#but i agree it should have been him hating that lena was with kara

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

I’m completely sure you disagree with me. But I hated all the Lex don’t want Lena and Kara to work together in s5b and then…he just didn’t care they were working together.

Any scene containing Lex AFTER the moment Lena shot him in the chest is absolutely unnecessary and shouldn't have happened.

I don't care about the potential of him going over to Superman & Lois. I don't care how good Jon Cryer was in the role. I don't care that he's the most famous Super villain of all time.

In that initial Lex arc in Supergirl, he was Lena's villain, and he should have remained Lena's villain until the end. He deserved to die in that dark hole he tried to hide in, and he deserved to rot there, left to the rats and obscurity.

The fact that they revived him for another TWO SEASONS is absolutely abhorrent to me and I will forever be bitter about the fact that he hijacked the remainder of Supergirl's run and that the writers used his purported brilliance as a crutch to hand wave whatever break in continuity/tech jumps they needed to jam their derivative stories into shape.

"Lex is manipulating Lena-- AGAIN!"

"Lex is in league with the final boss of the series-- because he went to the future offscreen and got MARRIED!"

Like... I don't fucking give a shit about Lex. You gave him two and half fucking seasons to let him gloat and run nonsensical circles around the protags, meanwhile you cram a single episode establishing Lena being a WITCH down our throats and BARELY discuss the trauma of Kara's return to the Phantom Zone??

Have some goddamn respect for the viewers who have been watching your show for 6 fucking years.

[6rookie-writer0110]

I will follow you into the night

Mon-El x Female Reader

Request - Hi can you do a mon el x reader, where she is in a sad mood and mon el is trying to make her happy?

It's been a horrible week, you lie in bed and couldn't hold back your tears. You always bottle up your emotions but today you couldn't hold it in any longer. You have been in bed all day, you didn't answer your texts or calls. Your mind just plays the negative thoughts and you sigh then cry again. Much later, Mon-El arrived home and he is in a happy mood.

“Hey, babe I'm home” Mon-El smiled.

You don't say anything and sit next to you.

“Babe?” Mon-El asked.

“Hey,” You said in a low voice.

“What’s wrong?” Mon-El asked.

Your boyfriend does know about your depression, but sometimes he doesn't know what to say or he says something wrong.

“It's been a bad week,” You said.

He tries to think of something to say that will cheer you up. But instead, he lies behind you and you feel his arm around you. Seconds later, you turn around and lay your head on his chest. Now he has both of his arms around you

“It's okay to let it out,” Mon-El said.

He keeps holding you and you fall asleep. Later, he texted Kara and the others asking what to do to make you feel better.

---

Mon-El tried to make you dinner but he burned the food, so he ordered take-out. He tried to make you laugh but it didn't work, he asked if you wanted to watch your favorite movie and you said no. He didn't want to do give up but he didn't know what to do.

“Y/n, I want to make you feel better. Tell me what I can do” Mon-El said.

“I really don't know,” You said.

He kissed you on the lips.

“I will figure it out,” Mon-El said and kissed you again.

Later, Mon-El did massage your shoulders to cheer you up, but it worked a little bit. You're still feeling sad and he asked why, you start to tell him and he is making you tea.

You and Mon-El lie in bed together, you have your head on his chest. And he is tracing random patterns on your arm.

✬ ✯ ✫ ✯

The next night, Mon-El looked online and how to make to feel better. There were too many articles and what to do etc, he got overwhelmed.

But he knew what to do. He called Kara and the others to come over for the game night. They agreed and will bring the games and snacks. An hour later you come home from work.

“What is going on?” You asked.

“It's game night, babe. I told them to come over, so you can feel calm and not stressed out or sad. I know it won't go away overnight, but it doesn't you have to feel alone or feel that you can’t talk to me about it. Y/n, I will always be by your side no matter what” Mon-El said.

He hugged you and kissed your head and you sighed in relief.

“Thank you,” You said.

“Anytime, babe” Mon-El said.

You are having a good time with Mon-El and your friends. Everyone did get competitive while playing Uno. But you and Mon-El won that game twice.

---

The night is over, Mon-El is helping you clean the apartment.

“Babe, I quit my job,” You said.

“That is good. Because I know you how you hated that job” Mon-El said.

“I don't know what I will do next,” You said.

“We will figure it out together, don't worry about it. Maybe we should go away together. I heard this happy place called Land Dinsey” Mon-El said.

You laughed. “It is called Disneyland”

“Oh. So do you want to go? Lena gave me VIP passes and a hotel room” Mon-El smiled.

“I can't say no to that” You smiled.

“Awesome” Mon-El said.

He kissed you on the lips and you smiled.

[supercorpkid]

Rescue Mission – Suicide Mission.

Part 4 - Not a fair fight.

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader, Alex Danvers x Niece!Reader, Brainy x Reader, Eliza Danvers x Granddaughter!Reader.

Word count: 2480.

Warnings: Injuries. Pain. Angst. Some graphic fight scenes I guess.

Previously on the series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Whatever it cost.

Your life has been put at stake before. You almost died three or four times. Honestly, too much for a 16-year-old-girl. But this. This is different. There’s no aunt Alex to call for help, no Supergirl coming in to help you pick up the pieces. No Lena waiting for you at home with comfort hugs and donuts.

You land on the DEO, shaking. You thought about not coming the entire way here. What if you just wait until Supergirl wakes up so she can help? Would it be that bad?

“Brainy!” You call him, and he turns around to you. Tablet in hands, still monitoring the shapeshifters. “Can we wait until my momma wakes up? Then we can go for them. I mean, I didn’t see much damage around the city so-”

“We can’t.” He stops you.

“Why? Honestly, we both know I’m no match for a shapeshifter.” You say, and Brainy looks up from his tablet.

“Oh.” He smiles a little. “That’s what I’m counting on.”

“I’m sorry?” But it doesn’t take long until you tie all the knots. Of course. Of course you couldn’t trust anybody!

Brainy turns into Supergirl right in front of your eyes, and hits you with a blow of freeze breath that throws you back down. You fall, all fours, and look up to the shapeshifter in front of you.

“You are definitely not a match for us.” It presses something in the tablet and soon you hear a woosh of air coming from containment and landing a punch on your face.

Shit! Fuck! Damn it!

It played you just right! Made you believe that you could trust ‘Brainy’ because he found your family, and imprisoned one of the shapeshifters, but it was obviously just a plan. Now both are here in front of you, and if one was already hard enough, two looks impossible to beat.

You get up and fly out of the DEO. First superhero rule: if possible, take the fight to where no civilians can get hurt, so you will have less casualties. In this case, maybe just yours is enough.

The other two Supergirls fly right behind you. You feel one of them grabbing your feet and tossing you back to the ground. You fly up less than a palm before your body hits the concrete. You keep flying farther away from the city, but it’s forced to stop sooner than you would like.

One of the Supergirls punches you down, and you feel your body smashing against a boulder in the desert, making a hole on the hard rock. Dust rises up and around you. You cough, getting up from the hole and you look at both aliens in front of you, using your momma’s pretty face. You can’t win. You wouldn’t be able to win even if you were up against just one Supergirl, let alone two. You breathe deep. You were right. Two Kryptonians are better than one. You just wish this advantage were to your side.

“So, it was you all along.” You yell from a distance.

“I told you not to trust anyone.” You hear Kara’s voice and your heart beats faster. “But I suppose you are just a kid.”

“I am.” You agree with your head, taking a deep breath. “But I am her kid!”

You fly towards them, punching one in the face, making it fall in the hard rock, like you did, breaking it off in the process. But you won’t give it a chance of recovery. You fly down, settling on top of its body. Kara’s body.

“You don’t deserve this face!” You say, giving it another punch. “You don’t deserve these powers!” Another one. “You don’t deserve to wear this crest on your chest!” It’s where you punch after and you watch the alien losing its breath, looking as beat up as you found your momma. You raise your fist again, ready to end it, and feel the other alien grabbing your hand.

“What makes you think you do?” It says, flying high with you, while you try to untangle yourself from its firm grip. When you look up again, it has changed its form. You’re face to face with yourself.

“I’m not a phony!” You twist around, and it drops your hand, kicking you in the chest instead. You fly far away, trying to regain your breath. “But now it’s a fair fight.”

“Is it?” It asks, tilting its head at you. You look at your face staring at yourself on the other side and smile. Yes. Now it’s a fair fight. You know your strengths, and you know your weaknesses. And you have so many of them.

It flies closed fist at you, but you saw it coming, it’s always your first move. You fly out of the way, hitting its back with your heat vision, making it fall on the ground, raising up dirt all around it.

“You can’t win.” Supergirl gets up from the hole it was in. Oh, come on, it was almost gone. You use your heat vision again, but it’s met in the middle with its own heat vision. Shit, this is useless. Fighting Kryptonians it’s a fucking hell.

The other alien rises from the ground, and you see yourself between both of them. You don’t have a lot of options, it’s clear to you. You can run, but where to? You can buy yourself time, but for what? Help isn’t coming, you know that.

“We shouldn’t both waste our time with this kid.” Fake Supergirl says, almost ignoring your presence right there between them. “You know where she took them. Go get them.”

Breath stops midway. Heart stops mid beat. Time slows at its own accord.

No. Not them. Not your family.

“Oh yes, we should thank you, by the way.” The other Superkid flies to Supergirl’ side, and your eyes are filled with tears with the sight of that. You wanted that. You wanted a Superkid and Supergirl team-up. Instead, two monsters are using your faces, bodies and powers. They don’t seem to acknowledge your discomfort with the scene, as they go on.

“Getting the whole family together in one place. You just made our job a lot easier. Now we can kill Supergirl and everyone she loves in just one blow. And you? You’ll be alive to see it all going down with your help.”

You swallow hard knowing they are right. You helped. You thought you were the one doing the saving, but they were letting you. They were playing you, so you can do the job for them and that’s why it felt so easy. That’s why you encountered almost no resistance; it was all for this moment right here.

It’s your fault Lena has no memories. It’s your fault Jamie was taken. It’s your fault Supergirl is not here defending the city and the family. And now it will be your fault they’ll kill all your family in one blow.

You feel something burning inside of you. It’s not anger, it’s not sadness. It’s a mix of all the feelings you once had. It’s the slow burn of love, and the heavy taste of hate on your mouth. It’s the bittersweetness of having such a strong and rotten last name, and the wonderfulness of being a part of this family. It’s the cautiousness of hiding your powers, and the relentless yearn of letting go and bursting into flames, destroying everything and everyone on your way. But most of all, it’s that moment where ‘you should do better’ kicks the ‘you’re doing great’ to the side of the curbs and takes a hold on you.

You could even try to hold this feeling inside you, but you know better. This is the time to stop thinking, stop using your powers, and let them use you instead.

“Don’t thank me just yet.” You say with a little smile playing on your lips.

Fighting two of them was never going to be a fair fight and you know it. Even with you letting your powers take over you, even after beating them, even with this faintest feeling that you might -just might- pull this off because you’re fighting for the right reasons.

It doesn’t take long until you find yourself trapped under both getting punches after punches. The taste of blood is strong on your mouth. You know you’re going to lose. You’re minutes away from blacking out.

You have been beaten down before. By red kryptonite Kara, by villains using green kryptonite against you, by aliens from another dimension, by your own fears and your anxiety. You were once beaten down to the point of suffocation. You were once covered in your own blood and vomit. For time and time again, you thought you were going to die. Once you even prayed that you would.

This moment right here, feels like another one of those. You can feel it. When they’re beating you down so hard your blood is the one splashing on their faces, when you slowly feel yourself losing consciousness. When the last thing you see before your mind goes totally blank is Lena’s eyes and Kara’ smile. Maybe this is the last time you feel you are going to die. Maybe this time you’re actually dying.

And you know what comes next. They’ll go to the Fortress. March in there using your face. It’s your face your family is going to see blowing up the entire place. And when they realize it’s not you, it will be too late, they will be doomed. Your whole family will be destroyed like they promised in the message.

You won’t accept it. You may die, but your family won’t.

You untangle yourself from them. Grab Supergirl’s cape -capes are lame, you still remember that- and fly up. Up. Up. Up. The other shapeshifter follows you, trying to catch you before you do what they understand now it’s going to happen.

“If you do this, you will die!” You hear Kara’s voice. But it’s not her, and you know your Kara would do anything to protect her family. Anything.

“I don’t care if it kills me. All I care about is taking you down with me!” You say and you reach the exact point. You know if you keep going, you’ll be too far gone. You almost died in outer space once. You don’t know exactly how you survived, but you know this time you can’t pull it off again.

You hold Supergirl’s cape stronger and spin it around. You see the shapeshifter trying to change its form, but it’s too late. You toss it into space and look down to the other one.

“Two Superkids dying in outer space together is almost… Poetic.” You fly towards the other shapeshifter, the one with your face.

“You don’t want to do this.” It says, staring at you, like it's looking at your soul.

“You’re right, I don’t.” You grab its throat and look up. “But it’s whatever it costs!”

Up. Up. Up.

No air left in your lungs, no other thought except that this is the right thing. Dying was never going to feel right but dying for your family, it’s the closest you could ever feel to death being right.

The other you are now transformed back into its ugly alien form, turning blue. They’re gone. It’s over.

You close your eyes feeling light-headed and you feel like crying. It doesn’t matter if it’s the right thing or if it’s for your family, you still don’t want to die, and you’ll still miss them.

You know this won’t matter. But maybe, just maybe, the watch will send them a signal and Kara will come for your body when she wakes up. That way they can mourn you properly. All of them, but Lena since she doesn’t even remember you anymore. At least she won’t suffer, you think. You press the emergency watch. And you’re out.

“Will you please stop going to outer space?” You hear softly in your ear, and you open your eyes trying to focus them on what is before you. Blonde locks flying in the wind, a perfect baby blue sky over you, and that warm smile only one person in this universe has. “I’ve got you, little one. You’ve got me before; I’ve got you now.”

You smile. And before passing out again you think that you have to stop almost dying. It’s starting to get truly exhausting.

You open your eyes, looking around to make sure you actually didn’t die. It’s stupid, you know, but still you find it’s hard to believe you pulled it off. Somehow you pulled it off.

Alex is in the bed next to you, awake, finally. Brainy is also in a bed, the real one that was probably hurt by the shapeshifters so one of them could take his place. Kara is pacing around nervously, and the rest of the family are also in the infirmary, creeping around the sick ones.

“You fucking dipshit!” Jamie slaps your arm, and you almost feel the sting. “I told you to come back. You promised you would come back whatever it costs!”

“Well… I’m here.” You give her a little smile and she rolls her eyes, full of tears. Next thing you know, she is hugging you tight, and sobbing on your suit.

“I hate you.” She whispers in your ear, and you smile, while the whole family looks at both of you. “I hate you and your hero complex.”

“I love you too.” You smile and she lets go of you with a smile. Kara is the next one to throw her arms around you and kiss your temple.

“You’re the best superhero in this town.” She says, and you almost believe her. Almost.

“Mom.” You let go of Kara and look around in the room. “Where is she?”

They all stare at you blankly. No one says a thing.

“Where is Lena?” You demand, and Kara drops her head low and lets out a sigh.

“We’re gonna get her back, kid.” Her hand cups your face, and she strokes your cheek. You see the pain in her eyes, and you feel tears forming on yours. “One thing at a time.”

Your heart squeezes on your chest, and you forget about the fact that you were probably actually dead for at least a minute, not long ago. This doesn’t seem remotely important, as Lena not having her memories and not knowing who you are right now. You almost died, and your mom is not here to hold you gently and say, ‘you’re ok babygirl’.

Kara seems to be able to read your mind, like Lena usually does, when she puts her hand on your knee and gives it a gentle and assuring squeeze. “One thing at a time, baby.”

[korra-the-red-lion]

Supergirl 6x14: Magical Thinking.

Hey everyone, Korra here. This is a week late, sorry about that! It’s been a hectic week for this gal. But, I should be on track to watch the new episode tomorrow night or Thursday morning! Enough about me though; how did this episode of Supergirl do? Let’s see, and as always, SPOILERS AHEAD.

Game night! I love that Lena looks at her watch, says “Kara will be home shortly.” Kara flies in and is surprised to see everyone EXCEPT for Lena. Interesting...

Right away we’re told Brainy isn’t going to be in the episode. Probably to make room for William to be in the episode. Sigh.

I’m not even sure who agreed to having Willy hanging around the Superfriends. It’s clear that J’onn is not okay with it, Kara seems pretty iffy, Alex is on the fence. Did Nia say she would take on the chores for them or something?

Nyxly just cracked me up here. She takes the Totem and sorta waits a minute to see if Kara will show up. She was surprised how easy it was and no one stopped her. Kara gets there in an epic fashion but it’s too late.

So, this Totem takes away everyone’s humanity. So the first thing they do is start to beat the crap out of each other and steal a bunch of shit. The Courage Totem made them do the same thing lol.

Kara is team Magic Lena and really wants her to use her magic to stop Nyxly. Lena is very unsure but because Kara supports her, she’s willing to give it a go. Though Lena is NOT happy that Willy is going to know her secret.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but omg my heart melted when Esme gave Kelly the bracelet. Please adopt this child already, it’s so sweet and too much for my heart to take. I love her.

Andrea is being so vicious to Willy about his story so far. I don’t know why she hates him suddenly, but she has been over William Dey for the past couple of episode. I was cackling over how mean she was being for really no reason. In fairness though, she did tell him to focus on a specific story and he decided to write about the chaos that everyone else was writing about.

Lena tries a spell and it doesn’t go as planned. I laughed loudly when Nia said to Kara “Lena broke my brain.” It was a great moment. Also I love that Nia and Lena bonding wasn’t a one time thing and that they’re continuing with the friendship!

Willy gives Lena some pep talk about how baking and magic are similar because all you need is heart and the right ingredients. I guess some people were jokingly shipping them but lemme tell ya, I would pass away if Forcedcorp or Deycorp or whatever it’s called happened now. It’s banished from my brain now.

Kara and Lena go out to collect the ingredients and Willy demands to go as well for his story, fair enough. I didn’t understand why Kara, Supergirl herself, was told to stay back and protect Lena while Willy fought the three guys. She very easily took one down with a hand push, so I’m pretty sure she didn’t need to have him help at all. However, I think this is all part of the writers’ grand scheme of trying to have the viewers like him better before they potentially kill him off in the finale.

Lena and Kara get into a huge argument over how to best handle the new developments, and Nia takes Willy into the kitchen to look at the coffee maker. That’s too funny.

Alex and Kelly have a wonderful moment fighting where they’re just talking about Kelly’s day while kicking ass. They give each other this super loving smile and I loved it. Dansen continues to shine this season.

So the plan is to overload Nyxly with so much compassion that she releases the Gauntlet. Nyxly writhing on the floor in agony, contemplating on how she could save the planet if she could access her magic was honestly so good. I’m really enjoying her as a villain.

The plan works, and after a pretty good montage of the Superfriends saving everyone, Kara retrieves the fallen Totem. A win for Supergirl!

Willy puts his foot down on Andrea’s managing, threatening to go to the Daily Planet if this doesn’t stop. I have no idea where Superman & Lois’s timeline is here. Is this after Clark and Lois lose their jobs or before? No one knows. Anyway, Andrea concedes minor defeat this time.

We’re looking for the Dream Totem next, even though tonight’s episode is the Hope one. Doesn’t matter, looking forward to it!

