#how much money is lena leaving under the pillow

[sheltereredturtle]

First tooth 🦷

[anonniemousefics]

Wildfire

Originally posted on Ao3

Fandoms: Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom | Kaz + Inej

Word count: 5,566

****Rating: NSFW (aged-up characters) -- It’s good and smutty.****

This belongs in The Trouble With Wanting series, best read after These Damn Crosswinds.

TW for mentions of PTSD, sexual trauma. And also a cliffhanger, but only kinda. The rest is on Ao3 if you really can’t wait. I’m just slow at migrating this stuff over.

Synopsis: The morning after a difficult first night in Kaz's bed brings a number of surprises, both good and terrible.

Inej Ghafa lived for the moments when she could see something entirely new. It was the sea captain in her, the song of her soul that called to new horizons.

So it was a salve to her aching soul that morning to wake up first, to look across the great expanse of white sheets on Kaz Brekker’s enormous new bed, and see him sleeping peacefully there. She’d never seen this side of him before, looking so boyish, lying on his stomach, one cheek smooshed into the pillow. His dark hair was mussed across his forehead, and he was so still, she resisted the urge to lay a hand on his back muscles to check on him. But she knew better than to startle him with a brush of bare skin in the morning.

Instead, she rolled onto her back, drawing in a deep breath into her heartsick chest while she stared up at the newly-vaulted ceilings of Kaz’s renovated Slat. Her head throbbed as if she was hungover. She wiped a hand over her sandy eyelashes, a first attempt to wipe away the debris of a freshly opened wound.

She’d fallen asleep on top of the blankets, fully clothed, like a crazy woman. She rather wished she hadn’t. The bed was irresistibly comfortable, as evidenced by Kaz’s rare deep slumber, and it was big enough that she had been able to sleep so far from his body warmth that she may as well have slept alone. She wished she hadn’t needed that, too.

She wished a lot of things. This was not how she’d wanted to spend her first night in Kaz’s bed.

No one else would have noticed how excited Kaz was to show her the changes to The Slat, but Inej could see it, no matter how hard he tried to play it cool. She saw it in the way he bit the inside of his lip to hold back his smile, saw the light in his coffee-black eyes, the crooked quirk in his dark eyebrows. Kaz Brekker was happy. Whatever he’d done to The Slat had brought back a little spring in his step.

He had a newspaper slung under one arm as he rattled the skeleton key in the door’s lock. She jabbed at it, raising an eyebrow at him.  

“Is your new spider really this bad?” she joked. “You’re having to buy papers like everyone else on the streets?”

She expected him to snark back, maybe tease her about spying for him again, but, instead, there was an almost imperceptible tension that arose. His jaw tightened. He swallowed a moment.

“Suspected firepox case was reported last night. It’s not right to send a spider out to confirm.” He said it as casually as if he was commenting on the weather, but Inej was already grabbing the paper from under his arm.

There was nothing the Kerch feared more than firepox. Highly contagious disease was the one thing their money couldn’t buy their way out of. And, of all rich Kerch men, Kaz had reason to fear it the most. No one else in Ketterdam knew its horrors like quite like Kaz.

Sure enough, the headlines plastering the Ketterdam Ledger above the fold were all about a single patient being quarantined in the capital’s hospital. Every word attempted to soothe rattled citizens that their mediks had the situation under control. There were no plans to sound the alarms yet.

And this is what she was gazing over when the sketch of a familiar face caught her eye and immediately froze her insides. They had stepped into The Slat, smelling of fresh wood floors and new paint, and somewhere in her, she knew she ought to have been looking it over, letting Kaz guide her through this grand unveiling, but now she was caught. She couldn’t look away from the horrible newsprint in front of her.

“Inej?” Kaz’s voice sounded like it was underwater. The perimeter of her vision grew fuzzy and grey, a tunnel surrounding the words on the page.

The headlines were calling the man the Butcher of the Barrel, and she would have known his face anywhere, even though Tante Heleen had never told her the names of her clients. The girls all grew quiet when he came to call, trying to press themselves into the darkness to avoid his gaze. He liked it when girls cried.

Now that seemed to be the least evil aspect of him.

Inej was looking over the names of the victims and didn’t feel her knees start to give out.

“Inej!” Kaz caught her by the forearms before she went down, holding her to his body. “Inej, what is it?”

She thrust a shaking arm at him, pushing the newspaper back into his hands. Sweat prickled across her forehead as she stepped back, her mind a whirl of suddenly vivid memories. She wrapped her arms around herself while Kaz looked over the headlines.  

“This one?” he asked, holding up the sketch. “This murderer the Stadwatch arrested?”  

Inej could only nod. She could smell the man’s foul scent even now, cheap ale and sausages and kitchen grease. She could feel his rough, thick hands against her bones, the ache of bruises he left behind. His slick, wet tongue in her ear, hissing the name Tante Heleen had given her. “Little Lynx. Are you going to cry, little Lynx?”  

Kaz was folding up the paper, tossing it to his desk. His eyes had darkened, his lips pursed tight.

“I can take care of this.” From the low gravel in his voice, Inej knew he understood. At least half of it.  

“Kaz.” Saints, was that her voice? She sounded like a small girl. “The murders he’s been charged with. The three girls.”

Kaz flicked a hard gaze her direction, already scheming.

“Lena. Nadya. Mayu. I knew them each, before they disappeared. They were all…” Why was her voice failing her so badly?

“The Menagerie,” Kaz said for her, and Inej nodded. Her chest felt tight, and she tried to draw in a breath.

“He picked his victims from The Menagerie, Kaz,” she choked. “I saw him there. He was--” She couldn’t say it. As much as she hated the memories, she hated even more for Kaz to remember what she had done there. Hot tears were coming fast now. “It could have been me. I could have--”

Kaz was rummaging through his desk drawer, dumping ammunition out across his desktop.

“Kaz.” She tried to make her voice sound stronger. “Kaz, stop.”  

“You know this has to be done,” Kaz rasped. He barely glanced up as he loaded his revolver.

She did know. Men like this paid for the best lawyers, bribed judges, negotiated light sentences. Men like this blamed girls, claimed self-defense or accidents or amnesia, any absurdity but their own evil. Men like this deserved to bleed.

“Kaz,” she still chided.  

“Do not ask me to be a better man to this filth,” Kaz snapped, sharply. “I am not, and I won’t. You should be giving me names--”  

“They never gave me their names.” Something new was rising in Inej as her head spun and her face burned. Something furious. And her voice rose. “And even if they did, these are my scores to settle. You have no right to their names. You have no right to rob me of my justice.”  

“They touched you.” Kaz’s face flushed a livid red, the sinew in his neck visible when he yelled. “They touched my--” But he stopped himself, mouth twitching. He planted his clenched fists on his desk as Inej glared at him, daring him to finish. “This is personal,” was all he said when he picked up his gun again.

This man. This infuriating man. One minute she loved him, the next minute she was ready to strangle him. How could he simultaneously be so clever and yet so stupid?

“It is not your score to settle,” Inej said, firmly, and then as he slipped the revolver in his pocket, she grew desperate. “If you leave tonight and deny me this, Kaz Brekker, I will never forgive you.”

Kaz’s glare was flint and steel when he froze, but she kept herself standing tall and firm. Finally, after what felt like ages inside a moment, he huffed a relinquishing sigh.

“What is it you want.” It didn’t come out as a question, and Inej felt raw from the entire exchange.

What did she want? She couldn’t say. Moments that had once felt long forgotten now crawled across her skin and licked at her ear. She felt small and helpless, a feeling she had worked for years to never feel again. She thought of the three girls, of Lena and Nadya and Mayu, and how they had cowered in fear of this butcher just as she had, how small and helpless they had been, too. How that was the last of this world they had known. She wanted to remember them differently. She wanted to rewrite their ending. She wanted moments they would all never have, moments killing this man tonight would never bring.  

And Kaz stood, waiting with his jaw tight, oblivious and belligerent, and Inej felt the tears sting her eyes. It took only a moment for Kaz to become the unfortunate lightning rod for the storm brewing inside of her.

“You have the emotional intelligence of a bearded goat,” she seethed at him, her voice trembling, and she swore in Suli and crawled into bed.

“Why a bearded goat?” Kaz was the first to break the silence of the early morning. The gentle burr of his voice was thick and rumbly from sleep. When Inej looked at him, feeling considerably more tender than the night before, he still hadn’t opened his eyes, his bare arms shoved under his pillow.

“They have dumb faces,” Inej said.

“Because of the beard?” Kaz lifted his dark eyebrows, his sleep-swollen eyes still shut.

“Mhmm.”

“Got it.”

She watched him stretch and roll onto his back, groaning as joints in his bad leg cracked and complained. To his credit, he had not tried to fight further the night before. She wouldn’t have had the energy to anyway. The onslaught of visceral memories from The Menagerie had overwhelmed her completely, and her eyes had leaked silent tears while she waited for sleep’s escape. She’d been vaguely aware that Kaz had lain next to her, but she’d wanted nothing from him. At some point, they had both fallen asleep.

“Thank you for staying,” Inej said, in the light of the dawn. Kaz scrubbed his hands over his face with a deep sigh. He was rolling out his bad ankle in slow, painful circles beneath the white sheets.

“You were right,” he rasped after a moment, looking over the pillows at her and Inej blinked in surprise. The bed was enormous; he suddenly seemed so far away.

“I want that in writing,” Inej said, narrowing her eyes, and Kaz quirked a tired smirk as he rolled over on his side to face her. Inej felt drawn to the warmth in his sleepy, coffee-black eyes, the paradox of the delicate lashes that framed them.

“The thought of what they did to you,” he said, his voice tight, “that anyone could do that to you – I just --” He pushed his hair off his forehead as he scrambled for words. Inej found herself staring at the swell of his bicep. “I know it’s your score to settle. I know it’s your battle to fight. But I hate myself for not seeing you sooner. For not sparing you this. I’ve tried for years to make it right--”

“There is nothing in this for you to make right,” Inej interrupted. “We were kids.” She rolled to her side to face him.

“I was perfectly capable of ripping out throats then,” Kaz countered. “I was too blinded by revenge to see what was happening to you.”

“Is there nothing on this earth you won’t blame yourself for? You are not responsible for their choices, Kaz, nor should you be held responsible for stopping them. You were fifteen--”

“I was old enough to see what you were light and magic and everything good in the world. I was old enough to fall in love with you.” His words caught her breath in her throat. He’d put down his armor before, but never quite like this. “I was old enough to avenge you, too.”

“Kaz…” she breathed, and stretched out a hand across the expanse of bed between them. His expression still weighed heavy as he entwined their fingers, looking over her dark hand in his pale one.

“Do you know what I thought the moment I first saw you?” he asked, venturing a glance in her direction. Inej shook her head as she tucked one arm under her pillow.

“I thought to myself, ‘This girl could have killed me just now,’” Kaz went on, without a trace of jest. “Animals that are caged go one of two ways. They either end up lying in a corner and hiding from everything, or they start to rage and lash out and bite and tear at any hand that gets near them. And I saw that rage in you, and I knew I couldn’t risk you falling to the Dime Lions. I knew I needed you on my side.”

“So, it wasn’t love at first sight, is what you’re telling me.” Inej raised a wary eyebrow.

“I’m telling you that what happened to those girls could never have happened to you,” Kaz said. “I told you that you were dangerous, and I have always meant it. I’m willing to bet the butcher knew it, too. That’s…that’s all I should have said last night.”

Inej ran her thumb over his scarred knuckles, looking over their laced fingers and the weight of memories they both held. There was a time when she would have rushed right out for first blood. But there was something more valuable, she was learning, in the space she took to grieve, to lay down her armor, to share the burden with the one who loved her. And he had proved, yet again, it was not too much to bear.

The time for blood would come. For now, all she wanted was Kaz.

“I sound like someone you shouldn’t have fallen in love with,” she teased.

“Yes, well,” Kaz gave her that irresistible smirk, “I don’t claim to have the soundest judgment in that area.”

“And my house has far too much glass for me to be throwing stones,” Inej said with a wink, toying with his fingers in hers til he grinned.

“Come here and kiss me,” he begged.

“Say ‘please.’” She pressed back a smile.

“Inej, my darling,” Kaz began to edge closer to her, the covers sliding across his bare torso, “treasure of my heart, love of my life,” and he tucked one arm under her pillow, leaning next to her as she smiled up at him, “for gods’ sake, please kiss me already.”

And Inej took his face in her hands and pulled him down to her, a kiss wholly unlike any she’d felt yet. Perhaps it was the words he’d said that gave the kiss its sweetness. Or the sincerity in his dark eyes that give it its fire. Whatever was to blame, Inej found herself turning towards him to match his fervor, her body like a magnet pulled toward his. He ran one hand along her rib cage, and his fingertips brushed against her midriff as her top slid upward. Saints, those lockpick fingers. If the Saints had ever known the tenderness of a thief’s hands, they would never have declared them sinners.

She sighed against his mouth as Kaz ran gentle fingertips up her spine, beneath her shirt. From the crooked smirk she saw on his lips when she pulled back, she could tell he relished how she reacted, the cheeky bastard.

“Have I said I was sorry?” he murmured when their foreheads touched. His sly fingers were drawing lazy circles across her back, and each slow turn released achy tension she’d held inside of her since the moment she saw the butcher’s face in the paper.

“You have not,” she sighed, her eyes slipping closed.

A soft kiss against her forehead. Slow, steady circles across her shoulder blades.

“I am sorry,” he whispered. “Ghezen strike me dead if I ever rob you of your justice.”

“You don’t believe in Ghezen.”

“One of your Saints, then. Pick the baddest, meanest bloke. That one.”

“No.” Inej squirmed a little closer into his warmth, tucking her head into his neck.

“No?” She felt his voice rumble in his chest.

“No,” she repeated. “I like you too much to risk it.”

She could feel the smile on his cheek pressed against her hair, and she breathed in his scent, soap-clean and musky. Here, she was worlds away from the men who’d used her, the people who tried to destroy her. Her story would always contain their faces and their misdeeds. That was inescapable. But here, in Kaz’s hands, her story could take a new turn.

Here, physical intimacy was made of completely new sights, sensations, even scents. Here was her exception. Here it was different. Here she would always be safe.

She knew this deep in her bones, curled against him, his fingertips brushing against the smooth planes of her back. She could have stayed all day there. As it was, she lost track of how much time had passed. She simply closed her eyes and let him hold her.

But then, slowly, she felt his hand slide out of her shirt, linger at her hip for just a moment, before Kaz began to inch out from under her, toward the far-off edge of the bed. He must have thought she’d fallen asleep.

“Don’t go,” she said, reaching for his wrist.

“I have work, love,” and Kaz leaned over to kiss her lips once more. “You can come, too, if you want. Or stay. The bed’s for you as much as it is for me.”

But Inej wasn’t interested in taking no for an answer. They’d wasted their whole first evening in the newly renovated Slat because of some stupid newspaper. All she could see now was the boy who’d loved her for ages, the man she’d been counting down the days to hold again.

