully something that’ll help a lot of people,” Lena says.

It’s cryptic, she’ll admit. But it’s hard to explain exactly what Baymax is at this point. Because he’s not simply a robot anymore. He’s taken on so much more personality and life in just the few weeks since his first test run. He’s learning. Growing. Like a person.

So instead of explaining, Lena crosses the length of the room, kneels down in front of the charging pod, and activates the robot.

Later, Kara would say that Lena leapt away from the charging station as it booted up. Like she’d gotten zapped or something. Lena, however, would vehemently insist that she simply hurried away in case something went wrong. Either way, she now stands alongside Kara, watching with bated breath as Baymax comes back to life.

She counts the seconds it takes him to inflate. 23. They need to get that down. He needs to be faster. If someone is really hurt, he has to be able to help. It takes another 4 seconds for Baymax to fully boot up. His eyes blink to signify that he’s fully functional and ready to assist. A total of 27 seconds. They can do better.

Not that Kara notices. She’s staring open mouthed and wide eyed as Baymax awkwardly stumbles out of his charging pod. His steps are heavy, almost as if he thinks the floor is further down (just another thing to iron out). He stops moving about two feet away from them both. Lifts his hand limply into the air (the fingers not fully inflated or opposable yet).

“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.”

And then he freezes. Standing right there. Unmoving and, to be frank, a little terrifying.

“Wow,” Kara breathes.

“Yeah,” Lena agrees. “He’s still got a lot of bugs to work out. Hence the black eye.” She gestures at her left eye vaguely. “But when he’s finished, he’s going to help a lot of people.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Kara asks.

Lena turns to her now. Her brow arched and a playful little smirk on her lips. “What? Is being Supergirl not enough for you?”

“Don't get me wrong. I love being Supergirl, but this.” She points at Baymax’s frozen form. “This will be able to do something I never could.”

Lena’s smirk falls into something softer. Something kinder. Kara finally looks at her now.

“Now, I’m not great with coding and all that… stuff. But I can help you test him out. No matter how hard he tries, he’s not going to be able to give me a black eye.”

Well, when she puts it like that…

“Do I… do I start now?” Kara asks hesitantly. She fidgets uncomfortably with the sign Lena handed her, then adjusts her glasses.

Lena smiles at her from behind her computer. “You can start whenever you like. But I do want to be done by dinner, darling.”

“Right.” Kara nods.

She looks away from Lena, her eyes landing on Baymax. And then she grins. That unfairly perfect grin. The one that is so infectious it’s a wonder the CDC aren’t investigating it yet.

“This is Kara Danvers,” She says, carefully enunciating each word. “And this is the first test of mine and Lena Luthor’s Baymax Project.”

She reaches forward, just like Lena showed her, and turns Baymax on. She grins again, up at the robot, and waits. Watches as he blinks, tilts his head down, and lifts his hand.

“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.”

“Hello, Baymax!” She answers cheerily. “Would you please scan me?”

“Beginning scan now,” Baymax announces.

But that’s not what happens. No, it would be too simple if that’s what happens next. Instead, the entire system glitches. And both his arms start vibrating rapidly.

Kara’s face pales. “Uh, Lena,” she calls, not daring to look away from another rogue robot. “Is he supposed to be doing that?”

“No,” Lena says quickly. She looks between the two screens in front of her, trying to search for the error in his code to stop this from happening next time. “You gotta shut him down, Kara.”

“Uh-oh!” Kara exclaims.

Lena’s head snaps up. “Uh-oh?”

“Sorry about your laptop,” Kara says, as if it’s her fault Baymax broke yet another computer. Lena really needs to stick to her no-computers-in-the-nursery rule.

“It’s alright.” Lena waves her off, dutifully working away at the code from her tablet. “I’ll just get another one.”

“Next time I’ll stand between the two of you. That way I can better stop his renegade flying arms.”

Lena's gaze snaps to where Kara sits, finishing off the last of their fries (Lena’s fries, really. But they always share). “Next time? You still want to help after that disaster?”

“Of course,” Kara says earnestly. Then her face screws up. “But do you think we could make him look a little friendlier? A bit rounder? You know. Friend-shaped?”

Lena snickers. “Friend-shaped?”

“Yeah. Friend-shaped.”

Lena laughs lightly, and start typing again. “I think I can make that work.”

Wow. That got away from me

So this is how Kara ends up being the one to test Baymax. It's also part of what Baymax shows to Lena after telling her "Kara is here."