Kara and Lena are sitting in the Tower enjoying some potstickers together. I’m loving the domestic vibes we’ve been getting from them recently. It warms my Supercorp heart. ALSO, I forgot this earlier but Kara saying she believes in Lena? Lena saying last episode she believes in Kara? Am I reading too much into this or am I clowning? Stay tune to find out.

ALEX IS GETTING HER CHILD!!!!! I absolutely loved this, 10000000%. The shared knowing look between her and Kelly. YESSSSSS. Season 5 may have forgotten it, but we’re finally reaching a happy ending for Alex and her emotional journey of wanting a child.

That’s it for this week. Overall, I did enjoy the episode. The good of it outweighs the stuff I wasn’t keen on. I found the William stuff to just be a lot, and most of it was whatever to me. I have been enjoying him as an office buddy, but I found him kinda aggressive again here in this episode and I wasn’t vibing. But, the Supercorp stuff, Lena’s development of accepting magic, Dansen and the adoption storyline, and Nyxly having some hilarious moments were all super great. See ya very soon!

[constant-eggs]

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about William on Supergirl from fellow Supercorp shippers, so I wanna talk a bit about Kara and Lena’s love interests and how they are viewed, and also about racism in the show and fandom. This has probably been done to death but I’m new to the fandom — I binge watched the show over the winter and just started using Tumblr in a real way about a month ago. So anyway, back to the men:

There’s the major three: James, Mon-El, and William. Jack is cool too — he should’ve had more than two episodes which is part of the issue I’m going to get to, but he never got to be a major player.

So let’s talk about James. Now, I liked him a lot, particularly in season 1. Of the three main love interests for Kara, he was the only one who (season 1) writers took time to establish as a character separate from her. He had hopes and a backstory (of course), and his own idealism that usually uplifted and sometimes contradicted with Kara’s. He was honest, and vulnerable, and when he made a mistake (like calling Superman against Kara’s wishes) he grew from them. Because he respected Kara, and himself. Now the chemistry between Kara and James for me felt good — it wasn’t earth shattering — but it was typical in what I’d come to expect from a heterosexual pairing. And I would argue that had the writers not done a complete 180 on Kara’s feelings for James in S2 and had let them keep growing together as characters, that the chemistry and relationship could have been really good. But they didn’t because as the writers themselves said, they’re ‘in the drama business.’ So having a healthy, supportive partner for Kara wasn’t their priority, James was sidelined, and then they never figured out what to do with his character from that moment on. Also, I do think that race played a part in the writers’ decision to change direction with their relationship, and it’s...disheartening.

Now real briefly on James with Lena: it reminded me a lot of Laurel 1 and Oliver — when they talked about each other to other people— I believed that there was love, but when they were together, I didn’t see any real spark. Even their drama wasn’t particularly interesting — so I won’t even get into it. But it’s been long enough in this post for me to get to the point of it: the fault of the deterioration of James as a character lies with the writers. They chose to sideline him, have his values constantly shift, and have his character development stagnate post S1. He could’ve had interesting stories as Guardian, could’ve worked more closely with Kara when he replaced Cat Grant, or any number of things. But his potential was squandered. And if they were so dead set on having a male love interest for Kara, he was their best option of the three.

Mon-El and Kara had chemistry. To me, it was very much sibling chemistry in nature, which is kind of funny considering that in the comics he was a pseudo brother to Superman. To be clear I’m talking about Kara and Mon-El and not Chris and Melissa who are married, because they aren’t their characters. That’s how I think he should have stayed — as an antagonistic, shallow brother type who slooowly became decent through character growth and not specifically to become Kara’s love interest. But the handful of times Mon-El did the right thing — rebelling against his parents, trying to be a hero etc. it was because he liked Kara. How boring is that? As a love interest he was subpar — and he continued to be a liar. I don’t hate him like some fans do — and I’m well aware that he was a shallow partner who owned other people on his planet, and a habitual liar. I also see that this show is fantastical in nature where I am rooting for Lena after nearly mind-enslaving the entire population just last season. And also in a universe where a primary hero — Oliver Queen, was a serial killer (as are Laurel 2, Sara Lance, and Mick Rory to name a few). So that isn’t the main reason why I don’t like Mon-El for Kara. I just feel as early Kara felt: She deserves so much better than him.

What is there even to say about William? He’s essentially the audience in character form — the chorus in an Ancient Greek play telling us how we should feel about whatever action he’s being sidelined from. If they wanted him to be endgame, he should’ve been introduced bare minimum a season earlier to give him a fair shot. He needs to be better integrated in the fold, and at this point there isn’t a lot of time to do that well.

I’m making this post though because I don’t agree with some of what I’m seeing in fandom. Yes, I too dislike Mon-El as a love interest for Kara, but I’m not going to yuck someone else’s yum. Same goes for William and James. If you see something romantic, that’s okay. If you’re a multi shipper, that’s okay too. I was into other Arrowverse shows when Karamel and Supercorp animosity was at its highest and saw some of what went on and now I see some people uniting over their mutual dislike for William. But his underdevelopment as a character is once again entirely on the writers and execs. Not Staz Nair. And @motorcyclegirlfriends has a much more nuanced post about how race plays into characters being empathized within fandom and the screen time they are allotted by writers and directors. https://motorcyclegirlfriends.tumblr.com/post/649196192472924160/what-a-lot-of-the-nice-fellow-fans-dont-harass

We shouldn’t be tearing down actors of color or characters of color out of frustration over (potentially/hopefully) queer (white) characters. We should instead be asking for them to have more well rounded stories, just as we ask for better LGBT rep — the two aren’t separate. If Supercorp doesn’t become canon it won’t be because of the subpar heterosexual romances they were given. It will be because the writers see the love story they’ve created, inadvertently or otherwise (even doubling down on it in S5) but chose to ignore it. I really hope that isn’t the case. Us fans deserve more complex, messy slowburn romances, and Supercorp could be up there with She-Ra as one of the best ever portrayed. Here’s to hoping.

[facepalming-since-chernobyl]

Harley Quinn anon here; It's seems they were both targeting both the writer and the bi person around the same time the whole 'Ivy is a lesbian' discourse started, it just happens the bi person was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It just one of those thing that got blown out of proportion (as always on the internet). I guess the people angry at the writer maybe got too involved with the DC alternate universe comic DC Bombshells where they made a few characters lesbian instead of their current canon sexuality? (I'm trying to figure out why a bi character existing isn't the right type of 'gay' for some so called fans) I do agree with you on the Winn side of things In regards to the Supercorp thing; The other shows made by CW are absolutely terrible at writing romances for both het couples and lgbt couples (Riverdale). And in general their overall storytelling is rushed and rarely consistent with with their characters (*coughs* Kara being capable of kicking her cousin's arse *coughs*). So as much as I love Supercorp, I know the CW would just make it shit as the show is now (thank god for fanfics) Lar Gand aka Mon El and tv Mon El aren't the same person in a lot of ways. Same with Maggie Sawyer; in the comics she's a divorced lesbian with a kid. They've kept some of his hot headedness but really, as someone commented on the previous ask, he is Superman's Dick Grayson.... up until the rebirth canon... they did the Legions real dirty including my boy Lar Hell even in the recent comic canon (not rebirth) on Prime Earth Lena Luthor is a decent person (she hasn't committed crimes unlike her alt earth), though I think she has cancer or something? I'll double check that Anyway, I guess I'm just annoyed about the petty bullshit and just how the CW has handled all of their DC content. It's an unnecessary shit show during a pandemic :/

We love cancel culture... It's beautiful, how people take htings out of context and blow thing out of proportion to hate on the others and even don't give them space to learn things or dunno, change their minds or simply having different opinion that still can be correct.

I remember the Bombshells and them making some version of Kara lesbian and dating Lois and that was used as a proof sc endgame. That were the easy years.

I don't watch other shows, so I don't know. Sometimes i see Avalance on my dash and most people are happy about them, but some complain. You can't make everyone happy, I guess. But I have zero knwoledge about other CW shows (minus SPN, LOOOL)

But you know, CW in general sucks in the shipping and couples department. Is there a show that made them right?

As for the storytelling, especially in SG, I blame Jessica and Rowner (Rovner? too lazy to check). They both had zero knowledge or LOVE for comic books and it shows. Gossip Girl Woman should have not have been involved in a show based on comic books, end of story. They seriously have no idea what to do with KARA, not only every other charcter.

On the other hand Kara kicking Kal's ass was in AK's era (fuck him very much). Am I the only one annoyed how Kara's biggest strenght is her personality, compassion etc? And that her physical strenght is important and yay for kickng asses, but that's not the core of her strenght???

Yeah, I know they fucked up Mon Mon and he is not like his comic book selves, but I still I enjoyed him very much. Still annoyed how they erased his allergy easily, because him struggling with health is one of his nice flaws in the comic, ignored the Daxam - Krypton issues and made it "Daxam bad, Krypton good" thingy and erased his historian-engineering kinks? Plus, Imra???? I can't imagine being a comic book fan and not breathing fire.

The worst thing is Chris would absoulutely NAILED that Mon-El TT

Somewhere she was decent but on wheelchair, I think and of course we could have not gotten that.

I think you are not teh only one.

It did, and I feel you. Also, it's super nice to exchange thoughts with not typically butthurt sc stan here, so thanks :D

[laf-outloud]

I’m the anon whose cousin is a destiel shipper.

Thank you so much for answering. Wow, this situation is way more complicated than I thought. It’s terrible that people have received hate because of it. And I honestly don’t mind people who ship as long as they are respectful about it - As a matter of fact, my cousin ship Kara and Lena on Supergirl, but she has never been this agitated about it and has never tried to make me ship it too.

So if I understand you right, destiel is not real - Dean is not in love with Cas - but Cas is thought to be in love with Dean because the actor said so? Has anyone on the show commented on Cas’s sexuality? Because it’s strange that one actor can claim something like that if it isn’t true. I will look into Misha Collins’s behavior because my cousin follows him on twitter, and if what you say is true I don’t want her to blindly listen to him.

And to answer your question about my cousin and I; we’re not super close but she 16 and looks up to me, so I feel responsible when she’s upset, especially if it’s about her sexuality. I just wanted to know if I was the one who misunderstood something and destiel is real. I won’t say that she is wrong, but I will try and make her understand that it’s okay to interpret things differently and she should respect other people’s opinions. And that her time is better spent on LGBTQIA+ right issues in other media or off screen.

I would also like for her to stay out of that side of tumblr and twitter since it seems like a toxic “echo chamber” but I feel like it’s not really for me to say - I have to talk to my aunt about this, should be fun. So much fuss for a tv show…

You're welcome! I am also fine with people shipping Destiel in fanon, but like you said, respectfully.

And yes, you read that right. Destiel is not real. The only person involved in the show pushing that narrative is Misha and he's doing it in a way that he can claim deniability if pressed. None of the writers/producers/other actors/or anyone else involved in the show have ever confirmed it's existence. x Hellers often point to subtextual clues that only they can see... micro expressions in the actor's faces, the color of Dean's shirt in a scene with Cas that equates to the colors of the Bisexual flag, or, one of my new favorites, the way Dean laid down on a table to relax. x

As for the rest of Misha's behavior, I'm going to refer you to this master blog post with many examples of how problematic he is x. It does not include his most recent troubling behavior on TikTok x (a site populated with young teenagers). I know it's a lot, but hopefully some of it will help your Aunt guide your cousin to some more age appropriate alternatives.

I'm glad to hear that your a mentor to your cousin. It's a great role to have! I'm not very involved in the LGBTQ+ community, though some would say I'm Ace or Aro (I think that's right). I've sent out a post asking other bloggers if there are LGBTQ+ blogs that would be good for her to follow.

Echo chamber!!! That's the word I was looking for! And yes, the Destiheller side is very much an echo chamber. If you want to send me a direct message (DM - little smiley face comment icon on the upper-right), there are a few twitter accounts I would recommend that your aunt block for your cousin using parental controls. These are the extreme of the extreme hellers and can be damaging to young minds.

Now, I know all of this drama seems odd for a tv show, I'll agree, it is. I think part of the problem is that fans were able to attend conventions and had much greater access to the show's creators and actors so they felt a part of it. Then, the term SPNFamily was coined and the fandom became a family, of sorts (including all the Thanksgiving Day drama). That's not to say there aren't great people in the SPN Fandom. I would say 95% of them are, otherwise we wouldn't be here, but it's important to ensure content is consumed in a responsible manner and communication with others who disagree with you is respectful.

Anyway, if you want to DM me, I can get you those Twitter Accounts as well as any recommended Tumblr blogs. I'll keep your information private.

[captain-josslett]

Hospitalised Part Two

(Part One) 

Summary: Emma gets very ill while having sister night with Kara and Alex.

Words: 4.5k+

Warnings: Vomit, Needles, Mentions of Blood, Pain, Claustrophobia, Angst, Fluff

Pairings: Emma Danvers x Lena Luthor (Eventual), Alex Danvers x Sam Arias

Okayyyy. So I’ve been working on this all week. Humming and ahhing it this was good enough. But I’m just gonna most it. There should be a part 3 at some point! I hope this is okay!

Thank you for reading and let me know if you wanna be tagged or any general feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Taglist: @thewitchandtheassassin , @natasha-danvers , @life-is-hella-unfair , @finleyfray​, @supergirl-writingz​

It has been five days since Emma Danvers was admitted into the hospital and her own private room. Many tests have been performed, one being an ultrasound where the technician confirmed Emma’s gallbladder was overflowing with stones. Causing her sister’s to hug her close.

More tests were scheduled for later in the week after the antibiotics should have taken out most of the infection in Emma’s liver. The test Emma is dreading the most is getting an MRI. Alex had to tell her all the calming techniques she knew to prepare Emma for when she is slid into the claustrophobic space.

But in the early hours of the morning Emma’s jaundice, hazel green eyes snap open as a familiar pain shoots through her body.

“Fuck!” She cries through gritted teeth. She slowly sits up and rocks her body to try and relieve the stabbing pain in her chest, right shoulder and back. But she feels no relief. “Please stop!” Emma whimpers desperately.

“Em?” Kara’s sleepy voice calls out from the bed next to her in the darkened hospital room.

But all Emma can do is respond in pained gasps and moans. She’s suddenly blinded by a light being turned on. Revealing Kara standing next to her bed.

“Oh Em!” Kara reaches out and feel’s Emma’s sweaty forehead. “I’m gonna get help!” Kara turns to rush out of the hospital room but stops when her baby sister takes a hold of her arm.

“Stay.” Emma wheezes. “Button.”

“Duh, sorry.” Kara rolls her eyes at herself, in her sleepy mind she forgot about the simple technology in the room. She presses the button on the wall to alert the nurse on duty.

The corner of Emma’s right lip goes up slightly in a smile and she weaves her fingers through Kara’s. Her sister gently squeezes her hand, hating how helpless she feels and at how yellow and pale Emma looks. How she’s constantly rocking.

“Glasses. Please.” Emma hates her thick rimmed glasses but she hates not being able to see more.

“Of course! Here.” Kara opens up the glasses and places them in Emma’s other hand. Emma puts them on and the room focuses.

“Good Morning Emma.” Emma’s favourite nurse, Sarah, enters the room and approaches the sister’s immediately. Looking over the machines and tapping on her tablet. “Where’s the pain?”

“The usual. Was. Asleep.” Emma gasps out, trying to breathe through the pain. Her head lolled back and forth repeatedly.

“Okay, from a scale of 1 to 10?”

“9.” Emma grits out. Kara gently squeezes her hand again and Emma weakly squeezes back.

“Okay, I’m going to give you some more morphine to help you feel more comfortable.” Sarah quickly gets to work and after a while Emma is able to lean back on the raised bed. The morphine taking effect and helping her body start to relax. “Better?” Sarah asks as she takes Emma’s temperature and blood pressure.

“Yea, a 7.”

Sarah nods and writes some notes on the tablet in her hand. “I’ll contact the Doctors to let them know you’ve had another attack. We’ll need to do another blood test.”

Emma shrugs her shoulders at her. Needles used to scare her but after being poked and prodded so much her fear has lessened.

“Atta girl!” The nurse smiles brightly and starts the process of the blood test.

“So I was thinking.” Kara starts suddenly making Emma look at her in surprise. “I still can’t see why you prefer The Little Mermaid to Beauty and The Beast!”

A laugh escapes Emma’s lips. Knowing Kara is trying to distract her. “It’s because of Ursula. I mean her voice is incredible. And the laugh! Plus I love ‘Part Of Your World’ more than any song in Beauty and The Beast.”

“But the ballroom scene -!”

“Sharp scratch.” Sarah calls out.

“Is wonderful and I still cry at it.” Emma smiles at Kara’s horrified face. She grimaces slightly when she feels the needle go in. “But it always bugs me how a Prince doesn’t know how to read. Or the fact the fairy turned him into the beast when he was a kid.”

“All done!” The nurse smiles at the sister’s and cleans Emma up.

“Thank you Sarah.” Emma says gratefully and she waits for the nurse to leave the room. “Sorry I woke you.” Emma says softly to her sister.

“Don’t be, it’s what I’m here for.” Kara reaches up and cups Emma’s face. Rubbing her thumb over her cheek.

“But you’ve had a busy day.” Emma whines, knowing Kara worked at Catco and then many hours Supergirling around the city.

“The joys of the work I do.” Kara jokes. “But you are so much more important Em.”

Emma smiles but she feels her eyes growing heavy. The painkillers taking full effect.

“Looks like someone needs to go back to sleep.” Kara says while kissing Emma’s head.

Emma nods slightly. She can’t remember the last time she’s slept solidly and feels refreshed after. Which annoys Emma greatly as she loves sleep.

Kara turns to go back to the spare bed but Emma holds on to her hand. “Stay?” Her weak voice broke Kara’s heart.

“Sure.”

Emma budges over and Kara climbs up on the bed. holding Emma close to her.

“Love you.” Emma says while yawning.

“Love you too little one.” Kara carefully removes Emma’s glasses and places them on the table next to them.

“Only a year younger.” Emma breathes out, feeling herself relaxing in her sister’s arms.

“Yea.” Kara strokes Emma’s blonde hair trying to soothe her. She smiles while listening to her sister’s breathing getting deeper and her heart rate slowing down as she falls asleep.

Kara wakes up to the sound of soft voices. The superhero slowly lifts her head and blinks the sleep away. Across the room on the sofa’s is Alex and Eliza, looking over a tablet.

It seems her mother instinct kicks in because Eliza looks up at her two daughters on the bed and sees Kara is awake. Eliza smiles, quietly gets up and makes her way to the bed. Alex follows behind her, still looking over the tablet in her hands.

“Morning Kara.” Eliza says as she leans down and gives Kara a kiss on her cheek. Her eyes shifted to Emma, snuggled into Kara’s neck.

“Morning.” Kara can’t help but let out a yawn.

“I see she had another attack last night.” Alex whispers scrolling through the information on the tablet.

Kara sighs heavily. “Yea, she was fine when we went to sleep but I woke up to her cursing in pain.”

“My poor baby.” Eliza reaches down and strokes Emma’s blonde hair. “I can see what you mean by how jaundice she looks. And you said it suddenly happened?”

“Yes.” Alex looks up from the tablet. “She was fine a week ago, nothing was wrong other than how tired she was.”