“You’re a Barrel boss. Show up when you want.” She tugged playfully at the loose waistband of his sleeping trousers, and added, as if her mouth suddenly had a mind of its own: “Work on me instead.”

Kaz’s dark eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline as she pulled again at his trousers, a teasing smirk on her kiss-swollen lips.

“Fucking hell, Inej,” he swore, but he wasn’t putting up much of a fight. She stifled a chuckle when she pushed herself upright. She took his face in one hand and pulled him down to her again. The unshaven stubble on his jawline was rough against her palm, but his mouth was as soft as her dreams of him at sea. He gave a relinquishing sigh against her lips as she moved her hands to his hair, raking her fingernails against his scalp. She could feel his body giving in, growing as careless as she was about the time, his hands sliding over her hip bones as she pulled him up against her body again.

And, for the first time, she wanted his body over hers, to feel engulfed against his solid muscles, to be his entirely. Her exception. Her haven. She ran her hands over his wide shoulders, down the slopes of his back muscles, and pulled his waist toward hers.

“Leg.” Kaz pulled back with a sharp wince and a grunt, as he tried to shift his body so his bad leg wouldn’t bear his weight.

“Sorry!” Inej was instantly apologetic. “Damn, this makes me the bearded goat now.”

Kaz huffed a strained laugh as he shifted between her legs, bracing himself with his arms over her while he tried to find a comfortable balance. And Inej found herself staring at the corded muscle in his arms, the tattoos on his forearm and bicep, the hard planes down his chest and torso, and she was seized with the need to know if the rest of him could feel as wonderful as his hands against the rest of her.

And while he was still adjusting his weight, she quickly, without much thought at all, crossed her arms in front of her, grabbed the hem of her shirt, and pulled it off over her head. The cotton sheets felt smooth and cool beneath her bare back.

Kaz froze, wide-eyed in surprise. That would never get old.

“Is this all right for your leg?” Inej asked beneath him.

“What?” Kaz looked mesmerized. “I don’t know, maybe, it’s fine.”

And Inej laughed as he eagerly lowered himself onto his elbows, and she thought she heard his breath catch when her breasts pressed against his bare chest. She let her hands explore the smooth skin across the breadth of his back while he buried his face in her neck, kissing her throat, her collarbone, nipping at her earlobe. His breath was warm against her ear, sending shivers dancing down her spine.

When he ran one hand over her rib cage, to softly cup underneath her breast, Inej gripped at his waist with her thighs, desperate only to feel closer to him. No one had ever felt like this against her, but then, she’d never wanted someone so completely. No one had ever taken so much time and care to unlock her secrets, to know what she craved.

“I love you,” she whispered. It leapt from her lips like it had been cut free.

When Kaz pulled back when he’d heard it, his dark hair had fallen in his eyes, his sharp cheekbones flushed. And he kissed her fiercely, cupping her cheek, parting her lips gently with his tongue.

“I love you,” he told her when they each took a breath, and Inej couldn’t help smiling while he kissed her again. “I always have. I always will.”

Inej’s heart was soaring, slamming against her rib cage, as she melted beneath his lips. She nipped at his bottom lip and let him flick his tongue against hers while his hands roamed freely across her body, her breasts, her waist, the underside of her thighs, like he couldn’t get enough, couldn’t decide where to land. And Inej’s breath grew ragged – how many nights at sea had she imagined having his hands on her like this? Desire spread like wildfire through her veins, pooling between her legs as she rolled her hips against his.

At the movement, he shot her a surprised glance, his breath shallow, his swollen lips parted. So, she did it again, a silent reassurance that she was with him, that she wasn’t vanishing. That she wanted. And when he moved to repeat her motion, a little stiff and awkward at first while he delicately tried to keep weight off his bad leg, she felt the hard press of his full erection against her center, rubbing just right against her, and she drew in a breath, welcoming the small rush of pleasure.

She slid her hands down to the hard muscle near the base of his spine, pressing him against her again, grinding up against his hardness so that he groaned in the back of his throat when his lips brushed her neck again.

A year ago, she’d only wished the ghosts of her pasts could be so efficiently exorcised. Now, the haunts of the previous night lived where they belonged – in the past. Now, there was only the man she loved, who loved her, and the all-encompassing longing that overtook her mind, her heart, her body. She wanted every inch of him, anything he could give her.

He was pushing himself up off her body, to put more weight against his hard cock as it rubbed against her folds through her trousers, and she slid her fingers down over his tense abdomen, hungry for more of him. She skimmed over his thin trail of jet-black hair that disappeared beneath the waistband of his trousers, before hooking her thumbs in the fabric and giving a little tug.

A question. A request. A silent plea.

Kaz stopped and looked over her face, panting even as he examined her expression.

“Are you sure?” His brow was furrowed. How many times had new territory only unleashed new demons? She both loved and regretted his careful consideration.

She bit her lip as she nodded. He had stoked the fire in her, and now it raged, desperate, unquenchable. It was worth the risk. And, as if to up the ante and force his hand, she slipped her fingers into her own trousers and began to slide them off.

“Let’s just try.” Her whisper was laced with lust.

“Try,” Kaz echoed. He pushed himself to one side of her as she removed her trousers, lying bare beside him. She watched the rise and fall of his chest as she did, taking in how nervous he was. Hoping she wasn’t pushing them too far.

But then again, they had survived every disappointment, every setback so far. This was who they were. They never stopped fighting.

And this was one battle she had never felt so desperate to fight.

“Is this all right?” she checked. She would always check.

This time, though, Kaz released a tense puff of air.

“You’re asking me?” His brows cinched together in disbelief. “You do remember you called me a bearded goat not even twelve bells ago?”

“And you called me an investment once, and yet, here we are.”

“I did not.”

“You absolutely did.”

“…shit. Inej, you have terrible taste in men.”

“Fine, then, I’ll put my clothes back on.”

“Counter offer,” Kaz interjected, desperately pulling her close to his body once more as she grinned, “I settle the debt. I make it up to you.”

“Interesting.” This ridiculous man. As if he had anything to make up to her. But she did enjoy his games. “I’ll hear your proposal, Brekker.”

Instead, he bent his head to kiss the base of her throat, to brush his lips over her sternum as her gently stroked one of her nipples with a thumb. Her face felt hot as she drew in a breath, and he glanced up with a mischievous smirk as he slowly shifted his body over hers again. And he began to trail slow, methodical kisses down her body: over her breasts, down to her navel, stroking her waist, her hips as he moved down back between her legs.

She found she was holding her breath in anticipation as he ran his long fingers through the spangle of soft curls over her cunt, his dark eyes always watching her, calculating and careful. He bent his head to gently kiss the soft, tender skin on the inside of her thighs, and she propped herself up on her elbows, in fascination. His kisses up her legs were as soft as a bird’s wing, barely there and yet all she could feel.

And then she gasped in spite of herself, her eyes fluttering, as he left a slow, hot kiss against her clit.

“A decent offer?” Kaz rasped, and stroked the inside of her folds with the back of one finger.

“Saints, Kaz,” was all she could breathe, abandoning all pretense of wit. Kaz just chuckled as he pressed his lips back into against her clit.

She sighed, dropping from her elbows, flopping into the pillows, as Kaz wrapped his arms under her hips, his hands at her waist. His tongue worked in slow, gentle strokes up the strip of her folds, and she’d never even dared to hope a man could make her feel so good.

His breath was hot against her cunt as he gently sucked at her soft, wet lips, and it made her fingers twist in the white sheets. Suli curses were brimming on her tongue, and she bit her lip, the swirl of sensation and warmth and desire spiraling up through her body. And fuck, he had learned her quickly. She could sense his attention fixated on her, sense it in the way he changed pace, changed pressure, ever so slightly, every time her breath caught, her body writhed, her voice betrayed her. If this was how he would settle their debts from now on, she’d let him borrow from her every goddamn day.

He was driving her to the brink, and she would fall willingly, hard and fast. Her toes were curling as his mouth moved quickly over her pussy, and he brought one hand from her waist, and just as she was praying his fingers would work her like they had in the bathroom at the Geldrenner, he was pushing in one finger and then two, caressing her ridges while his tongue stroked against her clit.

The curses she’d been holding back where no match for it. Her whole body was taut, barely containing the tension and the flames he fanned. Her back arched; she swore loud enough, she worried people on the streets below would hear. And soon after a wave of intense pleasure exploded from her core, rattling up her spine, sending her whole body quaking beneath his hands.

Her heart raced underneath her palm as she pressed a hand to her chest, trying to catch her breath. She hadn’t realized she’d broken a sweat. When she opened her eyes again, Kaz had worked his way back up beside her on the bed, with a smug look on his face.

“You bastard,” she panted, poking him in the chest.

“Excuse you,” he raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not sorry.” She heaved a deep, satisfied sigh. “If this is how you make up, I’m going to fight you every day.”

And Kaz gave a chuckle, leaning down to kiss her.

“Your turn,” she said when he sat back, and his grin grew wider as he fumbled with the drawstring on his waistband.

But then, the alarm bells began to sound.

The actual fucking alarm bells.

Inej was toying with his trousers, slipping her fingers beneath the fabric over his hip bones, when the peal of bells broke through the dawn air, echoing through the streets of Ketterdam. And she stopped, cocking her head to one side, as she looked up at Kaz.

“Is that--?” she started, but from the way the color drained from his face, she didn’t need to ask more.

Ketterdam had built these bells for one purpose, for the Kerch’s worst nightmare: the plague. The Dregs had used this to their advantage once before, a false epidemic to stage an escape. But this wasn’t fake.

Kaz had leapt from the bed to limp to the window as Inej began hurriedly pulling on her trousers. Now she was recalling the other headlines she’d forgotten from the night before, emblazoned over the top half of the Ketterdam Ledger.

Firepox.

The necrotic infection moved faster and killed quicker than any butcher that lurked these streets. Its body count was higher than any Barrel boss’. Kaz still fought the ghosts of its victims, all these years later.

Inej was pulling her shirt back over her head as Kaz leaned out the open window. Shouting and hurried footsteps over cobblestones echoed up from the streets. Mediks and Stadwatch were cordoning off every block, quarantining everyone in their homes.

“What are you doing?” Kaz had turned back to her as Inej laced up her boots, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I have to get back to my ship,” she replied, “before they seal off the harbor.”

“It’s already too late.” There was something oddly hollow about Kaz’s voice. “The docks are the first thing they’ll close off. No one in, no one out.”

“I have to try,” Inej insisted. “My crew--”

“They will blow you out of the water before they allow a potentially infected ship out of these harbors,” Kaz snapped. “Don’t be a fool.”

“Then I have to make sure my crew is safe.”

“No one is safe, Inej. This isn’t some gang of thugs you can fight off--”

“Spare me your condescension; I know exactly what this is. That’s why I have to hurry.”

The legs of Kaz’s desk chair scraped against the floor as he sat down hard in it, wincing as he stretched out his bad leg. He closed his eyes tight as he gripped at his aching knee. She could only imagine how impossibly heavy this moment weighed on him, but she was a captain and she could not abandon her crew.

“Go.” His voice rasped hard like gravel. “Get as far away from here as you can.”

Inej crossed to him and reached out to hold his face, but he jerked his head away at the last moment.

“I love you,” she repeated, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I will not be gone long. We will pick up where we left off.”

He hadn’t moved when she jumped up on the windowsill. She gave him one quick glance over her shoulder, knowing she would be back in only a few hours, before slipping out over the rooftops.

Read the conclusion here: Stars In The Darkness

[oreoambitions]

Scout’s Honor

You can thank @ripmecuzmemes for the most innocent part of this fic, and for encouraging me to write this instead of sleeping or working on Good Try. This is hands down the most inappropriate thing I’ve ever written.

----

"So," Nia says, her mouth twisting into a sly smile, "When did you first figure out that you were gay?"

Lena isn't sure how exactly Nia convinced the group that it was a good idea to play Truth or Dare at game night. She arrived late, delayed by the inevitable last minute crisis at the office, and missed all of the prerequisite discussion. Discussion which she assumes must have included a stern reminder that no one may request a truth or a dare which might expose anyone else's superhero identity in front of Lena. As if she doesn't already know the identities of everyone in the room. Please.

But it's been a relatively tame evening, and Lena has successfully restrained herself from asking the kind of question she's sure everyone else agreed not to ask before she even walked in the door. She's two and a half glasses deep into an excellent selection of wine, and she's only had to answer one uncomfortably sexual question about her previous relationship with James, and now she's curled up on the couch taking in the warmth and the smell of good food and the sound of familiar voices without really following the conversation. At least she was, until Nia decided to ask Kara about her sexuality.

Kara throws her hands up in exasperation. "I'm not gay, you guys!" She looks at Alex for support, but Alex is looking determinedly anywhere else. James is smirking into his wine glass.

Nia throws a pillow. "Hey! The rules of the game are clear! You're not allowed to lie!"

"It's true though! Scout's honor."

James raises a hand. "I'm pretty sure you can't say that unless you're an actual boy scout."

"Okay, but I never got the chance to be a boy scout because... because I'm not a boy..."

Alex shoots Kara a warning glance, and Lena wonders for the hundredth time how subtle these people really think they're being. Privately this kind of thing makes her blood boil. These are the people she's chosen for her family. They're the best people she's ever known. They still don't trust her with their secrets after all this time, and they won't even do her the courtesy of making a passable effort to keep those secrets properly hidden. But she loves them, and so she sits here in their distrust and tries to be patient.

"You should have been a boy scout though," Nia says, her expression far away. "All that stuff about honor and honesty and helping others is right up your alley."

Lena almost snorts into her wine. She covers it by taking another sip.

"You'd have been really cute in that uniform, too," Alex adds.

Kara rolls her eyes and settles back into her chair. "Sure."

"I don't know," Lena says, and then suddenly everyone is looking at her, and she's realizing that she's spoken out loud, and maybe this third glass of wine wasn't a good idea, but she finishes her thought anyway. "I think that uniform would still look pretty good on you, if you wanted to give it a go."

Lena can picture it in vivid detail. The boy scout shirt open one button too many, the loose red bandanna around Kara's neck, the tight green pants, a pair of scuffed up hiking boots, and a smile that suggests a recreational activity Lena is 100% sure Boy Scouts of America would not approve of. It's perfect. And if Kara's reddening cheeks are any indication, she can picture it too.

Kara clears her throat. "So uh, Lena. Truth or dare?"

"Oh, truth. I don't want to have to get off this couch."

Kara thinks about it. She scrunches up her nose and fixes Lena with such an intense stare that for a moment Lena is genuinely concerned about what might come out of her mouth. And then she asks, "What kind of dumpling do you like best?" and the room fills with laughter.

Lena takes another sip of wine while she pretends to consider the question, even though she already knows perfectly well what the answer is. She does it for the anticipation on Kara's face and for the giggle that Nia is trying to hold in, for James's knowing smile and for Brainy's expression of intense focus.

"Pot stickers," Lena finally answers.