This scene (as in the video, not the ficlet) would serve as an emotional low point, if you couldn't tell. And it would be the moment where Lena decides she's going to let the Superfriends use Baymax to save Kara (instead of his actual purpose which is, you know, healthcare)

[appropriatelystupid]

So obviously there’s Supercorp in medieval times AUs

(trust and believe I’ve read and loved every single one they never get old)

But what about a Supercorp at Medieval Times AU…

Lena, is the reigning Queen:

She started working there in high school because she needed an excuse to get out of the house and because she knew Lillian would frown upon such an establishment

(She stayed because the joy of the kids that come through is just too sweet a high)

Lena started as a serving girl, entry level and easy enough, but quickly set her eyes on the prize: The Throne

The Queen at the time, an undeniably irritating woman, Siobhan, makes it almost too easy for Lena to usurp her

Siobhan has multiple reviews from guests for her lackluster performance, as well as numerous complaints from coworkers for being a menace to work with

In the end, Siobhan all but hands Lena everything she needs

Siobhan is late for the start of the dinner show, on a busy Friday

Lena isn’t the one to find her, but, if pressed, she’ll admit to making sure the manager was

The show needs to get started but they absolutely will be having a conversation later about the fact that she was just caught fucking one of the squires in her changing room

(It does not go her way)

Suddenly the Throne is open and there’s another show tomorrow and the manager is scrambling because how will we find a queen in less than a day

And so Lena makes her move; stops by the manager’s office and offers to cover the role until they can find someone permanent; she knows the show from watching it everyday and, best of all, she already fits the current wardrobe

And so her reign begins

Kara, is determined to be a Knight:

She starts about a month after Lena becomes Queen

Her best friend, Winn, a jester who does a pre-show act as people are being seated, gets her an interview to be a stable hand

A lifetime of riding horses makes her more than qualified

Kara is feeding one of the horses the first time she sees Lena, already dressed for the dinner show

(She almost loses a finger in her distraction)

They don’t get a chance to talk for a few days, as far as Kara can tell Lena is pretty aloof and unsociable

It’s two days later when Kara finds Lena grooming one of the horses after a show and she finds out that it’s just been a bad week for Lena

In addition to some personal family stuff, the knights in the show have all, at one time or another, tried to ask her out and a couple really don’t know how to take “no” for an answer

After seeing her work with the horse, Kara tells her she’s always welcome in the stables with her

She wields her broom like a sword, promises to protect her from any and all unsavory knights, and finishes with a deep bow in hopes of making her crack a smile

She gets a deep belly laugh, head thrown back and cheeks dusted pink, and a smile that almost blinds her instead

She feels her heart trip over itself in her chest and knows she must become a knight so she can at least pretend to fight for the love of this incredible woman

A few months into working there, Lena catches her practicing with a sword between shows

A few too many call outs meant someone was needed to polish the gear and Kara got distracted™️

Lena just picks up a sword of her own, with an elaborate flourish, and they spend half of their lunch break having a duel

Both are very impressed by the others swordsmanship and also very turned on by the whole thing

They both keep that bit to themselves

Lena starts plotting her next show shake up

A few months later, there’s drama™️ in the arena during the knights practice jousts, which is to say, Morgan is in a huff because Lena turned him down, again, and Maxwell can’t help but taunt him by bragging that she’ll “totally say yes" to him when he asks again

Mike and James try to calm them both down but Morgan’s horse gets spooked and throws him off

He doesn’t break anything but the way he’s whimpering you’d think he did; either way he can’t perform that night

Before the manager can start to panic, Lena suggests Kara take Morgan’s spot for the night

He’s hesitant about putting a female in the role but his options are limited with their back up on vacation

Kara is shocked that Lena suggests her but quickly jumps to her own defense

It’s already known she’s great on a horse, and her time working with them (and in the gym) mean that Morgan’s gear will work well enough for her to be comfortable and still in control

It’s too close to the doors opening for anything else so Kara dons the armor (and if she can’t stop smiling well then that’s just too bad for everyone else because she’s ecstatic)

As they gather to determine the winner for that night’s show, Lena looks almost as excited for her as Kara is

The Queen and her four Knights gather around and Lena blindly draws a beanbag from the dark box in front of them: Red will be winning tonight

She replaces the bag and mixes them up a bit before the knights all draw their own

Kara draws blue; Lena thinks it’s fitting for her first show, considering how bright her blue eyes are shining in excitement, even if it means she’ll be coming in second that night

Mike gets red and all Lena can think is at least it’s not Maxwell again

The show goes better than most have in weeks

Kara’s joy is palpable and the Blue section is, at times, deafening

Even though she comes in second, when Kara removes her helmet and reveals herself to the crowd, the entire arena erupts