“Yea, but she was sleeping a lot more. I just took it as her period was coming up.” Kara whispers as she rubs a hand against Emma’s back.

“But the day she was admitted I did think her colour looked off. I did notice the signs and I’m angry I didn’t do anything about it.” Alex growls in frustration.

“We can’t change what’s in the past.” Eliza says gently.

Alex nods and goes to get a chair for her Mom and herself. Kara happily stays on the bed, being Emma’s pillow. The three women quietly talk until suddenly Emma bolts up.

“I’m gonna be sick!”

Alex leaps into action and grabs a sick bowl just in time. Kara jumps off the bed, aware her body heat could cause Emma more discomfort. She presses the call button again. Eliza holds Emma’s hair back and puts it in a loose ponytail. She frowns at the pain Emma is in. How her baby daughter rocks back and forth as she heaves. The tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

“Another one?” Sarah says as she quickly rushes in.

“Yes, she suddenly sat up saying she was about to be sick.”

“Poor Emma. Here.” Sarah hands Alex a new bowl while taking the partly full one. She gathers more painkillers and anti sickness medication and injects them into Emma’s cannula. “There you go Emma, you should feel that relief soon.”

Emma nods weakly as she dry heaves. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut. “I wanna go home.” She whimpers causing her sisters and Mom’s heart to break.

“I know baby girl.” Eliza tries to soothe her daughter. Looking on helplessly as she rubs her back.

“Mama?” Emma gasps out before throwing up again.

“I’m here.”

Emma subconsciously leans into her Mom, who has to take the bowl as Alex almost had to lean over the bed due to Emma’s movement.

“I’ve got you baby girl.” Eliza coos and holds her daughter close.

Finally Emma stops heaving and Sarah makes more notes. “Pain level Emma?”

“I-I-I do-don-’t-”

Alex and Kara frown at each other. Worried at how slurred Emma’s speech was.

“That’s okay Emma, lean back and rest okay?” Sarah says kindly. Taking the bowl from Eliza and disposing of it.

Emma feels her Mom slowly lay her back down and immediately falls back asleep, holding her Mom’s hand.

Sarah reenters the room and picks up her tablet, typing away. Finally she looks up at the worried women around the bed. “I’ll alert the Doctors immediately. They should be here soon and generally they have a meeting before going around the wards.”

“Is this normal?” Kara asks, biting her lip.

“Generally no. But each case can be different. Unfortunately Emma seems to have the worst end of the stick.”

The nurse leaves and Kara changes into the clothes she brought with her. Both sister’s decide they are going to take time off work and stay with Emma. Both knowing they won’t be able to concentrate with how Emma is deteriorating. J’onn readily agrees and will cover as director and for Supergirl.

An hour later the door opens. All three women look over and they give Sam and Lena barely their smiles.

“Don’t look too happy to see us!” Sam jokes as she reaches Alex and gives her a kiss on the lips.

“Sorry, Emma had two more attacks in quick succession.”

“Oh no.” Sam breathes out and looks at the blonde in the bed. “She… She does look more yellow… Or am I imagining that?”

“No, she has got worse.” Kara says rubbing a hand over her forehead. Her worry for her baby sister makes her feel anxious and helpless. Realising Lena hasn’t said anything Kara looks up at the raven haired women standing at the end of the bed. “Lena?”

The CEO is staring at Emma intently, looking over every part that she can see. Analysing and running through ways she can help the woman she loves.

“Lena?”

Lena jumps when Kara calls for her again.

“Sorry.” She says quickly and sits in the chair by Kara.

“Don’t be. It’s not easy seeing her like this.” Kara wraps an arm around Lena’s shoulder and pulls her in for a hug.

“Have the Doctors been in?” Sam asks Alex, who shakes her head.

“Not yet.” Alex answers softly, running a hand through her hair. “Sarah said they need to get the MRI done so they can have a better picture of what’s going on. There may be a chance a stone has got caught somewhere and we don’t want that getting left behind when they operate.”

“Poor Em.” Sam looks at the blonde sympathetically and focuses on the hand Eliza is holding. She wonders how Eliza is keeping everything together. If this was happening to Ruby, Sam knows she would be a frantic mess.

Another hour passes. Lena and Sam reluctantly have to leave. Lena is especially sad she didn’t get to talk to Emma and feeling guilty for how busy she’s been the past few days. Even though she’s been leaving work in record time to spend the evenings with Emma, it never seems to be enough time. Lena places a kiss on Emma’s cheek, leaving a red lipstick mark, which she quickly wipes off. Not realising her kiss had woken Emma up.

After they leave there’s a knock on the door. Emma stirs more, taking a deep breath in as she starts to open her eyes.

“May we come in?” Dr Stevens asks as they open the door.

Eliza nods and Dr Stevens, Sarah and a few interns filter into the room.

“Ah Emma! You're awake.” Dr Stevens smiles kindly at the blonde. Who gives a weak smile back. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore.” Emma’s voice is low and gruff. She coughs and Alex immediately grabs the cup of water by the bed and hands it to Emma. Who takes it gratefully, taking small sips. Alex picks up Emma’s glasses and carefully places them on her baby sister. Making sure they go on properly.

“What level is the pain?”

Emma thinks for a moment as she assesses how she feels. “Between 7 and an 8.”

“That isn’t good.” Dr Stevens looks down at their tablet. “Sarah, once Emma has her MRI can you set up a morphine drip? That way we can keep Emma more comfortable.”

Sarah nods and taps on her tablet the new information.

“Due to the recent attacks we are putting you ahead of the MRI queue. One of my interns will take you down in a moment. You need to take anything that has metal off, including jewellery, bras, little pieces of metal in clothes etc.”

Emma nods sluggishly at the surgeon.

“Do you have any questions?” Dr Stevens keeps their focus on Emma who looks at those around her.

“No, I think we are okay for the moment.” Eliza says squeezing Emma’s hand.

“Actually.” Alex pipes up causing everyone to look at her. “Have you got the results from the recent blood test?”

“We do, but I want to see what the MRI shows first.”

Alex nods at this and leans back into her chair. The surgeon bids them goodbye and all of the interns follow them out.

Emma reaches up and tries to unclasp her ear studs. When she struggles Kara stands and helps her remove them.

“Thanks Kar.” Emma says gratefully while Kara places them in a small pot by Emma’s bed. Emma turns her head looking at Eliza, who holds her hand again. “Hey Mom.” Emma has wanted her Mom terribly but due to Eliza’s work she couldn’t get to her baby daughter quick enough. Something that has frustrated Eliza greatly.

“Hi baby girl.” Eliza stands and holds her daughter close. A sniff escapes the blonde until the damn breaks and she’s sobbing into her Mom’s arms. The feeling of safety and home overwhelming her.

“Sorry.” Emma chokes out, feeling embarrassed by her outburst.

“Oh Emma. It’s okay.” Her Mom says while kissing the top of her head.

“But it’s stupid.”

“No it isn’t. You’re in pain and very unwell. You’re allowed to cry.”

“Yea.” Alex stands and hugs Emma’s back. Kara reaches out and takes a hold of Emma’s hand. “We don’t think any less of you for crying Em.”

“Sorry to interrupt but I need to take Emma down.” A female intern stood in the doorway. Kara, Alex and Eliza pull away. Emma shoots Alex a look of panic and Alex motioned with her hand for Emma to take deep breaths. Which Emma copies, but she still looks terrified.

“Remember to keep your eyes closed and think of nice things.” Alex says encouragingly.

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.” Kara starts singing ‘My Favourite Things” from The Sound Of Music.

“Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens.” Emma sings with a smile on her face. They both sing the next few lines to each other.

“Brown paper packages tied up with string. These are a few of my favourite things.”

Alex rolls her eyes but smiles at her two musical loving sisters.

The intern smiles too and steps forward making Emma focus on her. “And I just need to check your clothing for metal. Is that okay?”

Emma nods and the intern lifts the blanket and sheets back. Checking the holes and drawstring in Emma’s sweatpants. They pull the sheet and blanket up over Emma.

“Are you wearing a bra?”

“No.”

“Great! And your earrings are out.” The intern pulls the bars up either side of Emma and everyone moves out of the way. Emma looks at Alex again in a panic.

“You’ll be fine Em.” Alex reaches out and holds Emma’s hand.

“You can have someone come down with you. They won’t be in the room with you though.” The intern offers kindly.

Emma looks at Alex and bites her lip.

“Would you like me to come down with you?” Alex asks softly, smiling at how much Emma looks like the child she remembers from their youth. All wide eyed and scared.

Emma nods and Alex keeps a hold of her hand.

“We’ll be here when you get back.” Eliza kisses Emma’s forehead and holds her daughter close. Next Kara gives Emma a crushing hug. Trying to convey all her love in that moment.

“Can’t. Breathe.” Emma gasps out.

“Sorry!” Kara flies back causing Emma to laugh but reaches for her sister again, pulling her into another, more gentle hug.

“I’m sorry but we really have to go.” The intern disengages the break and starts pushing the trolley forward.

Kara lets go of Emma and stands with Eliza in the room. They watch Emma being wheeled out with Alex by her side.

“Al…” Emma says quietly as they wait in the elevator. Alex looks down at her and squeezes her hand.

“Yea?”

“I’m nervous.”

“It’s okay to be nervous Em. But you got this. The doctors need this scan to know the best way to perform the surgery.” Alex reaches up and strokes her thumb across Emma’s yellow cheek. “You remember all the breathing exercises I taught you?”

Emma nods. “But what if I freak out?”

“Honestly, Em, we don’t have time for you to freak out. You need this scan. Keep your mind busy with things you like and focus on your breathing. The machine will let you know when to hold your breath and all that.”

“Okay.” But Emma didn’t feel okay. If she was linked to a heart monitor she was sure it would be going haywire at the moment.

The elevator doors slide open and the intern wheels them to the MRI room. Emma is immediately intimated by the huge machine, and the small gap in its centre. The technician greets them and goes through everything with Emma and asks the usual questions “Are you pregnant?” Which earned a snort from Emma before confirming she wasn’t.

“Okay, so we are all ready for you. Can you stand and walk to the slab?”

“Yes.”

The intern lowers one side of the railing around the bed and Emma slowly lifts her legs over the side. Alex stands by her side, helping Emma get to her feet. Emma closes her eyes for a moment as the room spins around her. Causing Alex to hold onto her.

“Em?”

“M’okay.” Taking a deep breath she opens her eyes again, taking a few cautious steps with Alex holding onto her shoulders and walking with her. They reach the slab and Alex helps her sit down.

“Going to need you to take your glasses I’m afraid.”

“Okay.” Emma takes them off and hands them to Alex. Her sister leans down and hugs her.

“You’ll be fine.” Alex says reassuringly and places a kiss on Emma’s cheek.

“Thanks Al.” Emma thinks she smiles at Alex, but she can no longer see Alex’s face. Just a blob of colour.

The voice of the technician is what she hears next.“Put these earbuds in, they will drown out most of the noise and you’ll hear when the machine instructs you to breathe and when to hold your breath.”

Emma holds out her hand and the ear buds are placed in it.  Emma puts them in her ear and immediately the noises of the room dims. She then lies on the slab and the technician places a shield over her chest and lower body. She is strapped onto the slab and the technician gives her the thumbs up. Or what looks like the thumbs up.

“Ready?” A muffled voice calls out.

“Re-ready.”

The machine suddenly slides her in and she has no problem seeing the top right in front of her face. For a split second panic floods through Emma and she feels like she’s in a coffin. But Emma immediately closes her eyes and focuses on her breathing.

After a while Emma starts imagining she is on a plane. The hum of the machine being similar to that of a plane. The cold air being pumped around her, reminding her of the air con on a plane. How Emma always needs to wrap up and take a blanket with her. The feeling of being squished into the machine, just like being squished in a small seat on a plane.

She pictures herself sitting next to Lena, on their way to Paris or Rome or Athens. Places Emma is desperate to visit one day.

“When you hear the beep, take a deep breath and hold for 15 seconds until you hear the next beep.” An automated voice calls out. Emma follows the instructions and holds her breath and releases when she hears the beeps. This continues for some time. Emma starts getting annoyed every time the automated voice interrupts her day dream of being in a city with Lena. Like visiting the Eiffel Tower or the Colosseum. All the different foods they could try.

Finally Emma feels the machine sliding her out.

“Well done! You’re a very good breather!” The technician jokes causing Emma to snort.

“Well that's good… I guess.” Emma says while the technician unstraps her and removes the shields.

“Here.” Alex says while holding out her glasses.

Emma takes them and puts them on. She looks up at her sister who smiles brightly at her.

“Told you you could do it!”

Emma smiles back at her before slowly sitting up. Alex helps her to her feet again and they walk to the gurney.

“One of our top guys is looking over the scans now, they should let your surgeon know ASAP.” The technician says kindly as the intern pulls the sides up again.

“Thank you.” Emma smiles at the and waves when she’s being wheeled out. “Please don’t make me do that for a long time.”

“I promise.” Alex says while taking a hold of her sister’s hand. “How are you feeling?”

“Hungry.”

“Unfortunately you may not be able to eat. You will probably be nil by mouth until we know if your surgery will be today.” The intern interrupts.

Subconsciously Emma lowers her head and squeezes Alex’s hand tightly. Alex looks down at her sister, seeing how defeated Emma looks.

“Hey.” Scared yellow eyes look up at her. “You’ll be okay.”

Emma nods but remains quiet, lowering her head again as they make the way back to her room.

“Emma! How’d it go?” Kara’s cheerful voice makes Emma lookup as the gurney is put back in place.

“Was okay.” Emma softly says while Sarah installs the morphine drip.

“When you need pain relief just press this button.” Sarah says and Emma nods. Pressing the button immediately. The movement earlier had aggravated her pain.

A voice Emma didn’t expect spoke next. “Was it as bad as you thought?” Green eyes connect with Emma’s jaundice ones. A small smile breaks across Emma’s face.

“No. Though I didn’t shut my eyes quick enough when they slid me in. But I just imagined I was on a plane.”

“That’s a good way of describing it actually.” Eliza says while sitting next to Emma’s bed.

“And I don’t want to sound rude, but, Lee?” Emma’s gaze focuses back on her crush. “What are you doing here? I thought today you had back to back meetings.”

“I managed to do some rearranging. As it’s Friday many were happy to reschedule as it meant they could start their weekend sooner. And as it’s lunch time I brought everyone something.” Lena goes over to the coffee table and picks up the take away bags with Alex and Emma’s food in.

“Oh! I er…” Emma pale cheeks colour in a blush.

“She’s not allowed to eat anything at the moment.” Alex says as she takes the bag Lena holds out to her.

“Why not?!” Kara looks at her sister outraged.

“Incase I have surgery today.”

“Oh! I’m sorry Em.” Lena looks guiltily at the blonde, putting the bag containing Emma’s food back on the coffee table, out of Emma’s view. Though Emma knows Kara will likely be eating it soon anyway.

“Would you rather we ate somewhere else?” Emma notices Sam by the sofa, already eating her lunch. She quickly looks at everyone, almost laughing loudly at how conflicted Kara looks.

“No it’s fine.”

“Phew!” Kara starts eating again, in record time to make up for the few seconds she wasn’t eating.

“So where did you imagine you were flying too?” Sam asks to break up the silence.

“Either Paris, Rome or Athens.”

“Oo nice! Have you been there?” Sam asks with a bright smile.

Emma shakes her head. “No.”

“Maybe I can take you sometime?” Lena tilts her head at Emma and smiles at her.

“CanIcome?” Kara says with a mouth full of food.

“Kara!” Eliza scoffs.

“Was that in english?” Emma laughs loudly.

Kara swallows before trying again. “Sorry, I said, can I come?”

Alex wanted to kick her sister’s shin and shoot her a glare. Instead she looks at Sam who gently rolls her eyes. Alex smirks into her lunch.

“I’ll take you another time.” Lena smiles at her best friend. Secretly making a plan in her head of taking Emma on a week, maybe two week holiday to these cities. Maybe add a few more in that Emma would love.

“Aw okay.” Kara sighs heavily.

‘So oblivious!’ Alex thinks as she shakes her head slightly.

Suddenly a big yawn escapes Emma. “How am I so tired?” She rubs her face frustrated.

“Cause your body is going through a lot.” Alex says between mouthfuls. “Plus you haven’t been sleeping well. Not good quality sleep anyway.”

“Yea… What is that again?”

“You poor thing.” Kara reaches out and strokes Emma’s arm. Careful not to tug the wires attached to the morphine drip.

Emma smiles at her sister and feels her eyes growing heavy. She blinks, trying to keep sleep away as long as possible.

“Emma, sleep, it’s okay.” Her Mom stands and strokes Emma’s head.

“Lee’s here.” Emma says wearily. “Specially.”

“I’ll be here when you wake up Em.” Lena stands next to Eliza. She watches Emma’s yellow eyes slide close and open quickly before closing again repeating. Reaching out Lena takes Emma’s hand and rubs her thumb over it. “Sleep darling.”

Emma finally can’t fight it anymore and her eyes remain close.

[c-optimistic]

diner

or, lena is an irregular regular, kara is stupidly smitten, and alex is really tired with the both of them

Waitressing at her foster father’s 24-hour diner was not how Kara thought she’d be spending her summer. Then again, she also hadn’t imagined she’d end up moving back home because she lost her internship.

(Snapper, she thought for the hundredth time just in that last hour, the name coming out as a curse, reveling in imagining spitting it right into his face.

She hadn’t particularly thought she was capable of hating anyone, but Snapper...he came close.)

“Kara, can you get her?” Alex asked, gesturing towards a table in the back with a title of her head, where a young woman with long, dark hair was sitting, looking engrossed in whatever she was writing in her notebook. “I want to take my break.”

“Oh, is Kelly calling?”

“Shut up,” Alex muttered, cheeks pinking slightly. She huffed for good measure as she took off her apron and tossed it at Kara, already on her phone before she even took a single step outside the diner.

Kara watched Alex go, feeling conflicted.

(She was happy for her sister, she deserved something good in her life. But there were also some feelings she wasn’t altogether proud of, bits of jealousy, annoyance at how much time Alex spent with Kelly instead of her, fear that she was losing her sister.

In a long list of odd things about her, this was the newest oddity: Kara was simultaneously utterly pleased for her sister and resentful at the new shift in their relationship, the room she had to make for Kelly.)

With a sigh, she pulled out her notepad and clicked her pen, approaching the only occupied table in the diner.

(It was late, later than Kara normally worked, this shift reserved for the college students home for the summer looking for a way to make some cash.

Though, considering Kara was one of those college students home for the summer, she supposed this shift was perfect for her.)

“Hi, welcome to Jeremiah’s. Can I get you something to drink?” Kara said robotically, her eyes on her notepad. After a few seconds of silence, she looked up, realizing that the woman hadn’t even stopped writing in her notebook. “Sorry, am I interrupting? I can come back,” she began, even going as far as taking a step back, when suddenly the woman moved. She swept her dark hair back and turned to look at Kara, blue—or maybe green, Kara wasn’t quite sure—eyes meeting Kara’s levelly.

“I’m so sorry,” the woman said, snapping her notebook shut. “Could I get two coffees please? And a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?”

Kara blinked. They did not serve PB&Js, they never had, but for whatever reason, it felt like her tongue had been glued to the roof of her mouth when she tried to tell the woman just that. Instead, what came out was a rather inconvenient, “Sure, coming right up.”