Kara's smile is so bright that for a moment Lena thinks it might rival the sun. She could go so far as to believe that all of National City was lit up for an instant by the joy on Kara's face.

"Pot stickers are my favorite too!"

Which of course Lena already knows. And Kara knows that Lena knows. And James's knowing smile has suddenly deepened, because James knows that Lena's favorite dumpling is actually Polish pierogi, or used to be before she discovered Kara's reaction to pot stickers and decided there was nothing better. Lena suspects she's said too much this evening, given a little too much of herself away, and there will be teasing from James later. It doesn't matter; that smile was worth it.

"Alex," Lena says with a smirk. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Recite your favorite Shakespearean sonnet in your very best Donald Duck voice," Lena commands with a sideways glance at Kara, who is already fighting to keep a straight face.

"Hold on," Alex says, reaching for her phone. "I'm going to need Google for this."

Game night ends early, not so much by design as by happenstance, each member of the group trickling out for one reason or another until it's just Alex, Lena, and Kara lounging in the living room. Lena is just beginning to wonder whether she should find an excuse to leave so that Alex and Kara can have some sister time when Alex looks at her watch and stands up.

"Well," she says, "I have a meeting in the morning. I hate to leave you with the mess..."

Lena shakes her head. "I'll stay and help Kara clean up. You get home safe."

Kara begins to protest almost immediately. "Oh, Lena you don't have to-"

But Alex cuts her off. "It'll be good for you two to talk," Alex says pointedly. She pulls Kara in for an embrace. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Lena's stomach does an uncomfortable flip, and she questions for a moment whether Alex, like James, has picked up on something more than Lena would have liked. It's not that it's strictly speaking a secret that she has feelings for Kara. It's just that Kara has given every indication that she'd rather not return those feelings, regardless of anyone's suspicions about her sexuality or her interest in Lena specifically. It makes Lena feel almost guilty that she can't put her attraction to Kara away in a box the way Kara seems to be able to lock things away that aren't convenient for her.

When Alex is gone, Lena leans casually against the kitchen counter, holding her fourth cup of wine. It's probably a good thing that she's here to help Kara clean up, because even with super powers, this is the kind of mess that is really best tackled as a team. Nia and Kara ostensibly made cookies, but Lena has it on good authority that most of the dough was eaten before it ever made it to the oven, and a good portion of what remained seems to have been plastered on any and every available surface. It's like a cookie tornado passed through Kara's kitchen.

"How did you get flour on the ceiling?" Lena murmurs to herself with a bemused expression.

Kara trots into the kitchen with an armful of plates to deposit into the sink and makes herself busy. Lena indulges herself for a moment just watching her work, watching her serious expression, her deft movements, the ease with which she carries herself when it's just the two of them. And then Lena is rolling up her sleeves and reaching around Kara for the spare sponge.

"Truth or dare," Kara says after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Excuse me?" Lena replies, eyes on a spot of what she thinks might be egg stuck to the side of the fridge.

"You heard me: truth or dare?"

Lena pauses and looks back at Kara, but Kara, busy with the dishes, is not looking at her. Maybe it's the wine talking, but maybe there's something dangerous about continuing this game alone. It's definitely the wine talking when Lena decides to go along with it.

"Truth. Maybe we should just play truths until we're done taking care of this mess."

"That's fair."

Kara is quiet for so long that Lena thinks maybe she's decided to call off the game altogether. Part of her is relieved, but the better part of her is a little disappointed. Maybe Kara wanted her to ask for a dare. She'd pay good money to know what that dare was going to be.

But eventually Kara asks the question. "If you could tell me anything with no consequences, what would it be?"

Lena hesitates. I love you. But those words do come with consequences, and she's not about to utter them over her fourth glass of wine, elbow deep in flour and dish soap, halfway up on Kara's kitchen counter. So she sidesteps it. "I can tell you anything with no consequences, Kara. You're my best friend."

"But you don't. Tell me everything, I mean."

And now Kara is looking at Lena, the water still running in the sink, a rag in one hand, the dishes for the moment forgotten. She wears such a searching expression that Lena holds her breath under the scrutiny. Then she feels rage prickle under her skin, and she turns away.

"That's pretty rich coming from you," she comments. Because her feelings for Kara aren't a secret even if she's never named them out loud. Of course they aren't. She'd never lie about something like that, not outright. Kara can't say the same about the secrets she's keeping from Lena. She can't pretend that she hasn't blatantly, directly lied about her identity as Supergirl to her own advantage. She can't pretend that she hasn't used Supergirl to avoid admitting that sometimes she doesn't trust Lena, that sometimes she doesn't know how to approach her.

Kara turns the faucet off. Lena refuses to look at her, but she can feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up as Kara approaches behind her. For a long moment they stand there, Kara watching Lena, Lena unmoving with her back resolutely turned until Kara wraps her arms around Lena's waist and presses her forehead to the space between Lena's shoulders.

"Alex is right," she says softly. "It would be good for us to talk."

Lena thinks perhaps she has forgotten how to breathe. She reaches down with the hand not holding a sponge to rest her fingertips on Kara's arm. Kara answers without hesitation by weaving her fingers through Lena's and straightening up to pull her closer.

"So tell me," Kara prompts. "What is it you're not saying, Lena Luthor?"

I love you. "I know who you are," Lena whispers.

Kara hums, her nose pressed into Lena's hair. "I thought you might." And then, when Lena doesn't say anything, she adds, "I'm sorry."

It isn't enough. Two words should not be enough. There should be screaming. Lena should throw the wine glass maybe, break a plate, make a scene. But the longer Kara holds her the more tension she feels leaving her body and those two words are so unexpected that Lena almost forgets to be angry. Almost.

"Truth or dare, Kara," she prompts.

"I thought we agreed only truths tonight."

"Okay. Were you ever going to tell me?" Lena's voice cracks on the last word, and she is painfully aware that if they keep talking about this she is going to start crying. In front of Kara. Barefoot in Kara's kitchen, holding Kara's dirty sponge.

Kara sighs. "I don't know. Maybe.... I don't know."

And it's the truth but it isn't the answer Lena wants to hear. She starts to pull away, but Kara, fingers tightening, refuses to allow it.

"How long have you known?" Kara asks.

"I don't know," Lena mocks. She wonders if Kara can hear her heart rate rising. She wonders if Kara will assume it's anger or if she understands what she's doing to Lena, holding her close like this, breath tickling her ear.

Kara tsks. "You're not supposed to lie in truth or dare," she admonishes gently.

Lena lets out a single bitter laugh. "Because you're a paragon of honesty," she says with a roll of the eyes that Kara cannot see but which Lena is hoping comes through in her tone of voice. She feels Kara shift her weight, imagines her biting her bottom lip.

"I was telling the truth today," Kara offers hesitantly. And then, "Even when Nia asked me... that."

Lena doesn't want to talk about this. She gestures with the sponge, hoping that Kara will understand she'd like to get back to her task, but Kara takes it from her and tosses it onto the counter so that she can take that hand for herself too. And Lena tries not to think about how badly she wants this moment to last forever, how comfortable it is to have Kara pressed up against her, arms wrapped around her, fingers laced through Lena's, strong and warm and solid and real. I love you. But Kara has just reminded her that she's not gay for the second time this evening.

"I don't care about-" she starts. It's a lie. The first lie she's uttered all evening, in fact.

"Don't say that," Kara interrupts.

Lena's mouth closes with an audible click. She thinks she can feel Kara's breathing pick up a little.

"I told Nia the truth," Kara repeats. "I'm attracted to men. I loved Mon-El; that was real." And then, with a deep breath, "But I'm also attracted to... someone who is a woman..."

Lena's heart jumps into her throat. "So you're not straight."

"Well, no. But I'm not gay. Bi erasure is a serious issue, Lena. Nia of all people knows how important representation can be."

And then they're laughing together just a little, and Lena is relaxing more deeply into Kara's arms.

"So really you dodged the question," Lena points out. "Which is a kind of lying."

"It isn't lying! I just... didn't tell the whole story. Luthors haven't cornered the market on evasion. I'm just not ready for everyone to know."

Which Lena thinks is fair, because she hasn't told the whole world that she's bi either. It hasn't been necessary, since the two women she dated in college were easily written off as a phase, and she hasn't dared tell anyone anything about her feelings for Kara. Kara, who has let it slip that she's attracted to a woman.

"Who is she?" Lena whispers.

Kara stiffens. This time, she's the one who tries to pull away, and it's Lena's turn to tighten her grip. Not that Kara can't do as she pleases, but she heeds Lena's unspoken request and stays. They're silent for too long, the clock on the wall suddenly deafening as the seconds tick by, Lena's heart racing, Kara's breath a little too fast in her ear.

"It's you," Kara finally says. She doesn't move, but she lets go of Lena's hands and Lena understands it to mean that Kara will let her leave if she wants to. "It was always you."

The clock measures out the seconds while Lena tries to catch her breath. She tries, and she fails, and she considers blaming the wine. She notices when Kara puts a little space between their bodies as she reads her silence the wrong way. I love you. She turns halfway round in Kara's arms to press a too-quick kiss to the corner of her mouth and then she lingers there while Kara's eyes flicker back and forth between her own with that same searching expression she wore when she asked Lena what it was she wasn't saying.

Lena turns the rest of the way around and reaches one hand up to grip the collar of Kara's shirt. The other she slips around the back of Kara's neck, and then she waits, because she's afraid that somehow she's misread this whole thing. Kara's arm tightens around her waist.

"Lena," she murmurs, a warning note in her voice.

And then Lena can't wait any longer. This time she's kissing Kara full on the mouth, and half laughing at Kara's sharp surprised intake of breath, except suddenly Kara is kissing her back and there is nothing to laugh about. There's only the feeling of those lips on hers, too soft for words. Kara is exceptionally gentle, almost too careful as her hand trails up Lena's back and into her hair, as she obeys Lena's insistent tugging on her collar and closes what's left of the gap between them.

Lena is not an impatient women by any means, but this has been too long coming for Kara to be this damn gentle, and so she sweeps her tongue across Kara's lower lip, all but demanding entrance until it's granted. She can taste traces of the wine, sugar from the leftover cookie dough Kara has been scraping out of the bowl all evening, and something more subtle that Lena might have been able to define except that Kara deepens the kiss and all thoughts of anything but that tongue moving across hers are lost in an instant. She's not even quite sure which one of them moans. Kara pushes her back against the counter, her fingers pressing hard into Lena's hip, and catches Lena's bottom lip between her teeth just sharply enough to draw blood.

She scrambles back inhumanly fast. "Rao, I'm sorry, I-" She brings both hands up in front of her as if to ward Lena off.

"Kara it's okay-"

"-I lost control, I should never have-"

"Kara." Lena hooks her fingers through Kara's belt loop and tugs, but she doesn't budge. "Kara, it's okay. It's nothing."

Kara looks away with a hard swallow. "If I can't be with you without hurting you, then I shouldn't be with you at all."

Lena runs her tongue over the broken skin on her lip. It isn't bad, really. She's had worse. If she's being honest, she's imagined Kara doing worse in the privacy of her own home, and in explicit detail. "It's just a little blood. Come back to me." And then when Kara remains motionless, Lena adds, "Maybe I want you to hurt me a little."

Kara turns to study her. She takes a step forward, runs her thumb over Lena's lip, and her eyes darken as Lena takes it into her mouth.

"Are you sure?" Kara whispers. She moves closer still. "Because I can't promise you perfect control. But I want to give you what you want. Whatever it is you want." She pulls Lena's ear lobe gently between her teeth and Lena's hips buck involuntarily against her.

"Yes," Lena gasps. "Yes, I'm sure."

Kara lowers her head to run her tongue over Lena's neck, just below the jaw, and Lena hardly has time to wonder how she knew precisely where to go before Kara bites down. She's vaguely aware that Kara is going to leave a mark, that it's going to be inconvenient on Monday morning, but she doesn't care. Kara is sucking a second bruise onto her neck and Lena is tangling fingers in her hair and giving up on holding in the small sounds that Kara's ministrations are so expertly drawing from her throat. She feels a thigh slide up into her center and grinds down on it as Kara moves to leave a third mark.

Kara's fingers slip under the hem of Lena's shirt, and then she hesitates. Lena is ready to swear on the name of every God she can think of that if Kara pulls away again she is going to lose it, but she doesn't. She nudges Lena's nose with her own and asks again, "Are you sure?"

Lena nods. "I'm sure."

"Okay. And you promise you'll tell me if you want me to stop?"

"I promise." And with a smirk she adds, "Scout's honor."

Also on AO3 for convenience.

[iamthehousethatfloats]

I smushed together Family and Holidays... SCROLDIE WEEK

This is set in my Hearts of Gold universe, and so as per usual it is FLUFF and ANGST galore. Della and Donald are both here, just accept it. It’s Christmas. And Scroldie week.

💖🎄🥂😭

Dickie and Goldie arrived at McDuck Manor on Christmas Eve. Goldie had been hesitant about coming so early, it was a little too close to ‘normal’ for her liking, but Scrooge had pulled out his trump card and she’d stood no chance.

‘When was the last time Dickie woke up on Christmas morning, surrounded by her family?’ Scrooge had asked, knowing exactly what he was doing, the sly bastard. ‘She’ll miss half the fun if you only get here at lunchtime.’

And so, as he knew she would, Goldie caved. Of course, the side benefit to this was that Scrooge got to wake up on Christmas morning with Goldie curled around him, mildly hungover from last night’s egg nog contest. He kissed her awake and she snuggled close to him, and their lazy lovemaking that morning was serenaded by a chorus of laughter and squeals of delight echoing from downstairs.

Goldie hadn’t expected presents. From Scrooge, maybe, he was sentimental like that, and maybe something small from Della and Donald, but she hadn’t anticipated the kids would have a gift for her, all wrapped up under their enormous tree.

She unwrapped the golden grappling hook, with its remarkably unsubtle rope of blue, green, red and pink, and went very quiet. Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby piled on her in a candy fuelled group hug and she pretended to hate it as she tried not to cry.

Lena handed Scrooge and Beakley matching wrapped parcels, uncharacteristically shyly. Each contained a family photo, that Webby had insisted taking months before, and Lena had complained about at the time. There they all were, their strange, complicated little family. Scrooge and Goldie, Dickie and Lena, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Donald, Della, Launchpad and Mrs Beakley. Only Lena had photoshopped Goldie out of the one she gave Beakley, a fact which made both women laugh out loud.

Everyone gave Dickie a present. She could barely move for paper when she was done. A new lens for her camera, paint brushes and art supplies, boxes of hair dye, a new patchwork waistcoat, comic books and candy galore. Her grin was wide and her arms ached from the hugs she couldn’t help but dole out. Goldie watched it all with a soft smile on her face, and Scrooge threaded his fingers through hers and held her close.

-

As the morning went on, the kids few wilder still. All except Dickie. Once the rush of excitement had ebbed, her smile began to falter and she migrated to the sidelines while the younger kids played. Goldie noticed, of course, and when Dickie took a moment to slip out of the room, Goldie squeezed Scrooge’s arm and nodded in her direction, communicating silently before getting up to follow her.