Lena, from her place on the throne, can see little kids all over the crowd in awe of her

(Shortly after Lena had become Queen, she had suggested adding a sort of meet and greet after the shows, a chance for the younger kids to meet their heroes of the night

As is her own custom, Lena is with the winning Knight, seeing as they had just fought for her hand, after all)

Most nights the knights are greeted by kids from their own section, but tonight, from where Lena is standing with Mike, she can see kids in crowns from all the sections eager to meet Kara

Kara, absolutely cannot stop beaming and is told more than a few times that she needs to make her interactions quicker

(She does not go quicker)

When she finally does get through all the guests waiting for her, the manager offers Kara the role permanently

Morgan had quit when he heard Kara was replacing him and there’s no denying the popularity of her as a knight

It feels like an eternity (it’s been two weeks) before Kara finally draws the winning color for the night: Green

She thinks it’s fitting, just like Lena’s eyes as it were

Lena, for her part tries desperately to not show how excited she is that Kara will finally be her winning Knight

The show goes exactly as it always does, everything running without a hitch, but Kara can’t help but be a nervous wreck as they get to the end

She has the flower crown in hand, she knows what comes next but she can’t help but feel jittery in her saddle

She knows she needs to trot past her section in victory

She knows she needs to ride to Lena in the Royal Box

She knows she needs to place the flowers on her head and crown her the “Queen of Love and Beauty”

She knows Lena thanks her winning Knight with a kiss on the cheek

She knows all of this but she didn’t know ya know

She finds she’s distinctly unprepared for Lena’s face to be anywhere near her face

All Kara can do as she approaches Lena is hope desperately that she doesn’t look as nervous about a kiss on the cheek as she feels

(Alex never let’s her live it down after she hears the story)

Kara stops her horse next to the Royal Box as Lena rises to greet her

She’s sure it’s a trick of the lights that showed a flash of nerves across Lena’s face as well

Kara can feel her hands shaking as she places the crown on Lena’s head; she’s shocked her horse hasn’t picked up on her nerves as well

It’s only when Lena’s lips finally make contact with her cheek, close enough to the corner of her mouth to be felt, that Kara realizes she hasn’t been breathing

Kara sees the nerves clearly now, as Lena straightens back up to finish the show, so she does the only thing she can think to do in front of a packed arena

She catches Lena’s hand off the railing that separates them and plants her lips firmly to the back of it, blue eyes locked on Lena’s own green

The smiles they send each other would outshine the sun if given the chance before Lena shakes herself out of her daze to finally actually finish the show

After the show, after greeting the guests with their hands as good as glued together, they finally get back to their shared changing room

(An unexpected blessing and curse once there were two females needing a place to change for the shows)

Lena is barely in the door before she’s very much pinned against it by her very happy and very beautiful knight

They don’t outright tell anyone about the shift between them

James is the first to realize that when Kara wins, the kisses get closer and closer to real; he catches them both after a show and gives them a quick “congrats” and a wink before heading to change

Mike doesn’t clock onto the difference for when Kara wins but when he eventually finds out they’re dating he gives them a “right on” and high fives them both

Maxwell doesn’t notice anything because he doesn’t pay attention to parts of the show that don’t involve him; they very pointedly tell him absolutely nothing about themselves

If this was a real story and not me stream-of-consciousness-ing then Nia and Brainy would work at the gift shop

Also this is how I pictured Lena for the entirety of this:

[whythinktoomuch]

attempt #37

This was the 52nd formula that Lena had come up with, the 45th solution that she had to wait several hours to synthesize, but only the 37th time she was injecting her shoulder with the resulting concoction. 

It was bright green this time, which only made it seem all the more promising.

There’s a rush and some mild nausea that Lena had come to expect with the experiments, but everything else felt the same. For now. Setting the syringe aside, Lena called out, “Hope, think of a number between one and a million.” 

Then, for the 37th time, Lena tried. She cleared her own mind, practiced the meditative mantras, stared intently into Eve’s eyes, bright blue yet blank with Hope’s quiet disinterest, and... nothing. Not a single digit came to mind. 

No matter how hard Lena tried, the only thoughts in her head were her own. 

With an exasperated sigh, Lena rolled her sleeve back down and directed Hope to log their latest attempt as yet another failure before storming off to start her day. 

// 

Lena emerged from the laboratory with wrinkled clothes and dark circles sunken around her eyes, which was probably why the first thing she heard as she stepped out of the elevator was her personal assistant’s hushed commentary of, Oh sweet Jesus, she looks tired. 