She walked over to the kitchen, frowning a little bit when the cook—who had obviously heard everything—eyed her in amusement. Mon-El wiped his hands on his apron, crossing his arms over his chest as she put on a fresh pot of coffee.

“You lied to a customer,” he said with faux-disappointment, grinning. “You and I both know there’s no peanut butter.”

“No,” Kara denied, feeling a flare of anxiety in her chest, “I didn’t lie. I just—oh shut up, why don’t you help out instead of laughing at me?”

“What am I supposed to do?” he said, not even bothering to pretend he wasn’t reveling in her embarrassment. “You’re the one that lied to a customer just because you think she’s pretty.”

“I don’t...you’re such a—why don’t you do something useful with your time, huh?”

“Right, right, right,” Mon-El said, shaking his head slowly, “so I guess you don’t want me to tell you Imra has a brand new jar of peanut butter she bought the other day.” He sighed dramatically. “It’s not like she lives five minutes away and could be here by the time the coffee is ready.”

“You would ask her for me?” Kara found herself saying hopefully, eyeing Mon-El with a little bit of suspicion. “I thought Imra was focusing on her studying and couldn’t waste time here.”

“You want me to ask her?” Mon-El said, eyes widening, smile slipping. “No way, I’m already in the doghouse. She told me if I interrupted her studying again, she’d break up with me.” He gave Kara a knowing look. “Besides, Imra wouldn’t say no to you, especially if you told her it’s for a pretty girl.”

“Stop saying that,” Kara hissed, turning to look over at the woman, relieved to see she was reabsorbed in her notebook. “That’s not what happened.”

“Sure, sure,” Mon-El said casually, pointing at the carafe and the coffee that slowly trickled into it, “but tick tock, Kara.”

She glared at him, but pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Imra, ignoring Mon-El’s smug look when Imra immediately agreed. And like Mon-El had said, by the time the coffee was done, Imra had stopped by, handing the jar of peanut butter over as she stole a glance at the woman sitting in the back, giving Kara an approving thumbs up before Mon-El stole her away for a ‘study break,’ which made Kara pretend to gag.

“So,” Kara said, clearly her throat loudly as she approached the woman, setting down the two cups of coffee and the plate with the sandwich, “are you waiting for someone?” Kara pointed to the second cup, and the woman looked away from her notebook, Kara’s question finally sinking in.

“Hmm? Oh, no. Those are both for me.”

“Oh. Well, refills are free you know. You don’t need to order two.”

The woman blinked, then a small smile appeared on her face. “That’s—thank you, um…?”

“—Kara. My name is Kara.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Kara,” the woman said, her voice softer. “I’m Lena.”

“Enjoy your sandwich. And don’t be afraid to shout at me if you need anything, okay?” Kara grinned, rocked back on her heels, then turned away. When she went into the back, Alex was there with Mon-El and Imra, and was eyeing her oddly.

“Really, Kara?” she asked, raising one eyebrow.

“We should probably add peanut butter and jelly to the menu. In the interest of our customers.”

“Right,” Mon-El said, stretching out the word, chuckling when Imra rolled her eyes. “In the interest of our customers.”

“Really, Kara?” Alex just repeated, letting out a sigh.

x

The next time Lena came in, it was seven in the morning, and she looked like she hadn’t slept all night.

“I haven’t slept all night,” she informed Kara with a small smile, “but it was worth it.”

“Hot date?” Kara asked as she pulled out her notebook, feeling her cheeks flame as soon as the question slipped out, embarrassed at both the jealousy in her tone and the distinctly unprofessional and inappropriate nature of the question.

Thankfully, or maybe just luckily, Lena didn’t seem to hear Kara. “Can I get two cups of coffee and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?”

“Sure thing. But um, you remember that refills are free, right?”

“Hmm?” Lena said distractedly, her eyes now on her phone, frown forming on her lips. “Thanks so much, um,” she turned to Kara, eyes narrowing briefly before falling onto Kara’s nametag, smile reemerging. “Kara,” she finished proudly, as if Kara hadn’t introduced herself just days before.

Kara frowned as she took orders from her other customers, knowing that a crease had appeared between her eyebrows as she approached Alex at the register.

“She doesn’t remember me,” she complained in a whisper.

“Who doesn’t remember you?” Alex mock-whispered right back, eyeing Kara oddly.

“Lena, the woman, the PB&J woman,” Kara explained, rolling her eyes when Alex’s confusion only cleared at the last explanation.

“You mean your crush,” Alex supplied easily, motioning for Kara to go on.

Kara felt her brow furrow further, and she went crossed-eyed as she followed Alex reaching out and pressing against her forehead with her eyes. “I don’t have a crush,” she denied, refocusing her gaze. Alex made a noncommittal sound, lips pressing together. “I don’t,” Kara insisted.

“I think your crush is wondering where her coffee and sandwich is, Kara,” Alex said, motioning with a tilt of her head towards Lena. “If it bothers you so much, just talk to her.”

“Right. Right. Just talk to her.”

(She hyped herself up as she took Lena’s coffee and sandwich to her, but when the woman gave her a small smile, her eyes meeting Kara’s just briefly before she turned back to her phone, Kara chickened out.

Lena deserved to eat her sandwich in peace, and Kara had already made enough of a fool of herself for one day.)

x

Lena’s presence at the diner began to become regular.

Or rather, it became expectedly unexpected. She showed up several times a week without fail, but the times she showed up were maddenly strange. Once, it was in the middle of the night, another the wee hours of the morning, another in the mid-afternoon, and yet another time smack dab in the middle of the dinner rush. Every time she showed up, she looked exhausted, sleep-deprived, and totally out of it.

And every time, without fail, she ordered her PB&J and two coffees and reintroduced herself before asking Kara for her name.

It drove Kara mad. It made her feel oddly endeared. It left her anxiously waiting for the next time Lena would walk into the diner.

(Mon-El found the whole thing incredibly hilarious. Nia and Brainy, video calling from National City to express how much they missed Kara, immediately noticed she was distracted and kept her eyes on the diner’s entrance, and made fun of her constantly after that.

And Alex? Alex rolled her eyes, sighed, and generally made a big deal of it, but every time Lena walked through the door, Alex would let Kara get her table.

For Kara’s part, she endured the teasing and the laughing without comment, but she rather thought she gave herself away when she made sure to always have a tub of peanut butter on hand, just for Lena.)

x

They talked beyond the normal ‘what can I get you?’ after one month of Lena’s inconsistently consistent visits to the diner.

She came in, her shoes and coat drenched, her umbrella a broken mess, dripping rainwater onto the linoleum floor. There were purple bags under her eyes, her skin paler than normal, and she heaved a thankful sigh when Kara grabbed a handful of paper towels and handed it to her.

(Kara tried very hard to be respectful and avert her eyes, but it was easy to get distracted by the rainwater trailing down Lena’s neck.)

“Pretty bad storm, huh?” Kara said stupidly, the sound of thunder cracking right at that moment, as if to highlight the obviousness of her statement. “I, um, I live above the diner? So I could get you some dry clothes? If you wanted?”

Lena paused her efforts at patting herself dry, and she stared at Kara with a slightly ajar mouth. “You guys take customer service pretty seriously, don’t you?” she said finally, chuckling. Kara, whose cheeks were bright red, crossed her arms over her chest and forced out a laugh.

“Oh, um, well. You know. Only the best for our regulars.”

(Dumb, Kara thought. That was so dumb.)

“I—” Lena began, but Kara would never know what she intended to say, because right at that moment, Alex showed up, mop in hand.

“You’re dripping on our floors, Lena,” she said, not unkindly, maneuvering her mop in such a way that Lena was forced to take a step closer to Kara—nearly brushing up against her. Not for the first time, Kara was simultaneously annoyed and grateful for her sister’s meddling.

“I’m so sorry,” Lena rushed out, realizing in that moment that her notebook was also sopping wet, the crestfallen expression on her face feeling like a knife twisting in Kara’s chest. “I hadn’t realized how much rain there was, I can just go—”

“—wait, no. Don’t go.” Kara avoided Alex’s gaze entirely, choosing to stare at her shoes instead. “I’ll grab you some clothes and a hairdryer so you can dry off your notebook, and Alex will get you something to eat. Two coffees and a PB&J, right?” Kara looked up, her breath catching just a little when she noticed Lena’s expression: curious, confused, and coy.

“Is that really okay?” she asked, seeming more than a little unsure. Kara nodded quickly, shooting Alex a look and making her nod as well.

“You’re Kara’s favorite regular,” Alex said unhelpfully, grinning when Kara glared at her. “Of course it’s okay.” Lena frowned.

“Oh, sorry, have we met before?”

(And oh, it was like a punch to the gut.

How could someone forget this many times?)

“Don’t worry about it, Lena,” Kara said with a grin, trying to find the humor in it somehow. “Let’s get you dry first.”

(And later, when Lena left while still wearing Kara’s favorite National City University sweatshirt, Kara just sighed.

And later, when Alex asked if she got Lena’s number and Kara confessed she didn’t think to ask, Alex let out a groan so loud that all their customers turned to give her an odd look.)

x

Two days later, Lena came into the diner wearing Kara’s sweatshirt.

She fell asleep at her table while waiting for her coffee and sandwich, and when Kara gently woke her up she gave Kara a brilliant smile and asked, “Did you know there’s a diner in Midvale that has the best PB&Js in the world?”

“You really need some rest,” Kara replied softly, but Lena’s focus had shifted to her coffee.

And Kara just let it be.

x

“Can I get three coffees?” Lena asked the next time she came in, nearing midnight. Kara hadn’t even had this shift, but thanks to a new system developed by Alex, whoever happened to be working when Lena came in had the obligation to text Kara (who would, embarrassingly enough, toss her apron on and rush downstairs to the diner in order to serve her favorite customer—a customer who still could not remember all the times Kara had introduced herself).

“Three? Are you trying to sleep even less now?”

“I sleep,” Lena defended, though she didn’t sound like she believed her own words. “No,” she continued, shaking her head as if to physically dispel Kara’s distracting words, “one is for you.”

“For me?” Kara could hardly believe her own two ears. Was the pining and the hoping finally paying off? “You want to have coffee with me?”

“Only if you’re not busy, um, Kara,” Lena said, eyes dropping to Kara’s hastily pinned nametag, apparently completely missing Kara’s overjoyed tone and the way her face fell as she realized Lena didn’t actually remember her. “It’s just—this thing I’m working on is a pain, and sometimes talking it out can help. But I don’t have anyone I can talk to so I thought...well, you’ve been so nice, and I figured I’d ask.” She bit her lip, then hid her face behind her hands. “It was a dumb idea, I’m so sorry.”

“No,” Kara sighed, feeling bad for this woman, and wondering if she should do some research on the effects of sleep deprivation. “No, I can be your sounding board. Let me get your coffee and sandwich, okay?”

(They talked well into the morning—or well, Lena talked. And Kara learned so much. She learned Lena was in Midvale only for the summer, that she had to go back to National City in the fall. She learned Lena was in the middle of what could be a groundbreaking scientific breakthrough on reversing climate change, but that her brother had all but abandoned her in the effort.

She learned that Lena was smart. She was intelligent—talking about theories and principles that Kara had always thought only Alex would ever discuss with her—but she was more than that. She had a whip-like wit, she was clever, funny, and just plain brilliant.

But more than anything, Kara learned about how much Lena cared. She talked passionately about the issues she thought science could solve, admitted she prioritized her work over sleep rather regularly, spending the strangest sort of hours at the lab she’d outfitted in Midvale. She mentioned how much she wanted to just do, how she just wanted to help people, in any way she could.

And if Kara wasn’t in trouble before, well. She definitely was now.)

x

Lena walked into the diner one late afternoon, looking haggard and exhausted, and Kara couldn’t help but laugh as she brought her coffee and a sandwich.

“You can’t remember refills are free or that my name is Kara, but you can remember to come to this diner?”

“Don’t tell anyone,” Lena said conspiratorially, not even looking over at Kara, clearly too tired to have even noticed who was talking to her, “but I think I have a crush on the waitress.”

“Wanna know a secret?” Alex called from the other side of the diner. “The waitress has a crush on you, too.”

Kara turned to shoot her sister a glare, so she missed the smile that spread on Lena’s face.

x

“Did you know that I’m only here in Midvale for the summer?” Lena asked Kara sullenly one early morning, a despondent expression on her face as she looked at her sandwich.

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned,” Kara chuckled, moving to sit across from Lena.

(This was new—staying with Lena and chatting with her as she drank her coffee and ate her sandwich. Alex rolled her eyes every time she noticed, and if Eliza didn’t own the diner, Kara was pretty sure she’d be fired.

But although Lena could never fully remember what they talked about, she seemed to enjoy the company.)

“I’ve had my best meals here. I’ll miss it.”

“I genuinely worry if you eat at all when you’re not here if these are your best meals,” Kara confessed, watching with slight amusement as Lena drained the last of her coffee.

“It’s less the food and more the company, really,” Lena said as she put her coffee cup down, her eyes meeting Kara’s briefly.

“How many hours of sleep did you get last night?”

“Hmm?”

“So none?”

“I plead the fifth, your honor,” Lena muttered, averting her gaze. This drew another chuckle out of Kara.

“Come on, why do you bother with flirting when you’re so sleep deprived you won’t remember it anyway?”

Lena let out a soft sigh, meeting Kara’s eyes once more. “It’s the principle of the thing,” she breathed out.

Kara’s heart stuttered and she didn’t protest again.

x

“Kara, your girlfriend can’t nap at the table,” Alex said tiredly the next afternoon, pointing to where Lena was sitting, head pillowed by her arms, her breathing slow and deep. Kara rolled her eyes in response, making no move to go wake Lena up. Alex snorted. “Didn’t deny the girlfriend part though, did you?”

x

“Can I get—”

“A PB&J and two coffees?” Kara finished for Lena, holding up the plate in her hand and setting down a cup of coffee. “Refills are free, just so you know.”

“Right, right. I forgot,” Lena chuckled, cheeks reddening. “You know Jeremiah’s has—”

“—the best PB&Js in the world? So you’ve said,” Kara finished with a smile, sitting down across from Lena at her table. “Did you sleep at all last night?”

“No,” Lena admitted sheepishly, taking a sip of her coffee and closing her eyes at the taste—or more likely, at the introduction of caffeine into her system. “I had an idea last night, but nothing I tried would work. I think maybe I need to—why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re interested,” Lena supplied, eyes narrowing just a little.

“We talk about your work pretty often, Lena. Of course I’m interested.” Lena nodded, but she looked uneasy, even suspicious. For a wild moment, Kara wondered if she was in that Adam Sandler movie, and the very thought made her feel a tad nauseous. “I know you forget some details, but you know we talk, don’t you?”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Of course I do, Kara,” she said, waving Kara’s concern off easily. “I just—why are you interested?”

“In what?”

“In me?”

“Is that a trick question?” Kara asked, sitting back and crossing her arms over her chest. She knew her crinkle was making a stellar comeback, despite having mostly been held at bay by Lena’s near constant presence at the diner and the hope she’d been nursing in a tiny corner of her heart. Did Lena really not realize how much Kara, well, liked her?

“No, I just—” She cut herself off, looking more tired than ever. “I guess I don’t understand. I’m just some random customer who stole your sweatshirt and talks about work all the time. I don’t get why you’d bother.”

(Kara’s heart broke. Because Lena clearly didn’t realize how amazing she was.

And Kara suddenly knew she had to do everything in her power to make Lena see the light.)

“Because you’re incredible,” she said, not quite thinking it through. Or perhaps, she was thinking it and just chose to say it aloud. In any event, it had its desired effect: Lena’s eyes widened and she was shocked enough that she didn’t seem inclined to interrupt. So Kara rushed on. “I mean, you drink entirely too much coffee. You definitely need to sleep more. And I’m a little worried about your diet, and coming from me, that means your diet is really bad. But, gosh, Lena. You’re brilliant.”

“I really don’t think—” Lena tried, her cheeks bright red, but Kara wasn’t anywhere close to done.

“—you’re witty and kind and so smart. You care about so much, and you get this funny look on your face every time I have to remind you that refills are free, and when you’re really passionate about something, you wave your hands around. Also you snore a bit, but it’s the good kind, you know?”

“I snore? Wait, there’s a good kind of snoring?” Lena muttered, but Kara was on a roll.

“Sometimes when you laugh, you let out a snort, and that means you actually found it funny. And when you remember you’re talking about something we’ve already talked about, you duck your head and mumble, but then continue talking about it anyway. Why do I bother?” Kara asked rhetorically. “I’d be crazy not to.”

For nearly a whole minute, Lena was silent, and for a moment, Kara worried she’d been too much, revealed too much. But then, a smile broke on Lena’s face—wide, uninhibited, and overwhelmed. “Well, tell me how you really feel, why don’t you,” she joked, going for smug but managing only awe.

“I’m never going to get my sweatshirt back, am I?” Kara asked, dropping the topic they were on, both to spare Lena any further blushing (the red reaching past her ears and down her neck) and also to hide the depths of her own feelings (though she was rather sure that was a lost cause at this point).

“Nope,” Lena said, stressing the pop in the word and returning to her coffee.

x

“I was twelve the first time I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you know,” Lena informed her conversationally one night. She kept her tone purposefully light, but Kara could tell it was taking a lot more effort for her to speak than normal. Her eyes were dull, the bags beneath her eyes still prominent but not quite purple like they’d been earlier in the summer. It looked like, in all honesty, that she’d had a decent amount of sleep recently, but for whatever reason, that didn’t translate to her mood.

“Twelve? That’s pretty late in the game,” Kara offered, chewing on her lip. She’d had her first PB&J when she was fourteen, so she wasn’t really in much of a position to judge. Then again, considering she didn’t even know the things existed until after she landed on this planet, she thought she could be excused.

“My adoptive parents were...well, strict,” Lena explained, shrugging. She was on her third cup of coffee, idly tearing at the sandwich in front of her, not having taken a single bite since she had it placed in front of her. “They were more into forcing my brother and I to pretend we liked foie gras and caviar at their silly functions than they were into feeding us something we may actually like.”

“Foie gras, huh,” Kara repeated, trying hard not to say anything. And yet: “Isn’t that when they—”

“Yup, that’s it.”

“Huh.”

“One night, after barely eating anything at one of these functions, my parents sent my brother and I to bed. You know, kind of like that scene in Sound of Music, except without the singing.”

“I’m sure it was adorable anyway,” Kara said lightly, hoping to make Lena smile. It worked: Lena’s lips quirked, and her eyes—so lifeless when they were usually so full of light—brightened just a bit.

“We decided we’d sneak into the kitchen. Get some real food from the staff. Something, you know?” Lena continued, urged on by Kara’s nodding. “But our nanny caught us.”

“Oh. So it actually was like Sound of Music,” Kara blurted out, unable to help her silly joke. Her view of Lena suddenly had morphed—she saw a lonely girl adopted into a rich family, and the obvious admiration in her voice for her brother taking on a tinge of melancholy as Kara remembered their relationship was strained. And it made her sad.

(Kara was no stranger to pain or sorrow, but she had always been able to comfort herself and surround herself with those she loved and loved her.

But who loved Lena?)