She found her out in the hall, staring up at the framed painting of Scrooge, Donald and Della that hung in the place Goldie knew Dickie remembered another family portrait to be.

‘Dickie? You okay?’ Goldie asked, coming up behind her. The girl jumped, and wiped at her eyes. Goldie’s heart clenched just a little.

‘Oh sure Gigi, I’m fine.’ Dickie replied, her breezy tone sounding anything but. ‘I just got a little... emotional I guess. I never thought I’d see a holiday like this again, with family and everything. It’s just... almost too perfect. I mean I know it’s not... it’s different and that’s weird, but at the same time it’s sort of the same, you know?’

Goldie put her arm around her granddaughter.

‘Kiddo, if you’d told me a year ago that I’d be here in McDuck Manor on Christmas morning with you, and Scrooge and his ten thousand children, I’d have laughed you out of the room. I may not know exactly what you’re feeling right now, but the weird part? I’ve got that down.’

‘You know we don’t have to stay.’ Dickie said, immediately. ‘I don’t want you putting yourself through all this if it’s just for me. If it’s too weird for you we can go, we can just have a nice day, you and me.’

Goldie paused, weighing up the options. She didn’t believe Dickie wanted to leave, not really. She was having a wobble, and that was to be expected, but she was where she belonged, with her family at Christmas, and pretty soon her head would be turned again - but only if they stayed.

‘Oh sweetheart,’ Goldie sighed. ‘As much as I might like to deny it, I want to be here as much as you do. Honestly? Don’t tell your Grandpa, but this is the best Christmas I’ve ever had.’

-

That afternoon, while Mrs Beakley prepared dinner and the other adults took a much needed break from the merriment, Goldie took Dickie and the kids abseiling down the side of the Money Bin. Della joined in while Donald stood at the bottom with his head in his hands, ready to break whatever child’s fall he needed to.

Miraculously, they all survived, and Dickie waited until they made it home to tell Donald about the last time Goldie arranged such an activity.

-

After eating their weight in Christmas dinner, and falling asleep in front of the TV while the credits of Christmas on Bear Mountain rolled, the kids all dragged themselves up to bed.

Dickie woke around 2am, to the sounds of a ruckus from downstairs. Panic struck her at first, but then she recognised her grandmother’s wild laughter and crept out of bed to investigate.

She arrived to find an absolute scene of chaos in the living room.

Scrooge and Della were hunched over the coffee table, going hard at a snap game. Goldie and Beakley were cheering them on, several empty bottles of champagne at their feet.

Donald looked to be the only vaguely responsible adult present, and even he was swaying tipsily.

‘DICKIEEEEE!’ Goldie cried, spotting her suddenly. ‘Get over here, you miraculous miracle child, you!’

Dickie laughed and shuffled over to where her exceptionally drunk grandmother sat, and found herself immediately pulled into a clumsy hug.

‘Granddaughters are the greatest, eh Bentina? That’s what we were just saying. You’re the greatest. You and Webby, the greatest.’

‘Absolutely.’ Mrs Beakley nodded, sloshing her class of champagne over the carpet and paying it no mind. ‘Here’s to being Grandmothers!’

‘Grandmothers of wild, amazing granddaughters!’ Goldie cheered, and the two women clinked glasses. Dickie snorted with laughter and wished she had picked up her phone before coming downstairs. This was the kind of quality blackmail content she could use the whole year round.

‘SNAP!’ Scrooge yelled suddenly, as Della groaned and dropped her head on the table in defeat. ‘HAHA!’

‘You didn’t play fair, Uncle Scrooge,’ Della complained. ‘Half the time you called snap when there weren’t even two cards there!’

‘Poppycock,’ Scrooge dismissed. ‘I see two cards, I get the points. And really it was two against one... because there are two of you right now! Look at that, all those years with no Della’s and now we’ve got two of ye!’

‘Okaaaaaaay, I think it’s time for bed, adults,’ Dickie laughed, reaching out to grab hold of Scrooge before he fell over. He looked mightily surprised to see her, and delighted too. ‘You’re all going to regret this so much in the morning, hangovers last forever when you’re old you know.’

‘The cheek!’ Scrooge sputtered, while Goldie collapsed into giggles at the sight of his indignation. Dickie managed to get her grandparents to their feet and Donald managed the same with his sister. Mrs Beakley waved them away from her spot on the sofa, declaring she would absolutely be fine and would go to bed any minute. Dickie had no doubt whatsoever that she would still be on that couch in the morning.

She managed to get Scrooge and Goldie up the stairs safely, and thought it best to leave them to their own devices from there. After this much alcohol, and at this close proximity to a bedroom, Dickie knew better than to stay within hearing range. She kissed them both goodnight and wished them a Merry Christmas, and left them to it.

-

Back in her bedroom, Dickie settled in her bed and reached under her pillow for her sketch book.

She’d been working on her drawing, she was getting pretty good at it. Goldie had gotten her a tablet for Christmas, despite not knowing what the heck it was, and she couldn’t wait to start turning her scribbling sketches into digital art - she was taking a course next semester.

Until then though, she contented herself with her sketch book. She sat in bed, illuminated by the bright full moon, and flipped through the pages. She’d gotten quite good at Scrooge, and Goldie of course was no hardship. But there was one face it had taken her a while to get right. It scared her at first, how much she found her mother’s face fading in her own memory, but she had finally gotten it right. She lingered on the drawing of Dawson McDuck, her feathery white blonde hair and her crinkle of her eyes, her multitude of beaded necklaces and the tiny dream catcher earrings she always wore.

Dickie hadn’t shown her to her grandparents yet. She wanted to... but she’d wanted to get it exactly right first. Finally, she had. She would show them tomorrow, she thought to herself, and in a way, Dawson would then exist in this world too, if only in mind.

Dickie ran her fingers along the line of her mother’s beak, to where it drew up in the corners with just a hint of a smile.

‘Merry Christmas, Mom,’ Dickie murmured, smiling back. ‘I miss you. I miss you all, so much. But I need you to know that I’m okay. I’m with Grandpa and Gigi, and... I’m okay.’

Dickie laid back down in her bed, the drawing propped up against the wall so she could see it from her pillow.

‘Goodnight Mommy,’ she whispered, as sleep claimed her at last.

[fernwehbookworm]

Woke The F*ck Up- Chapter 9

September 29th, 2017

The week passed miserably slow. Kara had been looking forward to hopping on a plane and visiting her girlfriend. She was lucky that no one but Cat Grant figured out the mystery woman that Lena Luthor was seeing. It was everywhere though. For the first time, since her first album, Lena Luthor had an ongoing love interest. It was confirmed by Lena's Instagram with the photos from Kara's various trips, none actually showing Kara's face but enough to confirm that each was the same person. Kara, on the other hand, was slowly withdrawing from any form of media. She deleted her hardly used Facebook and Twitter then took down most the photos of herself or friends on Instagram. Searching for Kara Danvers mostly just brought up her MMA career and the charity fight she had recently won against Leslie Willis along with the CatCo article.

Friday night became take out Chinese and Winn coming over to hang out. Alex had a date with Maggie and said they were going to the gun range, which of course caused Kara to laugh but her sister couldn't be happier. The two crimefighters settle into the couch, Winn's high tech laptop running a program he invented to alert them of major crimes. Winn was scanning Netflix for something to watch while Kara searched for cash for the delivery person who should be there any minute.

“I got it,” Kara says when she hears the knock at the door. Winn grunts as he keeps his gaze fixated on the screen. Kara unlocks the door and opens it.

“Lena!” There she was, standing in Kara's doorway, in National City, in America.

“Surprise!” Lena smiles at Kara.

“But… how? I mean I thought… I thought you had a thing.”

“I did. Or I thought I did. Jess is sneaky. I didn't even know we were headed here until we touched down at the airport.”

“You have to give her raise,” Kara said, finally over her shock, and pulls Lena in for a kiss.

“Trust me, she is the most well paid personal assistant in the world,” Lena says after the kiss.

“Kara! Hurry up, I'm starving!” Winn calls from the living room.

“Is that Winn?”

“Yeah, we were going to hang out tonight.”

“Oh well, I shouldn't interrupt. You can just call me when you're done.”

“Are you crazy? I see Winn every day.” Kara firmly pulls Lena inside the apartment.

“Change of plans Winn. You're leaving.”

“Wha… Oh, hey Lena. Yup, I'm leaving.”

“Hey, Winn. Sorry to interrupt. What's that?” Lena indicates the laptop and the complicated program running. Green and black lines of code overlaying the city. Random bleeps of light pinging over the screen.

“Nothing, just a program I'm testing out. Okay, I'll see you later.” Winn hurriedly shuts the laptop and stuffs it in his bag.

“Here Winn, get yourself something to eat on the way home.” Kara hands him the cash she got for the delivery.

Winn leaves and the delivery boy is just on the other side. Before Kara can go hunt down more money, Lena is already pulling some out of her wallet. The couple digs into the food, sitting at the table, legs tangled under it and hands touching as they reach for various containers.

“I just can't believe you are here. I mean in National City.”

“Me either. But this is so much better than whatever interview or promotional thing Jess got me out of.”

After eating they cuddle up on the couch. Wrapped in each other. Innocent touches become far less so in the need for each other after several weeks apart. Kara's fingers were moving in Lena right there on the couch, Lena coming undone after weeks of near celibacy. She had tried to masturbate but nothing was working for her besides when she and Kara had spent some time speaking on the phone. Now, with Kara worshiping her body she knew why. Kara had ruined her because now this is what her body craved. The words of affirmation pouring out of Kara's mouth were exactly what Lena needed most.

“Cum for me, beautiful,” Kara whispers and Lena does, because she would buy the moon for Kara if she asked it. They are even still half-dressed as Kara lays on top of Lena on the surprisingly comfortable couch. Lena had only managed to get Kara's shirt off before Kara removed Lena's pants and went to work.

“Bed?” Lena asks.

“Yes, please. I'm exhausted.” Kara says sleepily.

“Well that wasn't what I was thinking but if you don't want to then we can sleep.”

“It's been a long week Lee. Honestly, I just want to hold you because I'm still not sure if this was real.” Lena laughs softly at the awe in Kara’s voice.

“Trust me, that orgasm was very real,” Lena says and Kara laughs too, then stands and helps Lena to her feet.

“Good to know. But I meant you being here. Well, this whole relationship and everything.” Kara pulls her from the couch and to her bed. Kara wraps herself around Lena like a Koala on a tree.

“Trust me. I think it's more surreal for me. I don't even know why I agreed to that first date. I don't date. Ever. But something in your eyes just begged me to say yes.”

“I think it was the great pick up line,” Kara mumbles, sleepily. Lena begins running her fingers through Kara's hair as she pillows her head on Lena’s breasts. They were just so soft.

“That might have been it. Or for once I knew someone wanted me for me. You wanted the messy hair and baggy sweatshirt. Not the professionally styled singer.”

“I think…” Kara yawns, “I think I prefer the sweatshirt.”

“Shhh… go to sleep. We have two whole days.” Kara squeezes Lena tight before letting her body relax, the comfortable weight of her settling on Lena.

**

September 30th, 2017

A ringing intrudes Kara ears and she groggily detaches herself from Lena and the warm bed. She stumbles through the dark and out of her bedroom. Her phone was on the kitchen counter, she peers at the caller and then the time, two a.m. It's Winn so it can only mean one thing.

“What is it?” Kara asks softly.

“Kara, they got James. I was on the phone with him while he was working on something. Then I heard a scuffle and the line went dead. I traced the phones last origin to a place I've been suspecting as a Cadmus base.”

“Shit. I told him… never mind this isn't the time. Send me the location. If he isn't dead I am seriously going to kill him.” Kara quickly grabs her keys and scrawls a note to Lena that James’ needed help with something and leaves it on her pillow. Kara changes into the extra suit stashed in her bike right there in the garage, hoping no one would be around this late. Without incident, she hops on her now red, blue and gold bike and speeds to where Winn is showing her on her phone, connected to the high tech, dash.

The place looks like an abandoned apartment building. Boarded up windows and broken steps. Kara can see lights near the top just barely yellowing the windows. It peeks through cracks in the boards, clearly not wanting to be seen. No guards at the front door, or the back when Kara circles around. Still not risking it, Kara pulls the grappling hook and pulls herself up to the roof. There is only five floors but there is still a roof access door. Holes speckle the roof so Kara tests each step as she slowly makes her way to the door and down to the top floor. She hears voices on the floor below her. They are angry. Then a sound of flesh hitting flesh. Kara tries to quicken her pace but the floor squeaks in the hallway and she freezes. Silence falls below.

“What was that?” One man says.

“How the hell should I know? I'm here with you.” Says a second man.

“Well go look, you idiot.” Says the first.

Kara hears footsteps as the man noisily makes his way to her. She takes the opportunity to duck into the next room. Light shines through the cracks in the floor. Kara is just above the room where she assumes they are holding James. The man is thudding up the steps. Kara lays flat on the ground to peer below her. On the opposite side of the room, James is tied to a chair, face bruised and bloodied. The second man is pacing, waiting for his partner that Kara can hear moving around in the next room as he searches. The floor looks weak enough. Kara waits by the door for the man to enter. In a swift move, Kara punches the man in the stomach and the flips him over hard. The man crashes through the already weak floor and into the center of the room. Debris falls on to the pacing man, knocking him out too.  

Kara jumps through her new entrance and pulls out a small knife. Quickly, she cuts the ropes binding James and catches him with one arm before he collapses.

“Whoa, there big guy.” She says, voice distorted by the modulator.

“There's…” he tries.

“Shhhh… I’m getting you out of here.” Kara touches her Comm.

“I got him. He's not good. Bring the van.”

“There’s... three.”

“What?” Kara asks.

“Three…” James tries again. A gun clicks behind Kara. A man came in from the next room where Kara failed to look.

“Three of us.” He says. Kara throws the knife, it hits the man in the chest, sinking deep, but not before the gun goes off. The impact of the bullet hits Kara's shoulder and throws her against the wall. Her head hits hard.

When she comes to, Kara is staring up at bright lights. In a fog she looks around, she is in the base. Winn watches her anxiously from his chair. Kara reaches a hand up to touch the source of the throbbing on the back of her head, it's pretty tender but no blood. That reminds her of the bullet. She looks down. Winn must have taken off the suit, leaving her in a tank top and pants, dark bruising already forming on her chest.

“Ah, what happened?”

“You saved my life.” James’ deep voice says from behind her. Kara starts and turns around.

“James.” Is all she can say.

His face was black and blue, blood dried below his nose. A split lip made his speech a little heavy. But otherwise, he was standing and okay. Then she spins back around and glares at Winn.

“What the hell is he doing here?!”

“I-I couldn't carry you myself. And he figured it out when I showed up so it seemed kind of pointless. And I couldn't drive your bike but he could and…”

“Enough. We will talk about this later. All of us.” Kara pointedly looks at James.