“Oh, I’m well aware, Hector,” Lena said, lofty and without much malice. “Nothing a little coffee can’t fix though.” 

Hector stared at her blankly. “I’m sorry, Miss Luthor?” 

“Never mind,” Lena said, rolling her eyes. She took the outstretched coffee in question as she walked by the assistant’s desk. “Just hold all my calls until the afternoon, please.” 

This time, when Hector grumbled under his breath about wow, she must be grumpy too, Lena ignored it. There were better things for the CEO to tackle, after all; as for example, some fitful sleep on her couch, perhaps? 

Hours later, Lena was relatively well-rested, so she pored over her notes again, trying to pinpoint the exact variable she must have overlooked in her carelessness. Because by all accounts, the formula should have worked—Lena had been certain of it. But then again, she’d admittedly thought that of almost every attempt thus far. 

When Hector walked into her office at some point in the late afternoon with a handful of contracts to be signed, Lena felt no closer to the solution and a slight headache coming on.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” 

“Another coffee would be great,” Lena said, as she sifted through the documents. 

“Oh my God, if she takes in any more caffeine, her heart’s going to literally explode...” Hector muttered to himself. “Well, maybe she won’t notice if I get her decaf instead...?” 

Lena dropped the papers onto her desk with a scoff. “You know I can hear you, right?” 

Hector appeared startled, which seemed rather appropriate until he slowly said, “So... was that a yes on the espresso?” 

“What?” 

Hector maintained his slow cadence, carefully enunciating every syllable as if he were repeating himself, “Did you want to stick with your usual order... or maybe go with an espresso... because it’s a little stronger?” 

But in a normal cadence, also in Hector’s voice and somehow clear as a bell in Lena’s head came, “If this woman doesn’t get another nap in pronto, she is going to drop dead, and everyone’s going to think I poisoned her coffee, because she’s always in—” 

Absolutely stunned, Lena continued to stare up at Hector in silence, eyes narrowing as the assistant’s slightly panicked voice droned on and on in her head. Until a louder remark broke through the reverie. 

“Whoa, did she just fall asleep with her eyes open?” 

Lena blinked quite obviously, and her mild shock was accompanied with a loud and clear, yet unspoken Oh, thank God! from Hector. 

But the Hector standing before her hadn’t moved his lips once, only watching the bewilderment play out on Lena’s face with some polite concern. 

“The usual’s fine,” Lena interjected before her assistant could press again. “Or the espresso, or whatever. I don’t care, as long as it’s still hot and caffeinated.” 

“You got it,” Hector said. 

“Definitely getting her decaf,” Hector thought as he turned to leave, but Lena hardly minded. She was too busy restructuring the rest of her day around this most exciting realization. 

After some quick bit of arithmetic in her head, Lena set a timer on her watch for five hours, which was presumably the amount of time it would take for her body to break down the serum and render it useless. Then she logged on to her private interface and happily directed Hope to re-record attempt #37 as a success. 

//

The ability to read minds was, quite simply, quite the advantage. 

Though it wasn’t so much “mind-reading,” as mind-receiving. The serum seemed to have granted Lena access to the loud and active thought processes of everyone around her—their inner monologue, if you will, everything put into words but left unsaid. 

Lena had been hoping for more, to be able to break into other people’s minds so as to hack secrets, determine why supposed close friends would ever betray her, and the like. Maybe that would come with time and practice. 

But as it turned out, there was rather plenty to be gleaned from the forefront of someone’s mind, as people often thought about the things they weren’t supposed to say before choosing more palatable means of expression. Which made the rest of Lena’s workday somewhat informative, if not a little fun. 

For one thing, Lena found out that a lot more of her employees enjoyed working for her than she had thought. All of them respected her, several feared her, and quite a fair few entertained invasive thoughts about her décolletage before swiftly directing their attention elsewhere. 

She also found out there was one board member in particular who liked to fudge the numbers during meetings, and that his face took on a very unappealing shade of off-white when Lena could inexplicably confront him with the actual results of his findings. 

But most importantly of all, what Lena found out was that... she actually enjoyed this heretofore inaccessible sense of control this ability afforded her. She had taken on the experiments for a very specific purpose, but now, it was difficult to even imagine going back to how things were, even after the fact.  

// 

Lena walked into the DEO, and for the first time, the outpouring of distrust attached to the Luthor name was all but imagined. The disparaging thoughts followed her, even as the people who had them smiled or averted their eyes as she passed. 

Nothing she wasn’t used to though. 