“She was furious at us,” Lena continued, only raising an eyebrow at Kara’s interruption, though her lips had quirked once more. “If we’d gotten caught by my father—or worse, my mother—she would have lost her job.” She let out a sigh, a frown tugging at her tiny smile until it evaporated completely, her brows furrowing, and her eyes shifting to the ceiling. “I told her what we were doing, why we weren’t in bed, and she got this look on her face. I can’t explain it.” Lena finally noticed she’d shredded her sandwich into an unrecognizable mess, and she withdrew her hands from the table, though Kara could tell she was still fidgeting with them in her lap. “She had her own small room. Had outfitted it with one of those mini-fridges and a burner plate, so she could avoid taking meals in the kitchen. I didn’t realize until much later that she had wanted to stay out of my mother’s way as much as possible.”

“Oh Lena,” Kara muttered, hearing the self-disgust in Lena’s tone, and not knowing what to do or say.

“So she took us to her room. Showed us her stash of peanut butter. Made us as many sandwiches as we wanted that night. She swore us to secrecy—my mother would never have approved of it, I don’t even think she allowed peanut butter in the house.” Lena stopped suddenly, the slight amusement in her tone dissipating as she took in a deep breath. “It didn’t matter anyway. She was fired soon after.” Lena sighed again and fell silent.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Kara asked quietly when the silence stretched out for several long minutes, Lena clearly lost in thought.

“I just—it was the first time I vividly remember someone doing something kind just for the sake of being kind,” Lena explained slowly, her eyes meeting Kara’s. “I named the environmental initiative after her, you know. The BETH Project. But right as I’m about to make a breakthrough—” She stopped, groaned, dropping her head to the table. “My brother cut funding. Decided he wants LuthorCorp to focus on other endeavours. He says this is a waste of time.” Her voice was slightly muffled by the wooden table, but her words were crystal clear.

(And suddenly, a lot of things made sense: Lena’s money, her genius, her relationship with her brother, the fact she could just up and go to a small town in order to work on her research.

She was Lena Luthor, as in one of the smartest people in the world.

And Kara had been too busy feeding her sandwiches and falling in love with her to notice.)

“When did this happen?” Kara asked, her thoughts straying to something else. After all, if her research had been defunded, did that mean Lena would leave?

“Yesterday. After I got off the phone with him, I just...slept. For I think eighteen hours straight. I just—I’m wanted back soon, and I realized that I’d like to be here as much as possible until then.” She raised her head, eyeing Kara warily, as if worried Kara would react poorly to the confession.

(Kara’s heart thudded in her chest, practically pounding against her ribs, and for a moment she felt a little dizzy.

Lena wanted to be here as much as possible.)

“Well, the diner is always open to you,” Kara managed, giving Lena a grin.

“I’m not exactly here for the diner,” Lena laughed, the normal glint, light, brightness of her eyes reappearing. “I only ever came here again after the first time because of you.” Something must have shown on her face, because Lena’s smile widened just a bit. “You went out of your way to get me something not even on the menu. Kind for the sake of being kind.”

Kara felt guilt twist in her chest for a moment, deciding almost immediately to come clean. “It wasn’t like that,” she admitted, wrinkling her nose. “You’re, um, really pretty. Did you know that?” If she thought this would make Lena get up and storm off, if she thought it would scare her away, Kara was sorely mistaken.

It made Lena chuckle, made her place one of her hands back on the table, palm up—a clear invitation.

“I had similar thoughts about you when I kept coming back,” Lena informed her.

(So Kara took her hand.)

x

“I saw you two holding hands,” Alex said with a grin a few hours later, Kelly shaking her head in amusement behind her. “So did you finally ask her out?”

Kara scoffed. “Of course not. She’s Lena Luthor. Why would she want to date me?”

From the kitchen, Mon-El let out a loud, annoyed groan, Alex sighed tiredly, and Kelly chuckled victoriously.

“You owe me twenty bucks,” she informed her girlfriend, looking mighty pleased with herself.

Alex, however, was focused on Kara. “What are you waiting for?” she asked, frowning. “She makes those eyes at you, and you still don’t realize she likes you?”

(And well, that wasn’t it. It wasn’t that Kara didn’t realize. She suspected her feelings were returned but, well….

Lena was changing the world, and Kara was still struggling with the sting of Snapper dropping her from the internship with his newspaper.)

“It’s fine, Alex,” Kelly interjected, looking from Kara to her girlfriend and her instincts to help kicking in. “Maybe we should give Kara some space.”

x

Lena stopped coming in at inconsistently consistent times. Rather, she showed up at Kara’s shifts, and then came up with things for them to do when Kara wasn’t working.

(She was no longer sleep-deprived and forgetful. She focused on Kara’s every word, seemingly endlessly interested in what Kara had to say, and she never seemed to tire of Kara’s presence.

It was wonderful. More than wonderful. Kara was at a loss to explain it.)

These ‘dates’ as Alex called them were going incredibly well. Until one afternoon, when Kara was sitting across from Lena as she took her break, and her hands clenched into fists when a guy who clearly wasn’t from Midvale walked over to their table, and grinned down at Lena.

“Hey,” he said, making a strange movement with his head, chin jutting out. “You come here often?”

(What a terrible line. What a terrible, terrible, terrible—)

“I do, actually,” Lena responded, her eyes on Kara. “I have a crush on the waitress.”

“Right,” said the guy, though he looked confused. After a moment, when it became clear neither Kara nor Lena would say anything else (or even look at him), he made the strange movement with his head again and returned to his own table.

“Sorry,” Lena said once he was gone, eyes still focused on Kara, running her teeth over her bottom lip. “Men, right?” she said, as if they were in on a joke.

“Ah, the perils of being an attractive woman,” Kara offered, forcing her hands to unclench, trying to keep up with the light tone, not sure if she was so angry because she was jealous or because that guy felt he had the right to come up and try to talk to Lena when Kara was right there, when she was...well, a friend?

“Do you think I’m attractive?” Lena asked, her voice full of something Kara couldn’t quite name, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Everyone thinks you’re attractive,” Kara said, eyes finding that guy again and glaring.

“Right. But do you?”

(It felt like a test. And when Kara turned back to her, Lena looked so invested in the answer.

And she felt herself give in.)

“Why wouldn’t I be included in ‘everyone?’” she tried, hedging just a bit more.

“I don’t care what ‘everyone’ thinks. I care what you think.”  

Kara heaved a deep breath, trying to control her pounding heart. “Obviously, I think you’re attractive,” she admitted, thinking it was worth saying when Lena’s expression turned utterly pleased.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I think you’re attractive too.”

(And it did.

Make Kara feel better.)

x

They were outside the back entrance of the diner, sitting on the steps with their knees drawn up to their chests.

“Are you sure you have to leave tomorrow?” Kara asked softly, wishing she didn’t have to break the silence between them. Lena’s shoulder was pressed against hers, and despite the hot, muggy day, she didn’t quite mind it. In fact, she moved closer, wanting as much of Lena as she could get before she had to go without her.

“The NC branch of LuthorCorp needs someone to head it. Lex has asked me. He’s been acting strangely lately, I don’t feel comfortable saying no to him right now.”

“You know, it’s funny,” Kara mumbled, staring at her shoes, determinedly not thinking about Lena leaving, “I wasn’t even supposed to be here this summer. But my internship was scrapped because Snapper Carr and Lois Lane are working on some exposé to do with arms deals.” She looked over at Lena with a smile. “Is it terrible that I’m sort of glad now? I mean, I needed Snapper’s recommendation, so I’ll never get to work for Cat Grant, but I met you. It seems...worth it.”

“I have some connections,” Lena said, bumping her shoulder against Kara’s. “I could talk to Cat Grant for you.”

“My cousin offered too, but no. I want to get a job with her on my own merits.”

“You’ll get one. She’ll be crazy not to hire you.”

Kara smiled gratefully and they lapsed into silence, hands tangled between them. But as the seconds stretched into minutes, Lena seemed increasingly...agitated.

“You live in National City, right?” she asked suddenly, pulling away rather abruptly and roughly.

“Y-yeah,” Kara answered, a little confused.

“And you’ll be back in National City once your term starts? What two weeks from now?”

“Yes?”

“Then why are we acting like this is the last time we’ll see each other?” She sounded a little...well, angry. Kara blinked in confusion.

“Lena...you’re a prodigy. You have like a dozen degrees—”

“—don’t exaggerate—”

“—you’re going to be in charge of the LuthorCorp branch in National City. And I’m just a journalism student without career prospects after graduation.”

(And an alien. But she figured that conversation could wait.)

“Kara, stop,” Lena hissed, turning slightly so that she was facing Kara completely. Kara missed her warmth. “Listen, it’s really simple. I like you. I really like you. Do you like me?”

Kara was too shocked by the bluntness of the question and the forcefulness of the way Lena had expressed her own feelings to think too hard about what words came out of her mouth next. “I—yes, of course I do, how could I not?”

“Then would you do me a favor?”

“Yeah—yes, of course. Anything.”

“Would you promise that you’ll ask me out on a real date when we’re both in National City and then could you please, please, just kiss me?”

(It took a moment for Kara to comprehend the request, but when she finally did she was all too happy to comply.

And if she did it in the reverse order—well, neither of them much minded.)

[handlewithkara]

Thanks, I hate it

So, I was trying to rewatch season 3 again and wow, I remembered why I hate it (and particularly 3B) so much. Maybe hate is the wrong word. There is good things in there. Things I can appreciate. 

But I feel like my biggest gripe with it, more than shipping, more than characterization is that it is really hard to watch a show when you very fundamentally disagree with a position the show takes. 

And I think I knew that that was going to be the case I think from the moment Mon-El has his revealing conversation with J’onn in 3x13. J’onn is a character we are supposed to like, so it was pretty clear to me, that in this case, the position he took in this conversation was a position the show takes. 

Here is goes: Supergirl Season 3 firmly takes the position that it is the morally right thing for Mon-El to do is to not tell Kara that he has feelings for her. 

(the show also takes the position that it is honorable of Kara not to tell Lena her secret identity, situations that are paralleled on occasion. I think the situations are somewhat different, but still think that in both cases the position of the show is questionable or at least something I really disagree with)

First: What I think they were trying to achieve with this

1.) One of Mon-El's character flaws was arguably lack of restraint. Showing him holding back on telling Kara shows that he has matured. 

In this area I feel like the biggest disagreement is likely one of taste. If one likes Mon-El, one might argue that yes, lack of restraint and consideration was a character trait and flaw of Mon-El's, but "curing" him of this flaw arguably makes him at lost less entertaining as a character. 

The other problem is that Mon-El still has certain moments which the show itself characterizes as lack of consideration. Seems kind of late for him to still be learning this lesson on the fly? Rather than just struggling with it? Still, one can argue the fact that he was struggling with this issue on a relatively high level is a way of showing that he has changed a lot and is in a very different place. 

2.) Telling Kara about his feelings while she is still hurting and confused especially when he is unsure himself, yes would arguably be shitty. 

Now, this I partly get. When Mon-El comes back Kara is in a lot of emotional pain, she is distraught, she is confused, she is dealing with a lot. 

If at this point Mon-El goes to her and tells her that he's still into her (but there is still a chance that he still wants to honor his commitment to Imra more) that would cause her a lot of additional pain. 

Not that I think it would have changed a lot in how Kara would react or how much would have happened between them, but the same decisions would likely have caused her a lot of additional anguish. That would have been jerking her around and playing with her feelings by my defintion of things and in that case, I agree, he shouldn’t tell her.

Getting her hopes up just to leave again would so not be cool. 

3.) Talking to Kara about how he is struggling too might hamper their ability to fight Reign.

Now granted, this is just my personal feelings, as this wasn't really a topic that the show brought up itself. Still, this is something I could at least picture being a concern for these characters, that they want to put their feelings aside till Reign is defeated. (and in a way... that is what happens on the show, Karamel start getting a lot shippier in the time when they mistakenly think Reign has been defeated)

Second: Why I think it's wrong

The show over and over goes over the concept that it is wrong to tell somebody the truth just to make yourself feel better. And I keep thinking... why?

I agree with the concept that it is morally wrong to cause pointless pain to Kara by telling her. The thing is ... is it really pointless?

I fully agree that if Mon-El had fessed up to her at some point late into the season, it would have temporarily made Kara's life more confusing... but .... wouldn't that be worth it? Simply in the interest of things being more honest between and the information being out there?

And why isn't "it would make Mon-El feel better and lift a weight off his shoulders" a totally legit and fair outcome? Why does that have to be cast as "that's selfish and so he should never do that"?

I can maybe get that in the beginning when Kara is still super raw and emotional, but later on? Kara is a strong person, with a great support system. And I get that it's immoral to draw her into messy marriage issues.

But I don't see how just telling Kara what his emotional state is does that. He could just tell her "I'm really struggling too, but I'm trying to hold it together. This is hard for me in particular because I’m dealing with a lot of additional political weight being placed on my shoulders".

And yes I can envision a world where that makes communication between them even harder and it makes fighting Reign harder. But I still think it would be worth it for the benefit of things being more honest between them. And I would have said that both characters are emotionally strong enough that they could handle it.

Third: Why I’m beginning to think that they genuinely believed that

You know, for the longest time I thought, okay, maybe they just disliked Mon-El and wanted to get rid of him, so maybe they gave him a shitty story and that's all there is too it.

But the longer things go on, the more I get the impression. OMG they were actually serious about that?

In season 3, they draw strong parallels between it being honorable of Mon-El not to tell Kara and it being honorable of Kara not to tell Lena her identity. This is most explicit in The Fanatical where Mon-El says exactly that in a traditional "he gives advice about Lena, but he's actually talking about himself" scene.

Well, if you tell [her] the truth, you'd be doing it to make yourself feel better, not her. So maybe, in this case, it's, uh... Not telling her the truth is the noble thing. It's a sacrifice you're making to protect her.

(Bless Chris Wood, I think he looks entirely unconvinced by his own dialogue here)

Fast forward to episode 100. The big anniversary episode. The one that celebrates Kara and her influence on people. And this episode is full of people assuring Kara that her motivations were noble AND it ends with Kara embracing this point of view and putting her foot down (and no, I don't think that the writers intend to take that back and portray that as Kara misunderstanding something when this is the big celebration episode)

Executing The Premise

Either way. The whole season consisted of people preaching to Mon-El that he shouldn't tell. So Mon-El tries to do the right thing and keep his feelings mostly close to his vest.

And then it just ends!!!!

I'm sorry, this just feels wrong. It feels like there is something missing. Like either Mon-El should be rewarded for holding back (either by him realizing that loves the future best anyway (instead ... the opposite of that happened) or him actually getting a better chance with Kara somewhere in the future when the circumstances are better). Or in lieu of that, a storyline that makes it explictly clear that Mon-El was being a dumbass, did exactly the wrong thing and that is what costs him his chance with Kara. Except that didn't happen either.

Instead he disappear uncommented into nothingness and the only other glimpse we see of him is till an episode that actually doubles down on the message of 3B.

Summation

So my deep, fundamental gripe with season 3 is that I just deeply, deeply disagree with the central thesis the season puts forth (keeping things from people is not just understandable and excusable, but actually morally good) THE SHOW DIDN'T EVEN DELIVER PROPERLY ON THE STAKES AND MORAL STANDARDS THEY BUILT UP.

That's why season 3 was frustrating and hard to get connected to on multiple levels when it comes to these central story tenants. You have these characters discussing and debating and going back and forth and here I’m sitting, watching them and going “Yes, but this moral conundrum is stupid” (I had this reaction during pretty much any Mon-El scenes in regards to telling the truth and during any of the Kara and Lena arguments). I think even if the show had told a "clean" story with their premise, I still would have been sour on it when I just so fundamentally disagree with the premise on a personal level.

And that is in addition to the entertainment level of "I just don't think that it's very entertaining to watch characters who are constantly holding back to be heroic and moral and honorable" (compared to holding back for personal reasons like insecurity, something that is way more interesting because that is compelling characterization a lot of the time and casts telling the truth as characters facing their fears or seeing things weren’t as bad as they imagined it). 

I disliked that honorable holding back in Kara/James and I disliked it again in season 3. [yes I think it’s marginally better set up in season 3 simply because Karamel had an actual relationship as the basis rather than just the potential of a flirtation, Mimra were married and there was a political reason why it had to stay that way rather than Lucy in the end being just a nice girlfriend/boyfriend relationship ... but just because it is a slightly more solid version of that trope doesn’t change that that trope is bad and boring to me]

Look, this isn't about morals. This isn't about me thinking the show would have been better if Kara would have thrown herself at James in season 1. It's just that those stories are (to me) fundamentally boring to watch and there was a reason why I preferred the chaotic back and forth of season 2 Karamel. So in a way, I felt fundamentally betrayed by the story even without the ending, because to me the season betrayed a lot about what I liked about Karamel in season 2 and made them more like Kara/James whose story I often did not care for for a reason. I'm not claiming that season 3 was devoid of good things, outside of Karamel or within (and I will try to make posts on that), but in regards to Karamel, a lot of these things were new areas, new themes or side aspects compared to what their strongest threads were in season 2.(for what it’s worth, I think the normal, “soapy” way to tell this story would have been not that Mon-El tells, but that Mon-El keeps it quiet, but somebody else blabs out the truth and Kara finds out anyway and is initally mad at Mon-El. Would still have been a cop out compared to how I see this conflict, but it would have been a more normal story compared to “everybody tells Mon-El not to tell and he mostly doesn’t”)

But I can put my shipper values aside. I can try to appreciate a story for its craftsmanship or for what it is trying to do even if things don't go my way. But it's really hard to get invested in a show if you just don't see eye to eye with one of the core themes the show proposes.

And that’s why I have a lot of animosity left towards this aspect of season 3. 

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Metallo!Lena AU Part 15

Lena's decision to reveal herself isn't entirely well thought out. In the weeks that follow, the media outlets flood with speculation about her veracity, her intentions, and her whereabouts for the past year. Considering Lena bolted after giving the reporters her name, their confusion isn't entirely unwarranted, but Lena has no intention of giving them any further details.

Reclaiming her name is one thing. Revealing the current condition is another.

"The last thing the world needs to hear is that there's a Luthor running around without a heart. Literally."

Kara rolls her eyes at the weak joke. "Nobody blames you for your brother's actions, Lena. If they knew what happened--"

"They'll say I should have seen it coming. It's all in the family, Kara. My brother killed me and my mother resurrected me. This is my chance to start fresh, so just... let me have it."

The unexpected outcome of it all is that Lena no longer needs to hide. Slowly, she starts to venture out into the city with Kara, both with armor and without, and for the first time since her rescue, she gets to enjoy some of the things she used to.

Like watching the geese in the park, and window shopping in midtown. At first, she's able to get away unnoticed by simply wearing casual outfits, but as the media coverage persists, more and more people start to notice her. It soon becomes clear that Lena needs to make another decision.

"I have to make a statement," she says one night, lying in her bunk next to Kara. They've just come out of a sparring session, and are sweaty and tired, but still Lena's mind races.

Kara looks at her, not lifting her head. "Are you sure?"

"No. But... if I don't, I'll just lose control of my narrative all over again."

"Okay," comes the easy response. "I'll support you, whatever you decide."

Lena turns to look at her. "I'm going to need you to do more than that."

---

"You want her to WHAT?" Alex asks, when they tell her the plan.

Lena doesn't blink an eye. "I want Kara to leverage an exclusive interview with me to get her old job back."

Alex looks like she's going to pop a blood vessel. She eyes Lena, then turns her incredulous gaze on Kara. "And what do you want?"