“What time is it?” Kara asks.

“Almost five. Why?” James asks.

“Because I left my girlfriend asleep in my bed because someone had to go and get themselves kidnapped!” Kara quickly throws on a spare shirt she kept in the base and a leather jacket before grabbing her helmet.

“Wait, Kara, you could have a concussion.” Winn tries to stop her.

“I'm fine. I need to get back before she wakes up.” Kara brushes past her friend and starts the bike. She pushes the button for the garage door and zooms out. Traffic is thankfully light this early on a Saturday morning. She makes it back in ten minutes. Kara strips off the pants which were still the armored red and blue from her suit and throws them under the bed and collapses next to the beautiful raven-haired girl.

“Kara?” She asks sleepily.

“Shhh… I'm here.”

“Where did you go?” Lena wraps her arms around Kara's waist before settling her head on Kara's chest.

“James needed extra eyes for a steak out. He didn't want to go alone. I'm sorry. I'm back.”

“You’re safe?” She asks, peering up at the blonde.

“We ran into some trouble, nothing I couldn't handle. James is kind of rough and I got hit in the shoulder.” Kara says, trying to stick as close to the truth as possible.

“It's too early to talk about this. I’ll scold you for doing dangerous things in the morning.” Kara laughs softly.

“It is morning. It's five.”

“No, morning starts at ten at the earliest.”

“Good, I need some sleep.” Kara kisses Lena's forehead and settles into her. Taking comfort in actually being able to hold her girlfriend.

When they both woke up at a time Lena determined as acceptable for ‘morning’, almost lunch for Kara. Kara made eggs, bacon, toast, and poured orange juice. After Kara settled next to her, Lena finally worked up the courage to scold her.

“I can't believe you left in the middle of the night and basically got in a fight, God knows where.” Kara sighs, knowing this was coming.

“I know. Trust me. I wasn't planning it but James was already there and a little freaked out. Then we got jumped, James got hit pretty badly by one. I took out the other two and we got out of there. This Cadmus story is dangerous and I can't get that through his head. I am so sorry.”

“But you are both okay?”

“I think James’ pride is bruised as much as his face.”

“Just please don't do it again. I don't like the thought of you getting killed.”

“I wouldn't have even been there if it wasn't for James. Maybe this was the wake-up call he needed.” Kara was avoiding a promise and she knew it but Lena seemed to accept the answer.

“Okay, what are we doing today?”

“I was planning on going to the park to paint but we can do whatever you want.”

“That sounds wonderful. I haven't just sat and done nothing for a while.”

“Could I… could I paint you? I've been wanting to but I don't have a good picture and plus nothing's better than the real thing.”

“Will I have to do anything?”

“Just sit there and look beautiful like you usually do.” Lena blushes.

“Okay.”

After cleaning up and dressing, Kara gathers her supplies, including her lightweight folding easel and takes Lena to the park closest to her apartment. It's small but beautiful. Mostly a meadow in between busy streets. Trees line the outside to provide separation from the bustling world. Lena sat against one of those trees as she wrote in her notebook. Songs had just been pouring out of her lately. Mostly thanks to Kara and a much more positive outlook on life. She had promised Sam a new album by the end of the year and had already recorded over half of it.

Kara stood a few feet away. The easel was obscuring part of her but Lena could still the crinkle between her brow and her tongue poking through her teeth in concentration. Lena laughed and then moved her concentration off to the side. She watched people enjoying their own Saturday. Couples strode hand and hand down the walkways. Children kicked balls or played in the fountain that shot streams of water up from the ground at random. It was peaceful. And no one knew she was in the country so she wasn't even worried about cameras. Bless Jess for this trip. Lena leaned back against the tree, eyes closed and let herself relax.

Soon a chill reached into Lena's bones from the shade and late afternoon. She woke to a light breeze and Kara packing up her paints. Kara must have seen her stir and glances up, a smile playing on her lips.

“Hey, sleepyhead. How was your nap?” Lena stretches like a cat and smiles lazily back.

“Good. My neck is a little stiff from sitting up though.”

“I'll give you a massage later, but right now, I'm starving.” Lena laughs at the almost seductive line.

“When aren't you?”

“Right after I finish eating.” Kara straps her bag on her back and then helps Lena to her feet.

The pair wander hand and hand out of the park. Strolling down the sun-baked street in search of food. A small excited squeal makes Lena cringe. Suddenly remembering she didn't put in her contacts or wear her glasses. In a small movement, Kara pulls down her aviators to hide most of her face. Two high school girls appear in front of them.

“Lena Luthor!” One exclaims, definitely not a question.

“Yes, I am,” Lena answers anyway.

“Can we have an autograph? We love your music.”

“I would love to ladies but I don't have anything to write with. Do you?” The girls look down in disappointment. Kara laughs and pulls off her bag halfway to swing it around and pull out a sharpie. She hands it to Lena who raises an eyebrow.

“Hey, a good artist is always prepared.”

“What would you ladies liked signed?” Both girls grin. One pulls out the CatCo magazine cover with Lena on it from her purse. The other just wants her white shirt signed.

“Could we have a picture too?” One is brave enough to ask. Lena bites her lip, Kara can see she is about to refuse.

“She will, only if you guys promise to wait until Monday to post it. We would like to keep our weekend from being ruined by every guy with a camera.” Both girls nod enthusiastically. Kara takes one of the phones and snaps a picture of the three with Lena in the middle.

“Are you two together?” The brave one asks. Kara hands the phone back.

“Yes, we are.”

“Who are you?”

“No one important. I just got lucky and met this woman by accident.”

“You know I am the lucky one.” Lena chimes in.

“You’re right. I am pretty great.” Kara smiles towards Lena. The two girls look on in awe at witnessing this entirely human interaction with one of their idols. Kara pulls Lena in with one arm and places a kiss on her temple as Lena squeezes her eyes shut with a laugh. Neither sees the brave girl snap a picture.

“All right ladies, my girlfriend promised me food so have a good day. But remember, you promised not to share that until Monday. I don't get any time with her and I would really appreciate if we didn't have to hide away for the weekend.” Kara says and both girls agree enthusiastically again before watching the Rockstar and her girlfriend stroll hand and hand through National City.

And the girls kept their promise. Monday morning Kara and Lena almost broke the internet. It took some searching to find the original post on Instagram. Found @LLuthor on the street in National City. We promised her beautiful girlfriend we wouldn't share this until today though. (Yes, she used the word girlfriend but no, she didn't say who she was.) The first two pictures are of the magazine and shirt, then the girls with Lena. The third is the one Kara didn't see taken. Kara's arm around Lena's shoulders, lips pressed against her temple and Lena's eyes closed tightly with a huge smile. Kara's face is sideways and half-covered by her sunglasses.

Comments underneath are mostly positive as people still try to figure out who the mystery woman is. Some are negative, some are hateful. The last picture has been reposted countless times and edited and shared. Kara is scrolling through the #LovinLenaLuthor hashtag in her bed when a call from Lena pops up.

“Were you aware that we are trending? Hashtag Lovin’ Lena Luthor.” Lena laughs at Kara.

“Yes, Jess made me aware of the fact when I got out of the studio. That's why I called, to make sure you were okay.”

“I'm fine Lee. It actually amazes me that no one figured it out yet. I guess our fan bases don't really cross and I've been out for so long that most of mine have disappeared.”

“At least they kept their promise.”

“At least. But Cat called again. She is persistent.”

“Well, if you want, when I'm done with this tour, we can do an interview with her just to appease the media goddess.”

“Are you sure?”

“Only if you want it. ”

“Okay, I'll call her back and tell her so she might just leave me alone. Besides, someone has to figure it out soon. Cat already knows, not that I've confirmed it, but she knows me pretty well at this point. Anyway, you were in the studio again. Does that mean a new album is coming?”

“Yes, I think we are releasing in January. No definite date though, just after the tour. We might announce it at the last stop.”

“Do I get to hear any of it?” Lena laughs.

“Nope, I want it to be a surprise. Don't do that. I can hear your pout. Good thing it doesn't work through the phone.” Kara sighs, Lena knew her too well.

“We will see how well it works when I can come see you again.”

“Consider me warned. I'll have Jess find some time for that and let you know.” Kara's phone dings with a text form Winn.

“Shit, I-Im late. Sorry Lena, I have to go.”

“How are you always late for everything?” She asks

“Because I stop and talk to you whenever you call.”

“Oh, so it's my fault.”

“Basically. Bye Lee.”

Winn wanted Kara to come into the ‘SuperCave’ as he had been calling it. She had avoided Winn and James all weekend, thankfully she was not needed to stop anything. Now, Kara knew, that Winn knew, that Lena was had left late yesterday and was calling her in so they could talk. Kara resigned herself to the inevitable argument about to happen and hoped in her bike.

In the Cave, James already stood with Winn at the central table that also doubled as a computer. Kara still had no idea how Winn got all this equipment but she didn't ask. New things just kept appearing. James looks serious and Winn looks scared and a little excited. Slowly, Kara takes off her helmet and sets it on the seat before walking up to the two of them. She crosses her arms and legs and half sits, half leans on a table. She decided that she was going to gauge James’ reaction before saying anything.

Silence expands in the room. James glares and Kara meets his eyes. Winn looks between the two, noticeably getting more uncomfortable.

“So…” Winn starts.

“I just can't believe you. This is so dangerous. And stupid. And Illegal. What if you get caught?” James explodes. Kara waits to make sure her voice is steady before speaking.

“I need to do this James. I need to help. I won't have the same argument with you that I did with Alex. Winn and I have been doing this for months now and the police have no real interest in stopping us.”

“Alex knows?” He asks, a little taken aback by that.

“Yes, since August. When that picture you took was in the paper. Thanks for that, by the way.” Kara says sarcastically.

“If I would have known, I wouldn't have published the picture. Why didn't you tell me?”

“The more people that know, the more likely it is that it will get out. Only you, Alex and Winn know now.”

“All that talk about my article being dangerous. That I shouldn't chase down Cadmus alone. That was just hypocritical.”

“Look what happened just two days ago! I had to save your ass because you had to go and get yourself kidnapped and beaten and almost killed. It is dangerous. If Winn hadn't had known, you could be dead. And what if I was out of the country like I had been planning to be? What then James?” Kara exclaimed.

That shuts him up. His jaw works to make words but nothing comes out. He snaps it shut. Then an odd light appears in his eyes.

“Then train me.”

“I do.”

“No. Train me to help you. This is my city too and I am tired of not doing anything. I can't find any evidence substantial enough for my article. I want to help bring Cadmus down.” Kara is about to explode. She feels the anger bubbling up in her chest and is doing her best to contain it.

“James I have been training my whole life. I've been fighting and taking gymnastics lessons. You haven't been. You have been learning basics to keep you from getting mugged again.”

“Then train me. I want this Kara. If you don't I'll continue to try and do something on my own. Is that what you want?”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No. I'm telling you that I am doing this no matter what, whether at CatCo or with you. You can decide.”

Kara stares at the man determined to push her to the edge. Winn watched the whole argument like a tennis match, head whipping from side to side as he stood between the pair.

“Fine. Tomorrow night at eight. I need to get some equipment in here first. There is no way we are doing this at the gym.” Kara walks back to her bike and picks up the helmet.

“You will do everything I tell you to. There is no room for error. Until you prove yourself to me, you will not question what I tell you to do. Understood?” James nods, taken aback by Kara's sudden serious demeanor. Kara puts on her helmet and her bike roars to life. Winn had programmed it to start with her fingerprints on the handle.

Once home, Kara got a glass of water and opened the balcony doors of her apartment to clear her head. When the tension of the argument had subsided she set up her easel and paints to start a new canvas. She had been wanting to paint for a while but whenever she wasn't with Winn she had been teaching self-defense in the schools that had resumed classes or flying to and from Lena. Last week she had told the gym that she was quitting her freelance lessons completely. Winn had begun investing her dwindling savings in the stock market in what he said were safe stocks. Not much gain but would be steady. That was her only form of income now. She needed to sell a piece of art or she would have to find a real job. Alex had called and Kara put her on speakerphone while she continued to paint.

“He wants to do what ?” She asks at the news of James.

“He wants to be a vigilante too. He says it's either with me or by himself.”

“The gentle giant that couldn't even save himself from a mugging in Metropolis or from being kidnapped and endangering you? ” Kara sighs and cleans off her brush to select another color.

“Yes. So now I have to or else he might get himself killed. Or worse, some innocent bystander.”

“ Great, Maggie is going to be in a worse mood if there are two vigilantes for the Chief to ride her about. ”

“How is Maggie? You haven't brought her around much.”

“Because I don't need her figuring out who you are. But good, she likes you, I mean Power Girl, so she is trying to keep the police off your back.”

“I'd say tell her thanks for me but that may ruin the whole secret identity thing.”

“Definitely. I hate lying to her though. About how you and Winn disappear sometimes. She thought you two were a thing for a while, which confused her because of Lena.” Kara snorts in sudden laughter.

“That's funny. But I guess if you didn't know us and we always disappeared together it would make sense.”

“Exactly.” Kara sets down her brush, satisfied after a few hours of work, she peers at the clock as she notices the dying sun. Seven-thirty. Okay, eight hours of work.

A strong knock sounds on the door. Any of her friends should walk in. Curious Kara grabs her phone and walks over.

“Hold on Alex, someone just knocked. Oh, Cat.”

“Hello, Kara.”

“I've got to go Alex. I'll call you later.” Kara hangs up before Alex can respond.

“Hi, Miss Grant. I meant to call you but time kind of got away from me today.”

“May I come in?” She asks but brushes past anyway.

“Sure, make yourself at home,” Kara says, more to herself.

“Oh,” she hears Cat say. She stopped next to the kitchen island, taking in Kara's painting as the setting sun hit it.

A hooded red and blue figure stands crouched looking over the city at night on the edge of a roof. The image is blurred as you look onto the figure from behind its left shoulder but you can see lights from windows. It's almost like looking through a water streaked window. Kara was quite proud of how the effect turned out. It may seem a little narcissistic to paint herself, but Power Girl was taking up a lot of her thoughts recently.

“You can paint.” Cat states.

“I think in one of our interviews you asked what I did for fun and I told you I painted.”

“Yes, but there is painting and then there is painting. ” Cat emphasizes the word while gesturing towards the canvas.

“This is very well done. And it would be perfect for next month's cover. How much?” Cat asks, startling Kara.

“What? You want to buy it? I've never… I mean, wow. I have no idea. I just finished it, can I think about it?” Kara stammers out.

“Yes, yes. Now the reason I am here is because you promised me an exclusive if and when you had a girlfriend and the latest picture proves that much, where is the singer anyway?” Kara sighs, she should have just called Cat this morning after she hung up with Lena.

“Europe. We just talked about it this morning. When Lena is done with her tour you can have your exclusive. We didn't know that girl took the picture of us together so we didn't know that someone actually got a clear picture of me until she posted it but don't worry, we won't talk to anyone else about it until we talk to you. Okay?”