Alex’s voice slid into Lena’s head in a whisper—... the hell?—one whole minute before she actually greeted her, “Lena, hey... Well, can’t say that I was expecting you.” 

“Yes, that’s what it sounds like,” Lena mused, and Alex gave her a slight frown. 

“So, did you need something?” 

“Where’s Kara? I want to talk to her.” 

Alex’s carefully composed face betrayed no emotion, but her thoughts sighed heavily, “Of course...” before ebbing away into something entirely indistinct and indecipherable.

Lena blinked. She hadn’t encountered anyone whose thoughts weren’t immediately accessible to her before. But here Alex was, giving directions to Kara’s current whereabouts, all the while muttering some underlying commentary in tones so hushed that Lena couldn’t quite make out any of it. 

“... Is there something on my face?” Alex swiped her sleeve across her forehead. “What are you looking at?” 

“What? No, nothing,” Lena said brusquely. “Thank you for telling me where Kara is. Bye.” She turned on her heel, headed for the hallway that would eventually lead to the training room. 

“Well, that was weird...” Alex’s voice drifted after her, a literal afterthought. “But I mean, I guess she has a nice ass, so—”

Lena shot a dirty look over her shoulder, but Alex was already back on her computer, mind rattling off coordinates and running through tactical drills like a well-oiled machine. 

// 

Kara was wearing short shorts and a sports bra, panting, and absolutely drenched in sweat when Lena stepped foot into the training room. She looked over at Lena, her skin glistening against the dimmed green of the kryptonite-lined walls, and smiled wide. 

“Oh, hey! What are you doing here?” Kara asked, giving the punching bag one last jab before tugging her gloves off. "Did something happen or...? I mean, not that I’m not happy to see you, of course.” She flashed Lena another bright grin before pressing a towel to her face and neck and chest. 

It was enough to stop Lena in her tracks, and almost enough to put a damper on her plans. Almost. 

“I need to talk to you,” Lena said evenly, eyes glued firmly to Kara’s forehead. 

“Yeah, sure! Jeez... I’d give you a hug, but I’m like sweating in places I didn’t even know existed. Alex says that this is the only way to learn proper form and all, but wow. I can’t believe there are humans who actually do this for fun—” 

“Kara,” Lena cut in, lips pursing in exasperation. “I’m serious. We need to talk right now.” 

Kara blinked, then slowly nodded. “Okay, yeah, let’s talk... You wanna sit down?” 

“I prefer to be standing.” 

“Okay.” Kara remained standing as well, towel now crumpled in her hands. “So, what’s going on?” 

Lena took a deep breath, quickly running through the meditative techniques meant to keep her mind clear and open, then asked, “Why did it take you so long to tell me that you’re Supergirl?” 

Kara’s shoulders slumped. “Lena, I...” 

“No, why did it take three years? Why didn’t you trust me?” Lena continued, her pace steady and firm just like she had practiced. “I trusted you. I trusted you with every part of me, which is extremely difficult for me to do, and you just... didn’t care, I guess.” 

“Of course, I care. Lena... I never meant to hurt you,” Kara said insistently. Her voice was loud, emphatic, and at the moment, the only thing Lena could hear.  

“Don’t!” Lena snapped when Kara started to approach her. “Don’t come any closer. And stop talking! Just listen.” 

Kara exhaled sharply through her nose and raised her hands in tentative surrender in absolute, utter silence. Lena even paused for a beat or two, just to see if any of Kara’s thoughts would breach the surface, but none did. 

“Why couldn’t you just trust me, Kara?” Lena asked, and regrettably her voice trembled on the last syllable. “Why did I have to hear it from Lex?” 

Kara’s eyes widened. “Lex? Lex told you before I did?” 

“Shut up. Do not talk,” Lena hissed out, waiting for Kara to snap her jaw shut before continuing with a bitter laugh, “Do you, do you even trust me now...?” Kara stared, gaze hardening. “And how do you expect me to trust anything you have to say for yourself now?” 

Lena’s questions—all of the above and beyond—were met with silence, strained only by the sound of Kara’s heavy breath and Lena’s own thoughts. 

Scoffing, Lena threw up her hands. “Do you even care that you hurt me?” 

“... Can I talk now?” Kara demanded, seething like she had any right to it. But when Lena shook her head furiously, she held her tongue and apparently everything else as well, because Lena couldn’t hear a single damn thing. 

When the alarm on her watch went off, Lena left, slamming the door on her way out. She contacted Hope through their private channel and had her re-log attempt #37 as just another failure. 

Back to the fucking drawing board. 

(next part here)