Kara shuffles awkwardly in place, eyes on her shoes. "I... am okay with it."

It had taken some convincing. Well, not so much convincing as talking Kara out of her own pessimism. Her career was over, she'd claimed when Lena first shared her idea. Supergirl was her job now. She was needed at the DEO more than anywhere else. The world needed Supergirl.

"But what does Supergirl need?" Lena had asked.

Now, Alex doesn't seem convinced. "Really? Because you were miserable there before you quit. Are you really ready to go back?"

Kara shrugs, sheepish and uncertain both. Lena shifts protectively in front of her. "Don't worry," she drawls, "I'm sure she'll still help at DEO if you ask nicely."

"That's not why I'm concerned," Alex scoffs.

"Then why do you care so much about what Kara chooses to do with her civilian life, Director?"

Alex pauses on the verge of retort. Then she rocks back on her heels, making pointed eye contact with Kara. Kara touches Lena shoulder, moving out from behind her.

"Because she's my sister."

Lena blinks in surprise, then freezes as her brain restructures itself to absorb this new information. "Oh. That is... not what I expected."

"What were you expecting?"

"...doesn't matter."

Alex huffs, irritation flaring. "Kara, I don't think I need to remind you of what it was like when you were working at CatCo--"

"I loved CatCo. I still do." Kara's shoulders lift. "Looking back, I don't think CatCo was the reason I was miserable. It's just the part of my life that suffered the most. But--" She looks at Lena, shoulders squaring. "Things are different now. I can't be Supergirl all my life. I need more. I always have."

With a sigh, Alex relents. "Fine. What do you need from me?"

---

James is nothing if not surprised to see Kara slip into his office one afternoon. She's clearly nervous, fidgeting with her glasses and shrinking into herself. Even so, he's glad to see her.

"Kara, hey! Wow, it's been a while. How are... things?"

He knows her secret, but after their breakup and Kara's unexpected departure from CatCo, they'd drifted apart.

"Good, good. Yeah," Kara stammers. "I, uh, I was wondering if we could talk, for a second."

James grins. "Yeah. Of course, of course. Come on in."

He comes around his desk, meeting Kara at the couches. A little thrill rushes through him at their proximity, before he shakes himself out of it. He never got a chance to settle back into frienship with Kara, and he regrets the distance between them.

When they sit, he tries to ease her nerves with a grin. "What's happening?"

Kara smooths her hands on the tops of her thighs, and takes a deep breath. Then, she straightens and turns to face him.

"I came here to discuss the possibility of me getting my job back."

"Your job," James repeats. "Here. At CatCo."

Kara nods. "Yes. At CatCo."

"Oh... I don't know, Kara."

"I know it's a tall ask--"

James barks a laugh. "A tall ask? It's been over a year, and I hate to say it, but Snapper hasn't gotten any better since you left."

"He wasn't why I left..."

"I actually figured it was because of me."

Kara's eyes widen, and her cheeks heat with a flush as she scrambles to deny it. "James, no-- that's not--"

"You don't need to explain anything to me, Kara, really...  but I have to say, a rehire would be a tough sell with Snapper, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to sell him anything," Kara rebuts, her voice steeling. Her gaze took on a hard glint. "You're his boss."

James nods. "That's true, but I wouldn't be doing you any favors by forcing you on him."

"I'm not asking for any favors--"

"Kara."

"You know what I mean. I'm ready to take on anything Snapper has in store, I'm ready to pull weight, and I'm ready to go the distance. And you know the kind of person I am, James. I won't let you down."

James sighs. "I know. But... I just can't do it."

Kara nods, adjusting her glasses. "I can prove to you that CatCo needs me-- will be better to have me on board."

There's something familiar in Kara's voice now, and James realizes that he's seeing Supergirl poking through. Whatever had so shaken her a year ago, she's ready to overcome it.

"And what's that?" he asks.

"Lena Luthor."

James pauses. "What about her?"

"She's agreed to an exclusive with CatCo-- on one condition."

"With you."

"As a fully hired and salaried CatCo employee."

It's the one thing James knows he can't refuse. Every media outlet in the country is clamoring for an interview with Lena Luthor, and here she's been walked right into his office on the wings of the one former employee his editor-in-chief cannot stand. That said...

With a scoop like Lena Luthor, CatCo would survive if Snapper Carr walked out.

James hesitates, out of principle if nothing else. "You really have Lena Luthor on lock?"

Taking out her phone, Kara opens her contacts and with just a few taps of her thumb has a video chat ringing. As James watches, the black comes to life with the visage of Lena Luthor.

"Kara, hi," says the tinny voice. Despite likely expecting the call, the woman is clearly happy to see Kara.

Kara blushes, fiddling with her glasses once more. "Hi, Lena. I, um, I have James here, and he was wondering--"

"Mr. Olsen." Suddenly, Lena Luthor is all business. "I expect Kara has already explained the situation."

James nods. "She has."

"I am willing to work with CatCo, so long as I interview exclusively with Kara Danvers."

"Editorial will have input on the question list."

"Which will be screened in advance, and received with Kara's contract, signed and countersigned."

James doesn't necessarily like being dictated to, but Lena's tone is nothing less than professional. It's as though he's talking to another executive, and negotiation is a tactic he's grown accustomed to.

"We can work with that."

"At 10% above Kara's exit salary."

Ohhhhh... James chafes at that. Kara starts, then flushes-- clearly, she hadn't expected this. But there's no negotiation in Lena's tone, so he chooses to take the high road. He nods.

"All right. We'll be in touch."

previous / next

[6rookie-writer0110]

Let's watch the thunder together

Sam Arias x Male Reader

Request- Story starts where R was hanging out in Kara's loft and R ask who's coming for game night and kara told him who's coming and when she mentioned sam. R said "Oh fuck no man And I'm taking this" he took the wine bottle and use the interdimensional extrapolator to go to universe 7. Kara said "what just happened".

Then Goku said their goodbyes and R said "I'm am so sorry about him, I didn't think he would be more of a dumbass than he already is. Fast forward he and sam got along sort of.

Sam moved back to National City not long ago. She is close friends with Lena and Kara and she is happy to be home. Kara invited everyone for a game night in her loft, she is excited, everyone is coming. Sam has been working hard at L-CORP, tonight she is ready to have fun with her friends.

You arrived early because you bought the food and drinks. Kara is happy that you got everything. You help her set up the drinks and food. Kara showed you the board games that everyone will play.

”Lena is coming over with her new friend Sam,” Kara said.

”I once knew someone named Sam but it didn't end well” You said.

”What happened?” Kara asked.

”Long story short, I was the punchline of a cruel joke,” You said.

Kara felt bad for you and she rubbed your arm. Kara was going to say something to cheer you up but Alex and Lena arrived with Sam. You and Sam stared at each other but you are not happy.

”Oh fuck no man and I'm taking this," You said.

Everyone is confused and wanted to ask questions, but you took the wine from Alex and used an interdimensional extrapolator to go to universe 7.

”What just happened?” Kara asked.

Sam sighed.

”We used to know each other. In high school, I went with Y/N to prom has a prank, and my friends used to bully him. I fell in love with him, when he found out that I had to go out with him on a bet well... He didn't want to hear what I had to say. Since then I haven't seen him since” Sam said sadly.

”Give him time, he will come around,” Alex said.

Sam nods and she still feels bad.

---

You are on universe seven. You went to see Vegeta like always he is training in the capsule corp. You start to train with Vegeta and he is always hard on you.

”What are you doing here?” You asked.

Alex came to see you.

”Vegeta, hi,” Alex said.

”Alex. You two are ruining my training section leave or join me” Vegeta said.

You and Alex looked at each other.

”So that is Sam,” Alex said.

”Remember when I told you I was bullied in high school and I dated this girl that had a bet with her stupid friends well that Sam,” You said.

”Yeah, she told us what happened and she stills feels sad about it. I think you should talk to her” Alex said.

You and Alex start to train with Vegeta, it's two against one. He won't go easy on Alex because she doesn't have powers, he wants Alex to get strong. Alex tries to dodge Vegeta’s attacks but he is faster.

”I don't want to speak with her,” You said.

You start to kick Vegeta.

”You should talk to her,” Vegeta said.

”See, even Vegeta agrees and he isn't much of a talker,” Alex said.

”I will think about it,” You said.

Vegeta punched you in the stomach and you fall.

”See, thinking about problems you didn't block my punch,” Vegeta said.

You are on the ground gasping for air.

”Y-you-”

You couldn't finish your sentence.

”Oh, and Kara will have game night this weekend so you better come,” Alex said.

Much later~

You, Alex, and Vegeta are taking a break. Bulma gave you and them more water to drink.

”Y/N, where is the four dragon ball star?” Bulma asked.

You start to think and you scratched your head.

”Somewhere on earth-38,” You said.

She started to yell at you because you're being careless with the dragon balls. You and Vegeta get scared when she starts to scream.

”You better go back and get it!! You know how hard it's to find it! If you don't get it, I will make your life a living hell!!” Bulma screamed.

”I’m sorry!!! I will go get it! Alex let's go!!” You said terrified.

You and Alex ran away from Bulma.

---

Before the night ended, you took Alex back to her home. And you almost forgot the 4 dragon ball star, but you had to go back to Kara’s loft. Sam is talking with Lena and Kara.

”So, you two know each other?” Lena asked.

”Unfortunately” You mumbled.

You see the dragon ball on the table you grabbed it. Before you left, you went to the kitchen and started to steal Kara’s food. It's not the first time you steal food from Kara’s Kitchen.

You left and went straight to Bulma’s house and gave her the dragon ball. You went home, you lie in your bed and think about Sam.

✫ ✯ ✧ ✬

You are jogging in the park. You caught the soccer ball and the girl walked towards you.

”I’m sorry I almost hit you with my soccer ball,” She said.

She reminds you of Sam a little bit. You see Sam walking towards you and she smiled at you.

”Hey Y/N,” Sam said.

You give back the soccer ball.

”Hi Sam,” You said.

”This is my daughter, Ruby. Y/N can we talk?” Sam said.

Ruby went to play with her friends.

”Yeah sure,” You said.

You and Sam sit on the bench.

”Y/N, I'm sorry what happened in high school. I should have done something but I didn't, I know you hate me and I don't blame you” Sam said.

”Sam, saying sorry it's not enough. But... There's no point holding a grudge against you. I forgive you and I want us to move on and start over” You said.

You and Sam smile at each other and she hugged you.

”Maybe we can go out tonight?” Sam said.

”Yeah, we can do that,” You said.

----

You and Sam just finished eating at a restaurant. You and Sam are having a good time and talked about everything. She is making you smile more and she can't stop smiling at you.

Trunks and Goten are eating at a restaurant, the table is being filled with empty plates. They have a huge appetite and keep eating a lot.

”Trunks, you have the money?” Goten asked.

”Money? I don't have money” Trunks said.

”We need to pay. I don't have money” Goten said.

They start to think. They sneaked out of the restaurant but the manager saw them. Now the manager is chasing Trunks and Goten. The boys just kept running without looking they crashed into you.

”You kids better pay now!” The manager yelled.

”Trunks and Goten what are you doing here!?” You said.

”We are at a restaurant and we don't have money,” Goten said.

You stand up and you offered to pay and the manager accepted the cash.

”We found the interdimensional extrapolator, we touched the button and it took us here. Is she your girlfriend?” Trunks said.

”No, I'm his friend Sam,” Sam said.

”You are pretty. You should be his girlfriend-”

”Goten shut up,” You said.

”Y/N and Sam sitting on a tree-”

Trunks and Goten kept teasing you and Sam, she just giggled. You are telling them to shut up but they won't.

You took Sam home. Trunks and Goten are jumping on your bed

”Did you ask her to be your girlfriend?” Goten asked.

”No, I didn't ask her,” You said.

They keep jumping on the bed.

”You should ask her,” Trunks said.

”Try not to break anything and don't eat my food,” You said.

You left the bedroom to take a shower. Trunks and Goten grabbed your phone and found Sam’s phone number and called her. Trunks try to mimic your voice and think Sam will fall for it.

”Sam, it's me Y/N I want you to be my girlfriend,” Trunks said.

Sam is smiling hard and tries not to laugh.

”Wow, Y/N I had no idea you want to be my boyfriend,” Sam said.

”You are pretty so you are my girlfriend. Bye! I have to give my stuff to Trunks and he is really cool” Trunks said.

He hangs up the phone. Much later, the boys fell asleep on your bed. Sam sent you a text and told you what Trunks did. You couldn't help to laugh.

---

Next-Day...

You were going to spend time with Sam alone, but Trunks and Goten tagged along. Sam thinks it's cute how you get along with the boys.

”Pizza!!!” The boys yelled with joy.

You arrived at your apartment with pizza. They just grabbed it and started to eat like pigs.

”They sure eat a lot,” Sam said.

”They train a lot so huge appetites. They will leave you broke all the time” You said.

Goku arrived and he gave you a bear hug. Goten is happy to see his father, then you introduced Goku to Sam.

”Oh is this your girlfriend?

”Goku shut up!” You spat.

Sam didn't know what to say.

”Oh she is your girlfriend! Y/N she is really pretty-”

You punched Goku in the stomach. You felt he was embarrassing you.

”Take the boys with you, they are eating my food,” You said.

”Dad!!” Goten yelled with joy and jumped on his dad.

”I should take them home, Bulma and Chi-Chi are worried and angry at them,” Goku said.

Trunks and Goten are scared now and they hold on to Goku tight.

”Bye, Y/N’s girlfriend!!” They all yelled and left.

You sighed and Sam can't stop smiling.

”I'm am so sorry about him, I didn't think he would be more of a dumbass than he already is” You said.

”They are nice and funny. I don't mind seeing them around” Sam said.

✫ ✯ ✧ ✬

You and Sam have been spending a lot of time together. Your feelings for Sam.has gotten stronger and Sam wonders if you want to be her boyfriend.

You invited Sam, Ruby, and super friends to a party on universe 7. Bulma is throwing a party on the Capsule Corp ferry. You introduced everyone to each other, they are getting along. Everyone loves the food and the party is going great.

You are spending alone with the guys, you thought of an idea along with Yamcha, Master Roshi, and Oolong. Two women walked into the room, the music starts to play.

”Guys, what is going on?” Goku asked.

”Oh, you will find out in a little bit” Oolong has a huge grin.

”Y/N, are they here?” Master Roshi asked.

”The show will start now” You smirked.

The two strippers start to take off their clothes.

”Why are they taking off their clothes?” Goku asked in confusion.

You and the others are watching the two strippers dance. Goku closed his eyes then Chi Chi walked and she started to yell. Everyone blamed the idea on you, she glared and she yelled at you again.

”Chi-Chi it's harmless. Goku barely looked at them” You said.

You give her thumbs up and she gave you the finger. She smacked your head

”Hey that hurts” You whine.

You start to rub your head.

”That's what you get, Y/N,” Chi-Chi said.

She dragged Goku out of the room, while you and the other guys watch the strippers dance.

---

Still, on the ferry, you went to spend time with Sam alone. You and Sam stand by the balcony and watch the beautiful sunset, you take a selfie with Sam. Your hand is on top of her hand and she kissed your cheek, you blushed.

”Having fun?” You asked.

”Yes, I'm having fun. Goku is like a huge kid in a men’s body but he sure can eat a lot. Where does the food go?” Sam said.

You and Sam laughed.

”Are you dating anyone?” You asked.

”No. I have been single for a while now, what about you?” Sam said.

”I have been on dates but I haven't been in a relationship,” You said.

You and Sam stare at each other, she bites her bottom lip.

---

You and Sam went to check on Ruby and the others.

”How did you and my mom meet?” Ruby said.

”We met in high school, she was the popular girl and I wasn't popular. A teacher made us work together on a project, we had to take care of a game baby” You said.

”We couldn't agree on the name so we named the baby, baby,” Sam said.

Ruby laughed.

---

You and Sam joined the others to eat. Goku again is eating a lot and he put his arm around your shoulder.

”Can you turn Super Saiyan 4?” Goku asked.

”Why do you ask?” You said.

”Whis said you can do it. I want to see” Goku said.

”What is Super Saiyan 4?” Kara asked.

”Super Saiyan 4 is, the form gives the fighter the super strength and speed of a Great Ape, but with a calm, clever mind. But for others, it can make them very cold and aggressive. Y/N would have different hair color, also would have a tail and his body is covered in red fur. His eyes possess a shadow to trim around their eyes and over the eyelids that vary in color, such as crimson. The hair is lengthened while becoming wilder, reaching down to the middle of their back, while two long pointed bangs of hair appear on both sides of the neck. It also makes the individual considerably larger in height and muscularity ” Whis said.

”Sam and Ruby are here,” You said.

”I want to see you transform,” Sam said.

”Me too! Y/N you should do it” Kara said.

”Okay, I will do it,” You said.

You moved away from everyone, you get in your stance. Everyone watches you change into Super Saiyan 4, everyone is impressed and they like your new form.

✫ ✯ ✧ ✬

You are at work sitting at your desk, you get mail. You opened the package, you take out an old picture of you and Sam back in high school.

”I can't believe I thought that was cool,” You said to yourself.

You are talking about your fashion style. Sam sent you a text...

Sam- I found this and the old mixtape you made for me. Also, I made you a mix cd. I know its old school 😜

You take out the cd and you read the playlist. You can't stop smiling.

---

You come out of work and Sam is waiting for you.

”Hey, you,” You said.

”Y/N, I thought we can go on a date right now,” Sam said.

”Wow, you beat me to the punch. I was going to ask you over the phone” You said.

You and Sam smile at each other.

”I’m sorry... If I ruined the moment” Sam said.

You shake your head.

”No, you didn't ruin anything. Yes, I will go out on a date with you” You said

You and Sam can't stop smiling at each other.

”Do remember that go-kart place we used to go. We had a race and I almost won but you cheated” Sam said.

”I remember winning and it wasn't my fault that you lost,” You said.

”Well, I want a rematch,” Sam said.

”Oh, I will give you the rematch and you will lose again,” You said.

--

You and Sam started to race and did three laps, she won. You wanted a rematch but she didn't want the rematch. You and Sam have dinner at the snack bar.

”Best first date I had in a while,” You said.

”Me too. And no you won't get the rematch” Sam said.

You and Sam laughed. You kissed Sam and she kissed you back.

[supercorpkid]

A weekend without Kara.

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader.

Word count: 3300.

“AHHH!” You yell standing up in one movement, looking at the portal opening in front of you, right in the middle of your living room. “Holy shit.” You put your hand on your chest and watch the Flash coming out of the portal.

“Oh, hi Superkid!” He smiles at you and you give him a thumbs up, after the first scare. “Is Supergirl home?”

“MOMMA! Uncle Barry is here to drag you to another reality so you two can fight some…” You look at him raising an eyebrow.

“World-consuming alien.” He answers and you agree with your head.

“Some nonsense alien.” You yell again and you hear Kara agreeing from her bedroom, saying she’ll be right down.

“How did you know?” Barry asks, looking at you throwing yourself back on the couch.

“Please. Like you would just show up here to say she looks pretty on her dress or something.” He agrees with his head. You’re right.

“Hey, wanna race while she doesn’t come?” Barry smiles and you stand up again.

“Yeah, I’ve been training a lot. I think I can beat you now.” You walk to the front door and open it.