“Very well. Now, call my secretary with a starting offer and we can talk percentage also for the artwork. I am going to go pick up my son from soccer practice.” Cat swooped out of Kara's apartment as quickly as she appeared. Kara dialed Alex again to try and process what just happened.

**

October 3rd, 2017

By the next morning, people had found Kara Danvers. Even though she had no pictures of Lena and herself on Instagram, her followers skyrocketed. Kara had negotiated an initial purchase of her artwork and a small percentage of sales with Cat. Cat didn't fight too hard, knowing the sales for the cover would be better than projected thanks to Kara's renewed popularity and the fact that National Cities hero would be on it.

Kara called Lena and told her the good news. Lena was impressed and made Kara video call so she could see it. The video call turned into something much less innocent very quickly. Lena whispering horse instructions to Kara, watching her cum before making herself do the same. The first time they did this, it made Kara feel very awkward. She hadn’t even watched porn to be able to know how to put on a little show for Lena, but the more these calls happened, the more comfortable Kara became. Kara lay naked in her bed, talking to Lena before she fell asleep. Then Kara got dress and met Winn at the SuperCave to begin acquiring the equipment she needed. It scared Kara at how Winn was able to get money when needed and also have the equipment delivered in a few hours. The cover story was a gym being built but in a few days the permit would be denied and no one would suspect the building was still housing vigilantes.

By the time James arrived, the place was totally transformed. It wasn't just tech and Kara's small arsenal of gadgets, now there was free weights, a boxing dummy, sparring mats, a small climbing wall, and various sparring weapons. James whistled as he came in through the normal door by the garage door. Since it closed down off the street the Super Cave was actually underground. Kara and Winn couldn't decide what to do with the three floors still above them.

“So, where do we start?” He asks.

“First Winn is going to measure you for a suit. Not that I'm letting you out quite yet, but he needs time to make something for you.” Kara says as she moves about, settling equipment where she wants it in the space.

“Then I'm going to actually teach you how to fight.”

It may have been a little harsh, but Kara barely held back on James. She thought maybe this would scare him off. He was bruised all over with a bloody nose by the time she finished. But he didn't complain. He took the hits and kept trying. By the time Kara called it to an end, he did manage to land a punch.

“Kara, we are getting a call from Detective Sawyer,” Winn says from the command table. Kara motions for him to put her through on the computer.

“Detective,” Kara says through the modulator.

“Power Girl. I have evidence that Cadmus is moving a stash of merchandise tonight. My captain won't look into it but my CI is sure that it is happening.”

“Your captain seems to not be looking into Cadmus more and more often.” Kara states.

“I know. Something's wrong. He used to take my tips seriously but lately, he turns his head. I fear the worst.”

“What's the time and location.” Winn feeds the information that Maggie gives them into his computer before Kara ends the call.

“Was that Maggie?” James asks.

“Yeah, she has an encrypted line. And before you ask, no she doesn't know who I am. Alex has been keeping her away from us for just that reason.”

“And Alex is okay lying to her girlfriend about this?”

“Alex is FBI. Maggie is a Detective. They already have secrets. Alex hasn’t brought up telling her and I don’t think she will because it is illegal and she won’t want to put Maggie in that situation.”

“What about your girlfriend?” James asks.

“I haven't told her. And I am not sure if I will. She was already pissed when I told her I went on a stakeout with you and we were jumped. I don’t need her worrying a world away also. Maybe when this whole Cadmus thing is over or she is back in the same country at least.” Kara begins looking up the schematics for the warehouse Winn has pulled up. It looks simple enough. Winn is sitting at his chair trying to figure out what could be the merchandise.

“Do you not trust her with this?” James asks, annoying Kara.

“That is not it at all. We are not having this conversation. Go shower and go home, we are done for tonight.”

“But what about-”

“Go home, James. You are nowhere near ready for this and I am not having you rush in and get killed.” James looks pissed but makes his way to the bathroom to shower before leaving. Kara and Winn return to work.

**

October 20th, 2017

Kara was still no closer to finding out who was organizing Cadmus. Now though, they were upping the drug game with a new version of Vertigo. It ran rampied through Starling city two years ago with horrible side effects. Cadmus had taken the time to engineer a new version that led to less death and more addiction. Now Kara felt like she was trying to shovel water from a sinking boat using a net. Nearly every dealer walked out of the police stations hours after being brought in. The frustration was spreading from Kara and Maggie, to Winn, James, and Alex. James was taking much abuse from Kara during training but was improving rapidly.

“If we are going to get anywhere, we need to clean up the police department.” Says James while they examine the screen in front of them. Trying to figure out where the problems lie.

“James, could you do some digging into their personal lives? Find out if their families are being threatened or if they actually are just with Cadmus. Winn, can you do the same with their financials?”

“Yeah of course,” Winn says.

“Wait, you are actually letting me do something?”

“As a reporter and photographer yes. As a vigilante, no.”

“Ah, Kara,”

“What Winn?”

“Weren't you supposed to be taking off right now?

“Shit.” Kara was supposed to be on a plane. Not standing in her secret lair discussing corruption in the city. She checks her watch, the plane took off three minutes ago. Kara walks away from the others to call the pretty girl who was no doubt already getting ready to pick her up from the airport in a few hours.

“Kara? What's wrong? Shouldn't your phone be off?”

“Lena I'm so sorry. I missed my flight. I was… helping James with this story and totally lost track of time.”

“Oh…”

“I am so sorry Lee. I really wanted to see you. I screwed up.”

“I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed but I get it. I mean this is hard and you have your own life. You flying to me every other weekend is a lot of travel and takes away from your job and your friends there.”

“Which is all true, but I would much rather be with you right now.” Kara sits on a stack of mats that she and James put down for sparring.

“I would rather you be here too. But you aren’t so just enjoy your weekend with friends. I’ll take the time to record some stuff I’ve been meaning to but keep getting distracted by a beautiful blonde that show up whenever I have free time.” Lena teases with a laugh.

“Okay, I’ll call you later. I miss you.”

“I miss you too.” A beat of silence and then the phone disconnects.

Kara wishes she was spending the weekend relaxing with friends. Instead, she ends up spending it trying to clean up the police force. The FBI even gets involved, aka Alex, to assist in arresting the truly corrupt cops and chief of police. Kara and Winn manage to spare those doing shady things to protect loved ones from the threats of violence thanks to James’ investigating. Cadmus gets desperate after that, actually breaking into National City Jail to rescue their operatives and releasing many others.

The weekend blurred into another week. Kara hardly even returned to her apartment. She was stuck between training James, busting drug dealers, and searching for Cadmus hideouts. One, she and Winn managed to arrive before the gang cleared out, rounding up six members and turning over a small cache of serious weapons to the newly cleaned up police department.

Kara winced and groaned checking her bank account while Winn watched the program he created to monitor police reports and watch to make sure each Cadmus member was actually processed.

“What's wrong Power Girl?” Winn asks with a laugh and teasing smirk.

“This time next week I will have no money. At least until I start receiving a commission from CatCo”

“Not technically true.”

Kara shoves her phone screen in front of Winn to show him the dwindling amount in her checking and savings accounts.

“Winn, yes it is.”

“No, not what I meant. I mean remember that money you gave me to invest? Well, I have been. And well…” Winn quickly flicks through a few screens on the computer and shows Kara her investment portfolio. Kara gasps at the six, nearly seven digits in the tally.

“I...Winn...What… How…”

“Just a few smart investments, some research, maybe a little hacking, some shell corporations so not all of it is traced back to you. Apparently, I am weirdly good at making money in the stock market. So this means you are paying for dinner right?”

“Actually I have a better idea.” Kara laughs at Winn’s pout.

“Yes, I will pay for dinner. I still have a better idea.”

[jedifighterpilot2727]

Kara, Lena, and Lexi losing her first tooth??

So I wrote this to distract me from the angst fest that I’m working on! Hope y’all enjoy the fluff while it lasts!

The Tooth Fairy 

“I can’t do it.”

Lena finally concedes and all but collapses back into her chair, the pouting face in front of her making her feel a wave of guilt.

“What do you mean you can’t do it?” Kara asks from behind her. “I certainly can’t do it! You have to do it!”

“Yeah, Mama! You have to!” Lexi pleads, and Lena almost caves.

“Why can’t you do it again?” She quizzes her wife.

“I just don’t think super strength and pulling teeth is a good combination! What if I pull too hard? Or pull the wrong one? Trust me, it’s better if you do it.”

Lena narrows her eyes, trying to decide if Kara has genuine concerns or if she just doesn’t want to do it.

Seeing no hint of trickery, she sighs.

“What if we get Alex to do it? She’s practically a doctor, she deals with this kind of stuff all the time!”

“She’s used to combat medicine, she’ll probably tie a string to the tooth and the other end to a door and slam it to yank it out or something.”

Lexi’s face goes white.

“Okay, okay.” Lena is quick to interject, “No Alex, I’ll pull it.” She rolls her shoulders, before breathing out a tight breath. “Let’s see if we can’t get this tooth out.”

“Yay!” Lexi jumps up and down, grinning, her front tooth wiggling so much that Lena is afraid (or secretly hoping), that it will fall out on it’s own.

Carefully, she repositions the damp washcloth in her hand and reaches for the tooth, only to have Lexi’s tongue dart out, the tooth twisting sideways, barely hanging on.

Lena jumps back, nausea rolling in her stomach.

Teeth are not supposed to do … that.

Lexi and Kara giggle at Lena’s discomfort and she glares at them.

“Alright, do you want to do this yourself?” She offers the washcloth to Lexi and the little girl shakes her head furiously.

“No, Mama, I’ll be good!”

Lena narrows her eyes.

“By the name of the noble house of El.” Lexi promises in Kryptonian and Lena turns to Kara who’s trying not to laugh.

“Did you teach her that?”

“No, must have been Mother’s AI.”

She looks back to Lexi and the little girl gives her a toothy grin - all of them facing the right direction this time.

“Well heir to the noble house of El, let’s get this tooth pulled.” She reaches up again, washcloth covered fingers wrapping around the offending dentition. Steeling herself, Lena gives a soft tug and feels a pop. Her eyes widen comically, and she can see the expression mirrored on Lexi face as she pulls the towel away.

Excited hands tug at hers, pulling them down to six year old level as their two heads lean over examining the spoils. She expected there to be a lot more blood, but in reality the tooth was barely hanging on and blood loss is minimum.

“Whoa!” Lexi breathes out. “Is that my tooth?!”

Lena can’t help but grin at the slight slur that comes from a missing tooth.

“That’s your tooth!”

“Do I look different?” Lexi grins again, glasses slipping down her nose as she showcases the gap in her incisors.

“You look like a third grader!” Kara beams.

“But I’m only in second grade!”

“I know, but that’s what losing a tooth does for you little one!”

“Whoa!” Lexi looks stunned. “Can I have my tooth? I need to go call Aunt Alex!”

Lena holds out tooth after wiping off a smidge of blood.

“Here you go! Don’t forget to put it under your pillow so the tooth fairy can leave you money!”

Lexi frowns.

“Can you just give me the money now? I know the tooth fairy isn’t real!”

“What?!” Kara sounds shocked. “What do you mean, ‘the tooth fairy isn’t real?’”

“Uncle Winn told me the truth! I lose a tooth and you guys put money under my pillow.”

“Uncle Winn, huh?” Lena raises an eyebrow, already plotting on how to get Winn back for this one.

“That’s what he said!”

“Well …” Kara hedges. “If you put it under your pillow, you get ten bucks, if you take the money now, you just get five.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Consider it interest on your tooth investment.” Lena explains.

Lexi thinks about it.

“That’s a hundred percent interest for just twelve hours!”

“I know, it’s a great deal, you should take it.”

“Okay, I’ll put it under my pillow so you can pretend to be a fairy.” Lena feels Kara start to protest beside her but Lexi continues. “Can I go call Aunt Alex now?”

“Sure, just don’t pick at where your tooth was too much, you don’t want it to bleed.”

“I won’t. Thanks Mama for pulling my tooth! Thanks Yeyu for helping talk her into it!” Lexi grins again before pressing a kiss to each of their cheeks and running off to her bedroom.

“Well, I know one thing.” Kara says once Lexi has disappeared.

“What’s that?”

“I am going to throw one Wislow Schott into space.”

Lena can’t help but laugh at her wife’s serious tone, and she moves to toss the rag into the laundry before responding.

“I’m not sure that’s necessary, darling. He just told her about the tooth fairy. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if she would believe it anyway.”

“I bought glitter, Lee! I was going to do a whole thing!” Kara pouts, and Lena stands on her tiptoes to press a kiss to the crinkle in her forehead.

“Aww, I’m sure she’ll appreciate the glitter!”

“You think?”

“She’s still a six year old.”

“Can I use freeze breath on Winn’s computer?”

“Mmm, only if I can hack it so that when he finally gets it unfrozen he gets continually rick-rolled?”

“Deal!”

[zzizzigom]

Moonflowers — Hyungwon | 2

Characters: Female Reader x Heir!Hyungwon

Genre/warnings: No major warnings ; minor language, fake relationship au

Length: 2266 words

A/N: okay so this wasn’t supposed to be posted until later on in the week, but i was getting antsy with it just sitting around, so surprise!!

Nothing too important happens in this one, it’s more set up for the actual story, but I hope you still enjoy it :D

PARTS: one | three | four

“You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?” Your words almost sound accusatory. “Me?”

Hyungwon nods. “Yes, you! My parents would hate you.”

With a grimace you nod once. Earlier you thought his honesty was a nice change but now you see he is just plain rude. “Right, well it was nice talking to you. I have to get back to my date.”

Hyungwon’s face twists into confusion as you get up and start to leave. You don’t see the realization that dawns on his face as the harshness of his words hits. “Wait, wait, I didn’t mean it like that. Well, not exactly.”

He gets up from the bench and you can hear his steps following you on the gravel path. You don’t bother to look over your shoulder as you speak to him. “Then what do you mean?”

“My parents are old, rich people. They hate anyone –“

“Young and poor people,” you finish for him.

“Uh, well…yeah.”

“Why do you even need a fake girlfriend?” You spin around finally only to let out a small yelp as you try to jump back. You hadn’t realized how close Hyungwon actually was and almost collided face first into his chest. His hands reach out and steady you before promptly dropping back to his pockets. Quickly regaining yourself, you look away. “With your looks you could get a real girlfriend.”

Hyungwon smirks slightly at the compliment, to which you roll your eyes. There’s no way this boy doesn’t know the effect he has on people. “Because I need someone I know my parents won’t approve of. If I can rebel just enough, maybe they’ll get off my back about taking over the company. They’ll see I’m too immature and not ready.”

“Or they’ll push harder,” you argue.

Hyungwon shakes his head. “No, my parents don’t believe in working more than they need to.”

You let out a sound that’s a mixture of a scoff and a laugh. “Well, they sound charming.”

Turning on your heel you start to leave but Hyungwon quickens his pace and soon he’s standing in front of you. Damn those long legs. “Please, Y/N. I’ll pay everything for you, no questions asked, no sex needed. I promise I won’t touch you outside of the small amount of couple PDA, which mind you I don’t even like so it’ll be miniscule at best.”