“One time around the block and here is the finish line?” He asks and you shake your head agreeing. You both get in position for the run. “Ready? Go!” Barry becomes a flash in your eyes, and stops next to you a second later. He looks at you standing by the door, furrowing his brows. “Wait! How are you here already? I’m pretty sure I just broke the sound barrier.”

“Well, I told you I could beat you.” You walk back into the house, and Kara appears all dressed as Supergirl.

“Kid, I’ll be gone for a while. Please text your mom to come stay with you.” Kara asks and you agree with your head, but you don’t move. She points at your phone in your pocket. “Now, come on. I want to see you typing.”

“Fine.” You grab the phone and pretend to send an audio message. “Hey guys, I’ll be alone for the weekend! Party at my house! Bring a beer keg!”

“Ha-ha. Very funny.” Kara is unamused while Barry laughs extremely loud next to her. She shoots him a disapproving look.

“Sorry. She’s hilarious.” Barry shrugs defensively and you smile.

You: Momma is going to another reality. World-consuming alien. The Flash. Probably another bunch of weird stuff.

Mom: OK! Do you want to meet me at the hotel, or should I go home?

You: Home, please.

Mom: Ok baby, see you there after work.

You show your texts to Kara, who shakes her head agreeing. Then looks at Barry next to her, giving him a nod.

“Ok.” He fumbles with the portal control, almost dropping it, then presses the button to open it. “Good to see you Superkid! Next time don’t let me race alone!” He winks at you and you smile.

“Guess you are smart.” You do finger guns at him and he goes into the portal. Kara walks towards you and kisses your forehead.

“Please, be good. If you need anything at all, call your aunt Alex. Be nice to your mom. If there’s an emergency and you need to save National City, please be careful.” She adds another kiss to your forehead. “I love you, little one.”

“I love you, mommy. Be careful out there.” You smile and she agrees, before walking into the portal and disappearing right after.

You look around the empty house and the clock on the kitchen wall. You’re not throwing a party, obviously, but what’s stopping you from having your girlfriend over? You text her, and it doesn’t take long until she’s at your door.

You have everything prepared when she arrives, and you both settle in the living room to watch a movie. She has her arms wrapped around you the entire time and you feel happy and bubbly about the whole situation.

“Hey.” She whispers on your jaw, and gives you a sweet kiss there. “I don’t want to ruin the moment, but can we talk about what happened today at school?”

You forage your brain trying to remember what happened, but nothing comes. You look at her with furrowed brows to show your confusion.

“What that girl said to you?” Maya adds when she realizes you have no idea what she is talking about. “Babe, you can’t possibly have forgotten about it.” She opens a little more distance between you two, shaking her head in denial. “She told you to kill yourself.”

“Oh! Ah! Yes!” You stand up, a little uncomfortable, collecting the empty popcorn containers, and soda cans. “That’s just, you know-”

“That’s just heinous it’s what that is.” She stands up again. “How can you not have told her to go fuck herself or something?”

“Oh no, babe. That’s not-” You turn your back to her, so she won’t see your face completely red. “Why would I do that? I can’t drop to her level.”

“Oh my God, are you serious?” Maya’s voice comes a little louder. You know she’s not fighting you, and that she’s not upset with you, but with the situation. Your heart still starts pounding in your chest, either way. “She told you that you should die because you have Luthor in your name. How can you put up with that and not say a word?”

She walks towards you, taking everything you’re holding out of your hands and putting in the nearest surface. She cups your face and smiles at you.

“I get that you’re the nicest person in the universe, but I can’t stomach the way they treat you in that school. And I don’t like that you put your head down for them.” She kisses your cheek lightly. “If you’re not going to fight them, I will.”

“I just don’t think it’s worth it. It’s not like they’ll ever stop.” You shrug, looking into her eyes. She sighs. “Besides, I’m used to it.”

“Babe, that’s even more upsetting.” Maya puts her head on your collarbone. “What do your moms say about it?”

“Oh no. No.” You step a little further away from her, shaking your head. “They can’t know about the things they say. It would be very distressing.”

You hear a noise in the kitchen and you don’t even have to use your x-ray vision to know that Lena is home, making noises so you notice her there.

“Lena is here.” You say, and Maya holds your hand, when you two walk to the kitchen. “Hey mom.”

“Oh hey-” Lena raises her head from the grocery bags. “Girls.”

“Hello, Mrs. Luthor.” Maya answers and turns her face to you. “Walk me out?”

“Yeah.” Lena waves a quick goodbye at Maya, and you take her outside, closing the door for a little goodbye kiss without Lena being able to see it. “I’ll see you Monday.”

“Ok. Please, text goodnight.” Maya adds before turning on her heels and leaving your house.

You go back inside, and look at Lena putting the food she bought on the fridge. You help her, without saying a word.

“Please tell me you’re eating healthy.” Lena asks, knowing the answer by the things on the fridge. You shrug.

“Maybe you should come back home and make me.” You open a smile and she chuckles, holding your chin and looking at you lovingly.

“Funny.” Lena kisses your cheek and you hug her, laying your head on her shoulder. She strokes your back gently, and you sigh.

“I miss you here.”

Lena doesn’t answer. You know she misses you too by the way she’s holding you tight, and by the way her heart is beating. You know she’s hurt with Kara, and you wish there was something you could do about it.

“So.” Lena lets go of you, cleans one tear on her face, and looks at the things she didn’t put away. “You start on the salad, and I’ll start on the chicken.”

“Sounds good.” You two fall into a natural and comfortable silence while cooking together. It’s twice as fast without Kara around, but half as fun.

After you two finish cooking, she puts the food on the table, while you finish setting it up.

“You know I don’t have super hearing.” Lena says, while filling her glass with wine. You sit and wait for her to come closer. “But, when I got home, I heard you and Maya talking, and it sounded like you two were fighting.”

“Oh, no, we weren’t.” You deny with your head, and serve yourself. Lena finally comes back with her wine. She sits, crossing her legs, reclining on the chair and looking at you from the other side of the table.

“I know. I’ve heard.” She says and you look up to her, realizing what that means. “Baby-”

“Mom, I got it, ok? You don’t have to worry about it.” You sigh, putting food on your mouth, and giving her a thumbs up, because it’s delicious. “Let’s not ruin this perfect dinner with this conversation.”

“I’m sorry, babygirl. I think we should ruin dinner.” Lena says and you sigh. “What they do to you it’s not right. No one is supposed to hear the things you do, because of your stupid name. God, sometimes I regret giving it to you in the first place.”

“Mom.”

“No, I-I do. I should’ve known better. It’s too big of a burden to carry, and you are the opposite of what this name stands for.” Lena’s eyes are filled with tears and you bite your lip. “I actually thought people would forget about Lex. But he keeps coming back and dragging our names through the mud, all the time.”

You know she’s mad at Lex for mind controlling you still, so you let her vent. She’s been keeping this feeling bottle up for more than a week now, not having Kara to talk about it.

“And you, the sweetest, nicest person on the planet, keep paying for it.” Her tears fall, and your heart squeezes in your chest. You hate seeing her like that. “I wish you had nothing to do with this sick, rotten family.”

“But then I would have nothing to do with you.” You get up from your chair, rounding the table and going to her. “And you are the best thing in my life.” You smile. “And momma, of course.”

“Baby.” She cups your face with one hand, and smiles through the tears. “You are the best thing in my life. I love you so much.”

“Listen. You are right. I shouldn’t have to endure all the hate speeches, and all the teasing, but kids are stupid. I don’t think that half of them actually hate me because of my name, I think they hate me because it’s fun.” Lena raises her eyebrow at that. “It’s fun to laugh at the school genius, at least that’s what I see in every teen movie.”

Lena gives a little laugh and kisses your cheek.

“You’re amazing. Are you sure you’re just sixteen?” She asks and you shrug.

“You tell me.” You round the table again, going to your place. “You’re the one who made me in a lab.”

The dinner goes smoothly after that. The food is incredible and you know it’s only been a little more than a week, but you missed her food anyway. Lena’s presence feels right, like it always did. And you just wish she could stay more than just the weekend.

You two hang out a lot. It feels stupid when you think it hasn’t been that long since she left home, why were you missing her so much? Why were you missing her telling you to clean up your room, and help her with dinner?

After the conversation she overheard between you and Maya, she became Maya’s number one fan. It’s hilarious, and you didn’t see it coming. But every time you say Maya’s name, she just opens the biggest smile and it’s awesome.

You don’t want this weekend to end.

But it’s Sunday night, and your heart feels heavy even though Lena is still right next to you on the couch, talking about some experience that went wrong in the lab, and that one of the interns got so scared he’ll be blamed for it, he almost puked.

“Poor kid.” Lena adds, in the end, and you agree with your head.

“But you forgave him, right?” You ask and she agrees. “Then why can’t you forgive momma?”

“Baby, that’s not-”

“Mom, I don’t know what happened but, well, you once told me that we’re Luthor-Danvers, and that means that we might get upset, but we know how to recognize our mistakes and apologize.” You raise an eyebrow at her.

“I wish it was that simple.” Lena sighs, and you hug her.

“It could, if you two just stopped overcomplicating stuff and just talked.” Lena doesn’t answer. She kisses your forehead, and falls silent for the rest of the night, looking too lost in her thoughts.

When Kara comes back from another reality is really late at night. You and Lena are comfortable on the couch watching a cooking show, when the portal opens again in the middle of the living room.

“Lena!” Kara looks so surprised as if she didn’t make you text your mom in front of her to make sure Lena would come to keep you company.

“Oh, hi.” Lena stands up, fidgeting her fingers, nervously. You roll your eyes thinking this is very pathetic. Just make-up already! “Well, great! You’re home. I suppose other realities are saved?” Kara shakes her head, agreeing. Eyes looking at Lena’s hands, then focusing back at her eyes. “Then I should get going.”

“NO!” Kara says a little louder than she planned to, reaching out to Lena, but not really touching her arm. Damn, it was so close. “It’s late.” She guesses by looking at the sky. “You should stay. It’s-It’s your house.”

Lena raises an eyebrow, and they stare at each other for a few seconds. Do they even know you’re there or have them forgotten completely about your existence?

“You take the bedroom and I’ll sleep on the couch.” Kara points at it, and sees you sitting there. “Or with the kid.” Oh, so they know you’re there.

“I don’t know…” Lena bites her lips, and you open your eyes at Kara, encouraging her.

“Please. It makes no sense for you to leave. It’s late, and even if it wasn’t-just-yeah-please.” Kara is always so articulate. But still, somehow, that makes Lena agree with her head and she decides to stay. You smile to yourself, and whisper a ‘thank you’ when she sits back on the couch, and Kara goes to take a shower.

When you hear that Kara has finished getting ready, you go to your room, so you can leave them alone to see if they finally talk. They don’t. Seriously, what are you going to do about this?

“Hey.” Kara knocks on your door then puts her head inside. “Will you absolutely hate it if I sleep here tonight?”

“C’mere.” You open your arms, and Kara smiles, walking into your arms, and laying in bed with you. “How were things in the other dimension?”

“Hard. Maybe I’m getting too old for this.” Kara says making you laugh in response, and soon she adds. “Don’t you dare saying I’m 70.”

“But you are.” You say and she sticks her tongue out at you, and flop back on her belly next to you.

“How were things here?”

“Great. It’s really good having mom home.” You watch her expression when you say that. She hums in agreement, but doesn’t say anything. “So, are you going to apologize or what?”

“Why do you assume it was my fault?” Kara furrows her brows, and you ease her crinkle with your thumb.

“I don’t. I have no idea whose fault it is. Or even if it’s a matter of culpability, at all. All I know is that, it doesn’t matter.” You stroke her back gently. “You love her, she loves you. You guys have been through so much, and you have never ever given up on her.”

“I’m not giving up now, either.”

“Well, then do something about it.” You say and Kara breathes deep. You raise your eyebrow at her. “Now! Do something now!”

“Ok, yeah.” She stands up and goes to the door. Before she leaves, she comes back and kisses your forehead. “You’re the best kid in the entire universe. You know that, right?”

“Yeah. Now, go.”

It would be a lot easier if your power had just gotten out of control again, and you could blame your eavesdropping on this, but that's not the case. What is happening is that your heart is so heavy on your chest. You know they keep saying it was not your fault, but if this is true why is your guilt practically consuming you? So, you need to know.

“Hey.” You hear a knock on the door, and Kara’s voice right after.

“Oh, Kara. Do you need to grab something?” Lena’s voice comes a little surprised.

“No, I-Lena, I’m really sorry.” Kara breathes out, like she was holding the apology for days, which is probably true. “Of course, I believe you, and I don’t think there’s a world you would ever hurt her, but I got really scared. I saw the look on her face, and she kept calling me mommy, and I caved.”

So, it was your fault! Holy shit you knew it! Lena’s voice comes an entire minute later, which almost makes you faint in anticipation. Come on Lena, come on. You can do it.

“I’m sorry too.” OH, THANK RAO. “You were right, there were other ways, and she was in pain. But don’t think for a second I wasn’t scared too.”

“I know. I know you were. I know you ARE.” Kara says, and you lower your glasses to see if they’re hugging, and they’re still not. Goddammit Kara, do something! “It doesn’t matter how many times the world gets in danger and our existence is threatened. Every time she is the one in danger, I-It’s-”

“Yeah.” Lena’s face drops and you watch Kara coming closer. Reaching out with one hand. Fingers ghosting over Lena’s arm. Your heart is stuck on your throat the entire time, and it feels like it’s going to explode in anticipation. Go, momma, please.

But Kara doesn’t go to Lena.

It’s Lena who goes to her.

Lena hugs Kara’s waist tight and sobs on her t-shirt. You hear Kara’s heart skipping a beat, and a breath of relief leaving her mouth.

“We’re ok.” Kara kisses the top of Lena’s head, wrapping her arms around her head, pressing her further into her chest. “She’s ok. We-We’ll figure this out, love.”

Lena’s heart beats a lot faster and she looks up, gazing into Kara’s eyes. They don’t have to say the words, so you know what they’re thinking. But they do it anyway.

“I love you, Lena.” Kara smiles, kissing Lena’s head again, and it’s time for Lena’s heart to skip a beat. “Always have, always will. In a hundred lifetimes, in any alternative reality, in every world. I love you.”

“I love you, honey.”

You stop listening, because now it’s way too private and it seems like things are better. And since Kara doesn’t come back to your bedroom, you’re right to assume things are better than they were before. But your heart only truly eases, when Monday comes and Lena comes back home after work. That’s when you can finally breathe.

Notes:

@itzyourgirlnat prompted a week without Kara and I LOVED IT!

Also Kara and Lena are back together, so the angst is over, ooof! What a long ride!

[korra-the-red-lion]

Supergirl and Shipping

I was thinking about this last night and I just couldn’t wrap my head around how Supergirl has been pretty up and down with all the couples and ships of the show. Quite frankly, I don’t think anyone as been spared from poor treatment. Ship Wars in the fandom need to end and we should agree that SG has done us all dirty. I’m a Supercorp shipper, and some of my best friends are Karamels, but we can talk about our ships with fighting about them. We as a fandom need to acknowledge that there are toxic people in the shipping fandom, but not all shippers are toxic. You don’t have to like the ship, just respect that someone else does. Agree to disagree and move on if need be, but don’t fight please. Anyway, let’s take a look. Antis of any of these ships, please don’t interact.

Karaolsen: James was kind of a bland LI, admittedly, but that’s okay. Kara’s crush on him in s1 was really cute and the slow burn was worth the kiss in the end. But then they randomly end the relationship because Kara is “bored” by it. This couple might have actually planned to have been broken up but it’s hard to say. A*drew K*iegsberg interfered with it as soon as possible. This ship had potential to go far, but was never given the chance.

Supercorp: whole relationship is queerbaited by the studio. The chemistry the two actresses have is amazing. Lena and Kara are a good pair, having absolute belief in each other and would go to the ends of the world for each other (much like Olicity and WestAllen) but the studio went out of their way to have Lena do really awful things to Kara, and have Kara in turn do some really awful stuff as well. The show teases s5 is going to be a fight for Lena’s soul but then does everything it can to have Kara not to be involved, which made no sense. The parallels between Clois, WestAllen, and Olicity is ridiculous. Overall this is one of the more popular ships of the show but even then, the treatment of fans has been pretty rough. 

Karamel: Started off pretty cute, but then the show lost sight of itself in season 2 by having a huge focus be on Mon-El and the Daxamite storyline (this is not a roast of him or his character, this a general problem SG has with all its villains). The relationship was pretty rocky but finally settled into a groove (where Mon-El learns to finally respect Kara and her trust him) when the show tossed Mon-El into space. Then they tease the Karamel fandom by having him come back with a “will he, won’t he” storyline that ruined the development that he had into a mature character by having him emotionally cheat on Irma. Both him and Irma deserved better from that season.

Sanvers: Maggie and Alex probably wouldn’t have lasted the whole show, tbh, but the ending sucked. They knew Florina was leaving so they rushed the awful marriage storyline and then had them fight over children, something that was never brought up until that moment. Even when together, there were whole episodes where Maggie was only in it for 30 seconds and there would be no Sanvers scenes in the episode.

AgentReign: This was one of the roughest ones for me. Sam was introduced as a single mom with a child, and the chemistry between Odette and Chyler was through the roof. I don’t know if they planned for them to ever get together but it sure felt that way. Odette was not returning for the next season and they knew that, but instead let the fandom fall in love with the these two hoping they would get together, only to realize that it was never happening. Just a big ouch.

Lames: I think this ship is actually my least favourite of the whole show. Only because of how poorly it started out. James didn’t mind Lena at first, even thinking she was a good person because of Kara’s belief in her. But then the writers had him start mistrusting her and quite frankly never being kind to her unless Kara forced him to play nice. Then out of nowhere the show is like “nah they have the hots for each other” which was completely random. Then when it finally seemed okay they ended it...because reasons.

Dansen: I really love this couple but they got the short end of the stick. S5 ignored them in favour of Lex having infinite amounts of screen time. I wish there was more content, but it’s not from a lack of trying. The show hopefully gives them more screen time in the last season and maybe even ends with having them adopt a child together. They’re very mature and good for one another. They support each other through hardships and I wish we saw more of it in s5.

Brainia: The couple is super cute! I hate how s5 treated them, because it seemed like they made up drama for them to fight over. Nicole and Jesse had amazing chemistry and I’m glad they followed through with it. But hopefully they fix everything in s6, because I’m going to be very disappointed in the show if it doesn’t get resolved properly.

So yeah, looking these ships it's frustrating because they all had/have potential but the show hasn't been the best at actually following through with it's promises. Dansen and Brainia will both probably become canon, but it's sad when you think about the amount that has been spent on one of them while the other went through unnecessary drama.

All in all, being a shipper in the SG fandom sucks, haha.

[the-wlw-cafe]

Jet Lagged (Lena Luthor x Reader)

Request: 53 (”it’s lonely here without you”) and 57 (”is that my shirt?”) with domestic fluffy Lena and reader. R is away somewhere for business and Lena is hit with the missing Reader hours. Lena face times or skypes R and they chat. Lovesick Lena, please. Maybe Reader finally comes back home and cue koala girlfriend Lena.

Fandom: Supergirl

Warning: The insinuation of smut, but nothing actually happens in this story.