You cross your arms and sigh. You’d be lying if you said the offer wasn’t tempting; no college debts and no creepy old man to try and fondle you. But even then if any of this were to get out, you’d be ridiculed by your classmates, the rumors would exaggerate everything and you had no desire to have that much attention on you.

Your head begins to shake, but Hyungwon places his hands on your shoulder, his touch gentle. “Hey, why don’t you think on it for a while.” He retracts his hands to pull his phone out. After a few taps he looks at you. “What’s your number?”

The numbers leave your lips quietly as he types away. A few moments later you hear the chime of your phone in your clutch purse.

“Now you have mine. Take a few days to think on it and then let me know. I realize now I’m sounding like you have no choice and I don’t want that to be the case. If you don’t want to do it, then just let me know.”

You look up and meet his gaze, his warm eyes meet yours with a soothing look. Nodding slowly, you murmur, “Okay.”

Hyungwon smiles. “Thank you. I’ll leave you be now. It was nice meeting you.”

True to his word, Hyungwon saunters off back into the gala. Through the windows you can see Dongwoo again, still enveloped in his group of chaebols. You decide you’re done with the party, there’s no way you can go back in there and pretend to be an arm piece. The sigh that leaves your lips is tired and with it leaves whatever energy you had left.

Your feet hurt in the heels Lena gave you, and if your friend isn’t here by now she won’t be coming.

There’s suddenly a whistle through the air and you turn to find Hyungwon in the doorway again. He gives you an apologetic look but then points towards the opposite end of the garden. You follow his gesture and see a wrought iron gate that leads onto a back street. Turning back to him, you find the tall man is once again gone.

As soon as you’re on the busy, you pull your heels off and then tuck your feet under your legs on the seat. Looking out the window you watch the lights pass you. You’d always liked the city at night, even though it was still bustling, it was calmer and quieter. The twinkling lights also gave it an almost magical feeling. Being out at night, you could almost forget your worries even if it was just for a little bit.

When you step off the bus, shoes back on, you take in a deep breath before starting towards the dorms. You have to wait for the security guard to finish his rounds out front before darting into the building. There’s no set curfew, but students get scolded all the time for coming to and from the dorms at too late of times.

Reaching your door, you can hear faint music playing through the wood. As you push into the room, the music fills your ears before stopping. Lena sees you and gives you a suggestive smile from behind the magazine she’s reading.

“Dongwoo is NOT happy.” You can see the strain on her face from holding back laughter. “I send you to a party with one guy and you leave with another? How scandalous, Y/N!”

“I did not leave with him,” you argue plopping down onto your bed. “If you had been there, like you promised, you would’ve known that.”

Lena gives you an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. But you know that really cute guy in my accounting class I was telling you about? Well guess who hit me up tonight?”

“Oh my god,” you stare in disbelief. “You left me with your jerk cousin for an accounting student?”

Lena turns sheepish, “Okay but in my defense, if I had gone you would’ve stuck with me the whole night, getting rid of any chance of Chae Hyungwon to get his flirt on with you.”  

You paused, having reached for the zipper of the dress. “How did you���?”

“We rich folk all know each other. Dongwoo hates Hyungwon, it’s some weird male thing, I don’t know, but my cousin is not afraid to name drop.”

With a sigh, you finish taking off the dress and change into your pajamas. When you flop onto your bed, you pull your pillow to your chest and wrap your arms around it as you turn to stare up at the ceiling. “He offered to pay for my tuition.”

Lena sputters and tosses aside her magazine. “Hold on, what now?”

“Hyungwon offered to pay for my college expenses if I pretend to date him.”

“Holy shit Y/N.” Lena climbs off her bed only to crawl onto yours. She pokes your side with a pout. “So you’ll let some stranger pay for things but not your best friend?”

You roll your eyes. “I didn’t say yes.”

“Why not?!” Lena’s explosion startles you and before you can respond there’s a pounding on the wall near your bed. A muffled shut up is heard and then silence falls over the two of you.

Sitting up you give a shrug. “It feels weird.”

“Okay, okay, did he lay out the whole deal or just fake date him?”

“He said he’d pay everything for me, no questions asked, no sex, only miniscule PDA.”

“What’s so weird about that?” When you give her an incredulous look, Lena pauses. “Why does he need a fake girlfriend?”

“Something about rebelling against his parents.”

“Okay, but what could go wrong?” Lena asks.

“Um, so many things,” you start. “The school could find out; his parents are rich enough to ruin my life if they find out…oh God or my parents could find out.”

You imagine your parents finding out you have a rich “boyfriend” and trying to mooch off him. They did it to the last guy you dated when they found out he made just a little more than they expected. You weren’t at all surprised when he dumped you a week after meeting them, you would’ve left too.

Lena sighs pulling you from your thoughts. “The school could care less, honestly. Remember that one girl from our Lit class last year? She had that super cute pink hair? Anyway, she had a sugar daddy and someone spread the rumor. When the school found out they gave her a metaphorical slap on the wrist and let her go. It’s a school, Y/N all they care about is if they get their money.”

You open your mouth to argue but you can’t think of anything to say

“And let’s say they do find out and you get in trouble, you always have me to fall back on.”

You let out a deep sigh. Letting go of the pillow, you cover your face with your hands. Not caring about the make-up you still have on you rub at your eyes. Throwing your hands to your sides you turn to look at your friend. She’s giving you a sincere look, concern also weaved within it.

“I appreciate the gesture, Lena, I really do. But I can’t keep having people pay for me all through my life.”

Lena smiles and reaches over to pat your knee. “The only reason I offer, is because you don’t ask.”

She climbs off your bed and back onto her own before picking up her magazine again. After a moment, you sit up and grab your toiletries bag before making your way to the bathroom on your floor. Tired, you work hastily to wipe off your now smudged make up and brush your teeth.

Back in your room, you crawl under the covers, Lena already having done the same in her own bed. When she sees you’re comfortable, she flicks off the light. The two of you only sit in the darkness for a couple of minutes before Lena’s phone light appears. You turn to face the wall, ignoring the light, she always scrolls through her phone for another hour before sleeping so you’ve gotten used to this.

“I still can’t believe you said no to Chae Hyungwon. It’s just…I’ve never known anyone to turn him down. The man is fine.”

“I didn’t say no,” you blurt out without thinking. As soon as the words are leaving your mouth, you’re clamping your lips between your teeth.

“But you said you didn’t say yes!” You can hear the covers shift as Lena sits up in bed.

“I didn’t say yes but I also didn’t say no. I’m thinking about it. He gave me his number to call him when I have an answer.”

Lena pays back down. “Whoa, that means you’re considering it. Oh my God.”

You scoff. “Just go to sleep.”

A few days go by and with the stresses of life you forget about your overdue call to Hyungwon. It’s not until you’re on the phone with your mother that your memory is jogged.

You’re tuning out what she’s saying, it’s something about the neighbors but you don’t really care. The phone is balanced between your ear and shoulder as you unlock yours and Lena’s shared mailbox. You give a noncommittal hum when you hear your mother ask you a question as you pull out the mail.

“Can you believe they did that?” She asks, indignantly.

“That’s crazy,” you reply. Her mother agrees and continues on her rant.

When you reach your dorm and find it empty, you put the phone on speaker and set it on your desk as you go through the mail. It’s mostly coupons and ads but you do have a letter from the college in there. Already knowing that it’s the school demanding money, you toss it aside and lean back in your chair, sighing in relief when your neck pops.

Suddenly your phone vibrates against the counter causing a noise that startles you out of your thoughts. The noise was loud enough to halt your mother’s rant.

“What was that?” She asks.

“I got a text, sorry.” You open the message not even checking who it’s from. When you see the unsaved number you frown.

Have you given it any thought?

You frown at the message in confusion before you see the message above it. It’s a simple message of just his name when you gave Hyungwon your number.

“Who is it from?” your mom asks.

“J-just a friend.” You curse your little stutter but it doesn’t sound like your mom caught it because she makes an unimpressed noise rather than say anything.

“Oh!” She suddenly starts. “Can you hurry and pay your tuition? They’ve started sending us letters and it’s such a burden seeing that in the mail.”

You’re staring at the message still when your mother says this. You know full well you don’t have enough to pay. Your paycheck deposited the other night and it’s not enough for the installment that’s due.

“Yeah,” you mutter, hitting reply. “I’ll pay it soon, I promise.”

 I think I want to do it. Can we meet to talk?

[ficdirectory]

Blink (An AU Fosters family fic) Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

“Jesus,” Mama whispers.  “What are you doing out here?  Are you okay?”

Groggily, Jesus blinks awake.  Slowly, last night comes back to him.  Losing it in the dark hallway.  Coming back holding Frankie.  Now, it’s just him and Mariana.  She sleeps close.  Her head pillowed on one of his arms.  He has almost no feeling in it, but he’d feel bad moving and waking her up.

“Yeah.  I’m okay.  We just fell asleep talking.”

He doesn’t know why he’s lying.  It doesn’t make sense, and it’s one of the grossest leftovers of living four years in super hell.  The lying had become like second nature by the end.  Sometimes, it’s still hard to tell if it’s because of that, or just a regular innocent lie people tell.  Jesus hates not knowing which it is.  If he’s horrible or okay as a person.  If he’s a person or a warm body.

“Go back to sleep,” Mama urges and he wants to laugh.  Because there’s no way.  Instead he slides his arm out from under Mariana’s head and covers her with a blanket before following Mama downstairs.

Jesus likes the quiet in the house before everybody else is up.  Winter break, with everybody home all the time, has been hard to get used to.  

He’s dumping old coffee grounds out into the trash before it really dawns on him what he’s doing.  Not until he turns to go back to the coffee maker and Mama is standing there.

“I have this, bud.  Sit down, okay?”

She says it like it’s fine, but Jesus’s ears burn hot.  All this time and he still catches himself doing kitchen chores if he’s not careful.  It’s something he used to have to do Then, and if he does it here, it can mean big trouble for his trauma, especially if his fam lets it go unchecked.

“Sorry.”

“No need to apologize.  I love my poem, by the way,” she says, referencing the gift Jesus gave everybody in the family.  Haikus about each of them.

“Yeah?” he asks.  

“Yes.”  She comes and sits down next to him.  “I like the words you chose to rhyme.  I remember that day like it was yesterday.”

“Me, too,” he nods.  He had only been home two months when he had sat down with Lena and talked about the book Where The Wild Things Are, while she held him.  It was the first time he could let her.  One of the first times he felt safe letting an adult touch him, after everything Then.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Jesus swallows.  Tries not to jump to conclusions.  To think he’s in trouble.  

She must see it on his face, though, because she says, “You’re not in trouble, bud, okay?  It’s a family thing.  Something we’d like to do together.”

“What?” he asks carefully.  He still can’t let his guard down totally.

“Well, Grandma Sharon gave us all plane tickets to spend a week in Grandpa Frank’s cabin.”

“Isn’t that in Wisconsin or something?” he makes a face.  Wisconsin’s way far away.  And cold.

“Minnesota,” she clarifies.

“Hmm…” Jesus muses.  “Would I come, too?”

“You’re a part of us, honey.  Yes, you’d come...unless it’s not something you feel comfortable doing.”

“Then what, though?  Grandma spent money on tickets we wouldn’t use?  That seems kinda rude.  I mean, if I didn’t wanna go, you guys could go without me.”

“No, we couldn’t.  We don’t leave family behind, love,” Lena said patiently.  “We’re waiting to tell everyone else until we had a chance to talk to you first.  To see how you feel.”

“Is there snow?” he asks hopefully.  He’s thinking of the picture of Isaac.  The last fun thing he did.  He really wanted to see snow.  That’s what his mom had said.  This way, maybe Jesus could see it, too, and it would kinda be like they were together, if they were both doing the same thing, even if it wasn’t at the same time.

“I’m sure there is, yes,” Mama smiles.

“Can we do stuff in it?” he asks.

“Sure, we can,” Mama nods.

“Can I bring stuff from home?” he checks.

“Of course.  We’ll pack everything we need before we go.  One of us will help you, okay, so you don’t have to worry about that.  We’ll bring clothes, toothbrushes, everything, okay?”

“Food?”

“Sure.  I think Mom and I are gonna sit down with the rest of the kids after breakfast to tell them.  Then you can decide who you’d like to help you pack.”

“Okay,” he nods.

Since cinnamon rolls are still baking in the oven, Jesus goes to his room and grabs some clothes and a quick shower.  He plays the cover of Wintersong that Brandon did on YouTube.  When he’s downstairs again, so is everyone else.  Frankie is covered in icing.  Everybody’s already eating.  Jesus hesitates.

“Morning, my sweet,” Mom says, pulling a chair out for Jesus.  “Sit down.  Have a cinnamon roll.”

Jude’s crabby and half asleep.  Mariana is looking rough from a night sleeping on the hardwood floor in the hallway.  Jesus feels a twinge of regret.  He sits down and picks at his cinnamon roll.

“I heared us all singing in the bathroom,” Frankie reports.

“You did?  How’d we sound?” Mama asks.

“Good.  ‘Specially you, Mama.  You sing the best of anyone.”

Jesus remembers Mari and Callie singing him some old Justin Bieber song last night.  (His sisters can seriously make anything sound cool.)

“Well, thank you so much,” Mama smiles.

After breakfast is eaten, Mom keeps everybody at the table an extra few minutes, telling them about the big surprise gift from Grandma (and Grandpa.)  Frankie goes nuts, talking about building an Olaf snowman, and asking everybody if they want to build a snowman.

“We’re going to vacation in the woods?” Mariana asks skeptically.  “In the winter?  In Minnesota?”

“You know, people usually go where it’s warm to vacation,” Callie points out.

“We live where it’s warm right now, genius,” Brandon puts in.

“Yes, we’re going to vacation in the woods.  Grandpa has a very nice cabin that he and Grandma are letting us use.”

“Jude?” Callie asks, nudging him.  “What do you think?”

“Bears…” he mumbles.

“Bears hibernate in the winter, Jude.  Don’t you know?” Frankie asks.

“We leave Sunday morning.  Early.  So we need to pack everything we’ll need over today and tomorrow.  Eight sets of clothes.  Pajamas.  Yes?”  Mom asks rhetorically.  She lowers her voice and asks, “Jesus, who would you like to help you pack?”

“Maybe Mariana?” he whispers.

“Mariana and Callie, come here, please,” Mom directs after dismissing everyone else to get going and clean the kitchen.

Mariana heaves a sigh.  “Mom, I know how to pack a bag…” she says, a little testily.

“I know you do.  And because you’re so skilled, I need to know if you’ll help Jesus pack, too.  And Callie, can you do the same for Frankie?”

“Yeah, of course,” Callie says and Mariana nods.

“Okay, I should call Dad and let him know we’ll be heading up there Sunday.  See if there’s anything we should know…”

On the way upstairs, Mari turns to him.  “So, what would you think if I just did this for you?  Is that okay?”