Words: 1263

You’re awoken from your slumber by the oh-so-familiar melody of an incoming skype call. You lift your head and rub at your cheeks where you can feel the imprint left behind by your keyboard – you must have dozed off trying to get to the bottom of your insurmountable heap of work related e-mails again. You let out a frankly massive yawn, quickly check the time – it’s 4 am, who calls at 4am?! – and then let your gaze swerve to the notification at the bottom of your screen.

You and Lena have been together for almost two years now, and your heart still hasn’t stopped missing a beat whenever you see her, or even just her name on a little skype notification. You’re still as hopelessly in love as you were on your first date (and, to be honest, at least a year or so before that). Your exhaustion vanishes into thin air immediately as the familiar giddiness takes over. You accept the call.

“Lena, what are you doing up so late?” you start asking, and immediately feel stupid as you see the warm orange light of the sunset filter through her window, bathing your girlfriend in a warm glow. Oh right, time zones. They exist.

“I’m sorry darling, did I wake you?”, she asks, uncharacteristically bashful. You’re taken over by a desire to pull her into your arms and never ever let her go again so intense you actually fear you might start crying any second.

“Well, proven by the waffle-face I’ve got going on”, you joke, gesturing at the imprints you can still feel on the left side of your face, “I was having an impromptu nap on my lapto- hey, is that my shirt you’re wearing?”

You see just a hint of red appear on her cheeks, and you’re pretty sure it has nothing to do with the intense glow of National City dusk. You feel so privileged, getting to see this side of her – not that all of her sides aren’t beautiful, you love strict and sexy boardroom Lena just as much as genius scientist Lena, but this one, cosy evenings Lena, feels special somehow. Private. A side of Lena only you get to see.

“It still smells like you”, she confesses, toying with the buttons. “I just – I missed you so much, I had to see your face. I’ll let you get back to sleep now, I’m sorry for waking you up.”

You see her reach for the touchpad of her laptop, presumably to close the call, so you react quickly.

“No, baby, I missed you too. So much. Let’s stay up a bit longer.”

You see Lena’s hand hover over the touchpad indecisively for one or two seconds, before she retreats it and flashes you a brilliant smile. “But not too long, love.”

You lift your fist and extend a pinkie. “Not too long, pinkie promise.” The resulting giggle you manage to draw out of her instantly becomes your favourite sound in the whole world.

“You’re such a child”, she laughs, shaking her head.

“But you miss me.”

“Terribly. It’s lonely here without you. Kara is trying so hard to cheer me up, but National City just isn’t the same when you’re not here.”

You immediately get what she’s talking about – as excited as you were for the opportunity to work in London for a few weeks, the city quickly lost its appeal after it became clear that Lena wouldn’t be able to accompany you. “Only two more weeks left, baby, and then I’ll come home to you. I can’t wait until I get to kiss you again.”

Her eyes brighten at the thought, a mischievous mirth crossing her features. “I can’t say I haven’t missed that as well, love”, she purrs, her voice dropping an octave deeper in a way that immediately raises your pulse.

“Behave”, you chuckle. “Don’t start anything you’re not prepared to finish.”

“You should really get some sleep”, she says. “Doctor’s orders.”

“You’re not a doctor of medicine.”

“Yet”, she challenges playfully. “No more changing the topic. You look like you’re about to keel over.”

Catching your reflection in the webcam just as you try to stifle a yawn, you have to agree with her.

“Good night, darling. Sweet dreams.” She blows you a kiss. You pretend to catch it in your palm and press it against your heart.

“I love you, baby.”

“I love you too.”

You honestly want to stay up talking to her, like a lovesick teenager on a school night, but your common sense tells you otherwise. Only two more weeks, you remind yourself. I can do this.

You know your girlfriend usually hates surprises, but when given the opportunity to take an earlier plane home and arrive about 5 hours earlier in National City than originally planned, well���let’s just say the decision process wasn’t very long. Despite the jet lag you find it impossible to sit still in the back seat of the uber, so you shift in your seat with all your pent up energy, pointedly ignoring the worried looks the driver shoots you every now and then. You tip him generously as you almost stumble over your feet in your hurry to get back to your girlfriend.

You startle Frank, Lena’s night shift security guard, who’s guilty expression immediately tells you he’s been using the computer for minesweeper again.

“Oh, Miss (Y/L/N), I wasn’t expecting you back until tomorrow!”

“Me neither, Frank, it came as a surprise to all of us.”

“Well, Miss (Y/L/N), I’d bet my last dollar that it’s going to be a very welcome surprise for Miss Luthor”, he winks.

You spend the elevator ride nervously pulling and prodding at your clothes, your efforts of looking halfway presentable for your girlfriend go out the window when you discover the coffee stain under your collar – that’s what you get for trying to enjoy a coffee on the plane. You ring the doorbell.

“Who’s there?” Lena sounds wary. No wonder, you think, nothing good has ever come of unannounced guests after midnight. Well, nothing good except you, you hope.

“Surprise?”, you say, and that’s about as far as you get before the door is flung open and you find yourself wrapped into a full-on koala hug by your girlfriend.

“I take it you’re glad I’m home?”, you giggle and press a kiss against her temple. Lena pulls back just enough to take your face in her hands, caressing it as though she was making sure you were really here. Her smile is wide, genuine, sweet. “You have no idea, darling”, she murmurs, before pulling you into a deep kiss.

You barely manage to maneuver the two of you back into the apartment, it’s hard to make your form coherent thoughts when Lena has one hand in your hair, pulling teasingly, and the other at your hip, pressing you into her. When you finally break apart, you’re both out of breath.

“I can’t believe you’re really here. I’ve waited so long for this”, Lena breathes, her hands moving to unbutton your shirt.

You try to reply, but instead a gigantic yawn forces its way past your lips. “I have the mother of all jet lags”, you admit sheepishly. “Honestly, I just need to get these shoes off and sleep for a week. Now don’t pout”, you say, quickly pressing a kiss to her ruby red lips, “and come cuddle instead.”

You don’t have to tell her twice.

“I missed this more than anything”, you hear her mumble against your collarbone, before blissful sleep finally takes you.

[oreoambitions]

A companion to this piece for @liapetros and @jellybabykid

Lena is still standing over Lex with a smoking gun in her hand when she calls Jess. Her brother's blood is seeping across the floor, and her best friend is a liar, and she doesn't know what else to do. So when  Jess picks up the phone, she says, "Lex is dead. I shot him."

And Jess replies, "Don't worry, Ms. Luthor. I'm on my way."

Lena isn't sure what compels her to add, "Kara Danvers is Supergirl."

There's a long silence on the line. Lena can hear the vague background noise of Jess getting ready to come to her rescue. "I know," Jess says at last. "She didn't tell me; it was the way she looks at you that gave it away."

Lena hangs up . The room feels empty and crowded all at once, and she's just committed a crime, and she's just said goodbye to her brother for the last time, and there's been so much betrayal, and she feels like she can't breathe. She cries and she hates herself for it. She doesn't even know which part of it all she's crying about.

She's barely made it back to her apartment when Alex calls. She looks at the cellphone ringing on the kitchen counter and she considers turning the ringer off - honestly, fuck anyone with the last name 'Danvers' right now - but she thinks better of it. Maybe Kara's been hurt. Maybe she needs help. There is nothing, not even a betrayal like this, that will keep Lena from coming to Kara's aid when it really matters. Not a damn thing. She lets the phone go to voice mail anyway, and she pours the drink she's been too upset to touch down the sink before she calls Alex back.

Alex does need help, but not with Kara. She leads Lena down into the basement of the DEO, deeper than Lena has ever been before, to a medbay Lena has never seen. It makes her wonder what other secrets the DEO might have been keeping all this time. The figure on the bed is so still that Lena might have thought she were dead if it weren't for the rasping sound of her breathing, shallow and fast, and the sickly green light flickering through her veins. Lena looks at Red Daughter and sees Kara and almost cries out in spite of herself. Not Kara, she tells herself. Not Kara, not Kara, not Kara.

"Red Daughter," she says out loud. She still has to swallow down the tears that are threatening an encore but here, trembling in the doorway of a top secret government medical facility, is not the place. And this is not the time.

"She's not getting better," Alex says.

"Kryptonite poisoning?" Not that Lena really needs to ask. She pulls a box from her pocket. A suit meant for Supergirl, but then, Supergirl is Kara is Red Daughter in a way, so what does it matter? As the suit unfolds over Red Daughter's body, Lena thinks to herself that in an odd way she is all that's left of Lex. His Kryptonian pet. His legacy.

"How did this happen?"

"Supergirl was down; Lex had a Kryptonite cannon. Red Daughter threw herself in front of the blast."

Lena thinks of Lex's mocking laughter, of gun metal hot in her hand, of the smell of blood. "She's going to live," she says. It's more of a wish than a declaration, but Alex doesn't need to know that. "She'll need a transfusion."

Alex nods. "I'll get Supergirl. Now?"

"Tomorrow. They both need to rest."

Lena sits in that dark room all night holding Red Daughter's hand while the suit filters kryptonite out of her blood bit by bit. Fast enough to keep her alive. Not fast enough to make her better. Only Supergirl can do that, and it chafes at Lena's pride, but there it is. Lex was right about one thing: humanity is only worth so much in the company of gods. Still, here is one god who would be dead now if it weren't for Lena. That's not nothing.

Alex arrives in the morning looking cowed and leading a stonefaced Jess, who has come bearing food, a change of clothes, and Lena's laptop. She tells Lena that she "took care of it" and Lena nods but doesn't bother to answer the unspoken question on Alex's lips. So that's that. Lex is gone and gone and gone. But it's not important now, because Red Daughter is very much alive, and until she's stable that's all that matters. Jess looks at the vitals on the monitor without comment.

"Will that be all, Ms. Luthor?" she asks.

"Can you clear my schedule for the next few days?"

"It's already done."

Thank the fucking Lord for Jess.

Supergirl appears in the doorway later that same morning, perfectly still for once in her life, tears in her eyes, not quite meeting Lena's gaze. She kneels next to Red Daughter's bed and squeezes her arm and whispers something in Krpytonian which Lena isn't sure Red Daughter can even hear through the helmet, let alone understand, but then again, she isn't sure she can't. Then Supergirl rolls up her sleeve and pulls up a chair.

"How long will this take?"

It takes four hours, and it's awful. Kara shudders as the first of the Krpytonite hits her system and Lena wants to look away and she wants to tell Kara that she knows it's her and she can't do either of those things. She watches that eerie green glow creep through Kara's veins and feels sick. What if this doesn't work? What if they both die by Lena's hand?

Red Daughter stirs an hour in, groans, coughs, calls for Alex. Alex shoots Kara a puzzled look but she takes Red Daughter's other hand anyway. "I'm here," she says, and Red Daughter stills. Half an hour later they have to bring in a bed for Kara when she can't hold herself up in the chair anymore. An hour after that Red Daughter's vitals start to improve.

Kara is in the kryptonite suit for three days. So is Red Daughter. Lena spends every waking moment perched on a chair between their beds, ostensibly working, but mostly crying. They're both unconscious most of the time, so it's not like there's anyone but the DEO's security camera to see her moments of weakness. She prays a lot, but she couldn't say who it is she's praying to. God? Rao? The man in the moon? She prays in silence because she's never sure when Kara is and isn't awake. Red Daughter doesn't wake at all.

On the fourth day, Alex moves Supergirl upstairs.

On the fifth day, Sam calls.

"Everyone is talking about what happened," she says. "I keep thinking that I should have been there to help." And then, "I crushed the handle on the car door today. I wasn't even mad, I was just trying to open it. I told Ruby it was a hit and run but she's not stupid; she's going to figure this out."

Lena listens to Red Daughter's rhythmic breathing and considers telling Sam that there's another Kryptonian in the world. Instead she says, "You're going to be okay. Did you enroll in that meditation class you were talking about?"

On the sixth day, Red Daughter wakes up.

It's the sixth night, really. They've finally taken Red Daughter out of her kryptonite suit and have brought in the sun lamps. Lena, used to sleeping in a dark room, is tossing and turning on Kara's vacated hospital bed but too stubborn to leave. What if something happens in the night? What if Red Daughter gets worse and Lena isn't there to help?

So she's on her feet in an instant when she hears whimpering from across the room, and she's already there to gently push Red Daughter back against the bed when she starts to thrash against the wires and the needles connected to her body. Two blue eyes meet hers, and the struggling stops.

"Can you tell me your name?" Lena asks. She tells herself she's asking because she wants to better understand the mental state of the patient. In truth she just wants to avoid another secret.

"Alex?"

"She went home for the night, but she'll be here to see you in the morning." Probably Alex would be here in half an hour tops if Lena were to call her right now, but Lena doesn't see the point.

"No," Red Daughter says. "Alex. Your brother."

Lena takes a breath to speak, but no words come out. Red Daughter's gaze is flickering back and forth between her eyes, and one hand has found Lena's.

"He's dead," Lena manages at last. And then, because the avoidance of secrets goes both ways, she adds, "I killed him. After his fight with Supergirl."

Surprise, grief, anger, and relief cross Red Daughter's face in succession. All she says is, "Good. And Supergirl?"

"She's okay. She was here a couple of days ago. Gave her blood to save your life."

"Then we are even."

"I suppose you are."

They stare at one another. Lena is suddenly aware of how close she is, one hand still on Red Daughter's shoulder, the other in her grasp, their thighs touching where Lena is perched on the edge of the bed. The sun lamps are too warm for her comfort.

"Can you tell me your name?" Lena asks again.

Another succession of feelings: confusion, grief, anger, sadness. "Alex called me Linda."

"Do you want me to call you something else?"

"I don't have anything else."

The first time Linda tries to walk, she falls down and then sits on the floor crying. When she finally pulls herself together, it's to ask how long she has until she has to leave.

Lena and Alex look at one another and then at Linda.

"What do you mean, leave?" Alex asks.

"If I don't have my powers, I'm worthless to you."

Lena has to get out of the room because otherwise she's going to lose her temper in front of Linda, and Linda will think it's her fault and not Lex's. She paces in the hallway with her hands balled into fists so tight her muscles twitch, and then she puts her head up against the wall and she lets out a long frustrated growl.

"I think we should move her upstairs," she tells Alex. "I think it will be good for her to see people."

When Linda can finally walk on her own again, Alex agrees.

Lena goes back to work. Kara texts once in a while, but Lena doesn't answer often or at length and Supergirl doesn't stop by. Lena wonders whether Kara knows that she knows, or whether she's just picking up on the unspoken tension. She tells Kara that she's just so busy with work that she can't spare the time to hang out, but of course Kara is aware that she's spending every free minute with Linda. Lena justifies it by telling herself that Linda doesn't really have anyone else.

Linda says she misses reading, and so Lena begins to bring her books. A trickle at first, but she goes through them so fast that by the end of the week Lena is bringing her a stack every day. History and romance, biology and social theory. It takes her two days to finish all seven volumes of Harry Potter. She does His Dark Materials in an afternoon. Alex gives her a copy of Bridge to Terabithia; Lena bans her from providing books after that.

Ruby is suspended for shattering another student's rib cage. She swears it was an accident; she doesn't know how it happened. Her school enrolls her in anger management classes, and Ruby says she doesn't need them but she can't say it without getting angry, and so the classes stay. Sam is inconsolable over the phone.

"She doesn't know what's happening to her," she says. "I don't even know what's happening to her."

Lena wants to say, It's the same thing that's happening to you. Instead she says, "Have you considered talking to Supergirl about it?"

Sam says, "I'm sorry Lena, I have to go."

Linda starts attending physical fitness classes in the gym with the DEO recruits. She doesn't speak to them, and they don't speak to her, but Lena hopes it's good for everyone involved. Once in a while Supergirl lingers in the doorway, watching Linda's progress, but she makes the human recruits too nervous to visit with any frequency. When Linda is in the medbay, she doesn't visit at all.

And then one day Lena gets a text message from Alex: Linda left in the middle of class. She seemed upset. Lena walks out in the middle of a meeting and trusts that Jess will make it somehow okay.

She finds Linda leaning against the wall in the medbay bathroom. Her tears have dried, but her eyes are still puffy and red, and she's still wringing her hands. She looks at Lena warily, as though she expects to be in trouble. Lena supposes that if Lex were here, she would be.

"They said I wasn't real," Linda whispers. "I'm just a copy. And it's- It's true, isn't it? I'm nothing. I'm never going to fly again. On the ground, I can’t even keep up."

Lena feels something old and painful inside of her shift. It feels like childhood, and not in a sunshine and butterflies kind of way. It feels like cowering under Lilian's gaze. It feels like Lex throwing her work in the dirt. You'll have to do better than that if you ever want to be a real Luthor.

Lena reaches out a tentative hand to stroke Linda's cheek, and when she doesn't pull away, she brings the second hand up to cup her chin.

"You feel real to me," Lena says.

Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise when Linda kisses her, but it is. She steps into Lena's space and before Lena can register that she should perhaps step away Linda's mouth is on hers and it's... good. Linda tastes like sweat and tears and something Lena can't define. She brushes her tongue over Linda's bottom lip and her breath hitches when Linda moans and slips an arm around her waist.

It's like that cliche: it feels like a puzzle piece slipping into place. Only Lena knows the edges don't quite line up, and the colors aren't right, and she's only going to make more work for herself in the long run if she leaves this piece here, this imperfect fit. She knows it when Linda deepens the kiss and Lena has to keep from gasping Kara's name into her mouth. She knows it, but she doesn't walk away.

Sam agrees to come to National City. "I can't take this anymore. I have to do something."

Lena promises to talk to Supergirl for her, and it's probably the most uncomfortable promise she's ever made. "Next week?"

"The week after; we have a thing with Ruby's school next week. Will that work?"

"I'll make it happen."

Lena opens a blank message to Kara's personal phone and considers asking her right then and there if she would be willing to talk Sam through understanding and controlling her powers. But that would mean admitting that she knows who Kara is, and it would be a petty way to break the ice, and Lena has marks on her neck from last night when Linda discovered that she could make Lena squirm by sucking just so, and all of this is just wrong. She closes the messaging app.

Two days later she falls down the stairs in the DEO. It's these damn heels. A Luthor should be allowed to wear practical shoes. She steps just wrong and falls backwards, has only an instant to acknowledge that she's probably about to break her neck when Linda catches her.

"You have to be careful," Linda admonishes.

Lena laughs. She laughs because Linda was at the bottom of the stairs talking with Alex when she fell. She laughs because there's no way Linda could have gotten to her in time.

"Congratulations," Alex says, patting Linda's shoulder as she walks by. "You've just graduated from medbay."

They agree that even though Linda is recovering her powers, she should stay in the DEO, at least for the time being. The night she moves into her new room she asks if Lena will stay with her. Lena agrees without hesitation. They share a bed for the first time, but they've agreed in advance not to go any further than that. Linda's arms are so gentle around Lena in the night, her fingers absently rubbing circles across Lena's hip, her breath hot on the back of Lena's neck, and the whole thing is driving Lena absolutely mad. She has that wrong-piece feeling when she turns to kiss Linda's mouth.

"Are you ready to fly tomorrow?" she asks, mostly to distract herself from the heat pooling between her legs and from the thought of Kara holding her like this, pressing kisses to her jaw, slipping a thumb under the waistband of her shorts.

"I'm ready if that's what you need me to be," Linda replies.

"I don't need you to be anything," she says.

Linda smiles at her sadly in the half light. "Of course you do," she says. "You need me to be her."

Lena doesn't ask who 'her' is. She doesn't have to.