Jesus blinks.  “Is it okay for you?”

(They were four when they packed their first bags.  Back then, he did the packing for both of them.  Jesus is pretty sure she remembers.  Is pretty sure this is her way of returning the favor.)

“Totally.  I got you, remember?”

He nods.  “Yeah.  I remember.”

Deerwood, Minnesota

Two days after Christmas, Pearl is back at work.  For her, this means on her couch, knitting a maroon and yellow scarf for a dog.  (Go, Gophers.)  Her Etsy shop, Pawsitive Knitting, makes winter wear for pets.  

“Gracie, come,” Pearl calls softly.  “I need to see how this looks on you.”  

Gently, she maneuvers the scarf onto the dog, who sits patiently, tail swishing back and forth.

“Well, you’re just about the prettiest girl  I’ve ever seen,” Pearl says, scratching Gracie behind the ears.

Pearl’s phone rings with an old-fashioned jingle that her grandparents’ phone had.  Must be an unknown.  She picks up.  Glances at the screen.

Nope.  Not an unknown.  Frank Cooper.

“Hey, Frank.”

“Hey, Pearl.  How are you?  How was your Christmas?”

“Fine, and yours?” she asks.  (What does he want?  His first call to her is usually no earlier than May, inviting her over for dinner with any number of relatives or friends.  She never accepts.  She’s not a people person.  At least, not a people-in-large-groups person.)

“Nice, yeah, very nice.  Listen, I was wondering if you’d be around at all the coming week?”

When am I not around? she thinks testily.  Instead, she says, “I think so, why?  You need something?”

“Well, my family’s heading up to spend a week there.  Just wanted to give you a heads-up that they’d be around.  I know it’s usually kinda quiet.”

“How big is your family?” Pearl asks, holding out a hand.  Gracie comes and nips at it, calming Pearl’s nervous tremor.  (She can’t knit dog scarves with shaky hands.)

“My daughter, her wife, and I got five - no six - grandkids.”

“Wow, yeah, no, thank you for the heads up.  I appreciate it.”

“Just wanted you to know they’d be there, not me.  My daughter’s Stef.  You’ve met her before.  Her wife’s Lena. Kids are teenagers, except the little one.”

“Okay.”

“You all right?” Frank asks.

“Yeah, no, I’m fine.”  Eight strangers coming tomorrow to invade my solitary life?  Sounds like a blast…  “Thanks for the call, Frank.”

“You bet.”

“You bet…” Pearl breathes, hanging up the phone.  She tosses her knitting aside and holds her head in her hands.  She peeks at Gracie, who’s studying her closely.

“This is really gonna suck,” she tells the dog seriously.

Gracie comes and sits close by, resting her head in Pearl’s lap.  Pearl buries her face in the dog’s fur.

[fernwehbookworm]

Woke the F*ck Up- Chapter 6

August 11th, 2017

For the second morning, Lena wakes up in Kara's apartment. The blonde is still sound asleep, facing away on her stomach but an arm flung possessively around Lena's waist. The sun was just beginning to brighten the window next to Kara's bed. It seemed peaceful. For the first time in months, Lena didn't have to be anywhere. Carefully Lena tries to get up from under Kara's arm. The blonde groans and tightens her hold.

“No moving.” Lena hears mumbled into the pillow.

“Kara, I have to. I really have to pee.” Kara grumbles into her pillow but relents.

When Lena is finished she sneaks into the kitchen, hoping for food. Kara's fridge is full of take-out containers and no actual food. Not that Lena could cook anything if she found something. Lena grabs her phone from the coffee table. It only rings once before she answers.

“I need help.”

“What is it?” Jessica already sounds wide awake, does this woman ever take a vacation?

“I’m-I’m at Kara's. She doesn't have any food because I thought about making breakfast, then I remembered that I can't cook.”

“You want me to send breakfast your way?”

“Yes. Does any place deliver?”

“Lena dear, you are in the city with near-limitless funds. Breakfast will be there in half an hour.”

“Thank you. Also, Kara eats enough for like, three, so please get a lot. What would I do without you?”

“Nothing really. You obviously can't even feed yourself.” Lena laughs.

“Goodbye Jessica.”

“I want details later.”

“Of course.”

“Bye.”

Lena hangs up and finds a charging cord in the kitchen to plug in her phone then returns to the warm bed with the sleeping woman. As soon as Lena lays back down, Kara rolls over and pulls her into the warm body. She places a lazy kiss on Lena's shoulder before resting her forehead against it. The simple gesture sends Lena's heart racing before she settles into Kara and lets the sun warm her face.

Lena must have dozed off again because she feels like she blinks and then there is an insistent knocking at the door. Somehow Kara had managed to tangle them together in the short amount of time. Legs and arms intwine and Kara's fingers have a near bruising grip on Lena's hip.

Lena manages to squirm away from Kara again and finds a t-shirt and shorts laying in the floor to throw on. Her purse is on the kitchen island where she left it the night before. She grabs the cash she has been keeping on hand. Then the glasses she brought with her. She slept with her contacts in and her eyes were already disagreeing with that. The teenage boy on the other side of the door holds three plastic bags near bursting. He juggles them to accept the hundred dollar bill before Lena takes the bags.

“Keep the change,” Lena says, not letting him respond before swinging the door back shut.

Lena is in the middle of laying out the food when a sleepy Kara wonders in, wrapped in her bedsheet, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her nose is practically leading the rest of her body and Lena giggles at that.

“Good morning,” Lena says. Kara still hasn't opened her eyes.

“Mmm… food. You brought food.” Lena laughs again.

“Yes. Turns out you can have breakfast delivered for enough money.” Waffles, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit litter the counter now.

Kara finally opens her eyes and the blue causes Lena to intake a sharp breath. Kara's eyes hungrily take in the small feast before her before looking at Lena. Blue was definitely Lena's favorite color.

“I think the only thing I like right now more than this food is you standing there in an NSYNC shirt,” Kara smirks before heading to the fridge and grabbing the orange juice.

The two settle onto the stools next to the island. Both eat directly from the containers as they chat and laugh. The whole thing felt so normal. Something the Lena’s had been craving for years.

“So the whole line about riding in the shopping cart is true?” Kara asks through laughter. She had been asking Lena questions all through breakfast that Kara had mostly consumed herself. Lena was answering between bites and trying to skip over the deeper issues of most her stories; drugs, drinking, lovers, the occasional arrest.

“Yup. It was after my first sold-out arena. The after-party was huge, in a house we rented near a college campus. I bought it from a homeless man for like two hundred dollars cash and then we thought it would be a great idea to push each other downhills and then run from campus police. What's one of the craziest things you've done?”

“Nothing really. Wait I was arrested for a bar fight once.” Lena's eyes go wide.

“You? Arrested?”

“Yeah. I had to go pick up my sister. She went out while she was in college and needed a ride home. Some douchebag was hitting on her and had her cornered. I went up to him and asked him to back off. He told me to leave then turned right around and started touching her. I lost my cool and knocked him out. The police captain let me go with a warning when he saw the security tape from the bar.”

“So nothing too crazy. Just standing up for your sister.”

“Okay yeah. I'm not crazy. My job was exciting enough. I spent most of my time at the gym anyway.”

“Okay, so something has been bothering me since I woke up.”

“What is it?” Concern colors Kara's voice.

“If you are such an athlete and everything. How come you have almost nothing nutritional in your fridge?” Kara laughs.

“Near-death experience. I almost died and up until that point I had a perfectly planned diet. I only allowed the occasional meal out. Then I woke up and realized I almost missed out on food. So now I eat what I want for the most part. I burn through a lot of calories. I don't need to be so strict since I retired anyway.”

“Okay fair enough.”

Kara begins moving to dispose of the takeout containers and clean up. Lena goes to finally take out her contacts. She just throws them away and texts Jess to make sure she has more in her room. When Lena returns Kara is dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

“What do you want to do today?” She asks from the couch.

“Don't you have to work or something?” Lena asks. She hasn't had a real job ever but she's pretty sure most people work on weekdays.

“Nope. I canceled any further training sessions this week. On Monday I have another school I'm volunteering at but other than that I'm free until you have to leave. When do you go to Europe?”

Lena's heart already aches at the thought of leaving Kara. How did she get in so deep so quickly? They spent three nights in a row together and Lena isn't sure if she's ready to spend one apart.

“My flight is Wednesday. I have to meet with my producer on Thursday. Then we have a bunch of promotional stuff that weekend before my first concert the following Wednesday.” Kara heaves a sigh.

“Well, whatever we do I want to spend as much of our time together.”

“Agreed.” Says Lena. She moves to straddle Kara's lap and kiss her.

A key jiggles in the lock and the door opens before either can react. Alex stops short as both heads snap to look over at her. Alex slaps her hand over her eyes and groans.

“Remind me to always knock.”

Lena slides off Kara's lap and Kara stands up to go greet her sister.

“Relax, everyone's dressed here.”

“Yeah just be glad you didn't walk in ten minutes ago.” Lena teases. Alex makes a face and Kara shoots daggers over her shoulder. Lena shrugs and ignores them.

“Yup definitely knocking from now on. I brought doughnuts.” Alex holds up the pink bakery box.

“Crullers?”

“Of course.” Kara licks her lips and liberates the box from her sister.

“Lena there is plenty if you would like one,” Alex says.

“Thanks, Alex but we just ate and only one of us has a bottomless pit for a stomach.” Alex laughs at Lena's response.

“Good thing you can afford to feed her. I probably could have traveled the world five times over with the money I spend on food for her.”

“Hey!” Kara interjects, only gaining laughter from the other two.

It does nothing to stop Kara from picking up two doughnuts and returning to the couch. Alex follows with her own.

“Is this a safe place to sit?” Alex asks indicating the chair. Kara rolls her eyes.

“Yes, Alex.”

“So what brings you over this morning?” Kara asks through the half-chewed pastry. Thankfully Alex swallows before responding.

“Honestly I don't know. I'm just really nervous about this date tonight. I mean, I haven't really dated since Sara two years ago and now this beautiful and confident woman is asking me out.”

“You know what you need?” Lena asks. Alex shakes her head.

“To go shopping. I am going to have you dressed to the nines for your date tonight.”

“What?” Kara and Alex ask at the same time.

“Oh yeah. My personal stylist is still in the city. Let me give him a call. He sets up a studio everywhere we go.” Both sisters stammer for a reply.

“Lena that's very generous but you really don't have to. I mean we can just go downtown or something.”

“I can and will. Besides, the paparazzi know I'm still in National City and that's the first place they'll look. Trust me.” Lena gets up to go to Kara's bedroom to make a call.

“Okay I don't care if she is bribing a federal agent to like her, but I like her,” Alex says, Kara laughs.

“You liked her before you met her.”

“Yeah as a singer, but as the person dating my sister I'm obligated to dislike her.” Lena returns as the sisters break out into laughter.

“Okay, Gabriel will be ready in an hour. He has a small loft rented downtown. Just in case we are spotted coming or going you may want hats and sunglasses things to obscure your faces.”

“Kara what did you get me into?” Alex asks her sister. Kara just shrugs.

“I'll be back in half an hour. Good thing I have training in being incognito.” Alex says as she walks back out the door.

“So we have half an hour.” Kara raises her eyebrow at Lena.

Lena laughs and straddles Kara’s lap again, kissing her deeply. That's how they spend the next twenty minutes. At some point Kara lays down and pulls Lena on top as they lazily kiss, just enjoying each other's presence. Soon the alarm Kara set to avoid another awkward encounter with her sister goes off so they go get dressed. Lena borrows clean clothes from Kara, including capris that are basically pants on her and an old sweatshirt that Kara kept around from her high school club karate team.

They are both putting on their shoes when Alex knocks. Kara laughs and hollars for her to come in. She does look pretty inconspicuous. A leather jacket, ball cap, and large aviator sunglasses. Kara pulls on her own ball cap and hands a pair of sunglasses to Lena. The three of then hop into Alex's car and begin to fight the traffic to get downtown. The radio playing in the background as the sisters banter up front. A soft chiming plays on the radio after the commercial.

My friends don't walk, they run Skinny dip in rabbit holes for fun Popping, popping balloons with guns, getting high off helium We paint white roses red Each shade from a different person's head This dream, dream is a killer Getting drunk with the blue caterpillar

Alex glides to a stop at a light and both look back at Lena, unsure how to react. This is why Lena never listened to her own music once it was out there in the world.

“What's your stance on changing the station?” Alex asks.

“It's fine. I mean I don't usually listen to my own music but I know you're a fan. Just leave it.”

I'm nuts, baby, I'm mad The craziest friend that you've ever had You think I'm psycho, you think I'm gone Tell the psychiatrist something is wrong Over the bend, entirely bonkers You like me best when I'm off my rocker Tell you a secret, I'm not alarmed So what if I'm crazy? The best people are All the best people are crazy, all the best people are

Silence fills the car, amplifying the song. Everyone searches desperately for a way to break the awkwardness. Lena is the first, deciding to share a bit of herself with the woman she was quickly falling for.

“I wrote this after I overdosed a couple days after Lionel was arrested. The press had been all over me and this girl showed me a way to forget. When I came to in the hospital I knew I screwed up. I wasn't in a good place and the therapist suggested writing to sort out my feelings. I hadn’t in a long time as I got caught up in the tour. This is what came out. Alice and Wonderland was one of my favorite movies as a kid. My brother snuck it into the house and we watched it together late at night. Lillian disapproved of anything not educational.”

No one responds. Kara just turns in her seat and rests a hand on Lena's knee. The song ends and the radio host starts babbling away. Kara's eyes filled with pain that reflects Lena's own. No one knew that besides Jess and her old producer, and the first responders that were called. Everyone was paid off to keep it quiet.

“We are here,” Alex says softly. It shakes the two women out of their silent discussion of Kara trying hard to convey how much she supports Lena and how much she appreciates her sharing.

Alex opens her door and stirs Lena and Kara. The rest of the day passes quickly. Lena can honestly say she had fun. All three end up trying on different clothes and goofing around like some ridiculous teen rom-com but the innocent fun is something Lena hasn’t had in a long time.

Alex leaves with a stunning dress in hand and her makeup done. She is much less nervous after Lena and Kara had spent much time gushing over her. Alex drops the pair back off at Kara's apartment. They settle back in for a movie, well make-out session, and order dinner. Kara is trying to draw out every detail from Lena that she can. Lena tries the same.

“Physical therapy was probably the hardest. I woke up and could hardly move. My muscles had begun to deteriorate from lack of use and nutrition. On top of that, I was dealing with the death of Jeremiah. I had missed the funeral. Couldn't even say goodbye. I kept thinking he couldn't be gone and would walk in at any moment. Then I had Eliza and Alex always looking at me with this look, it was this…”

“Pity. That's usually how people look at me when they find out I'm a Luthor.”

“Yeah, that's kind of it. Like they were trying to understand what I was going through. And they did kind of. But I was broken in both body and mind. My life had fallen apart while I slept. I cried until I couldn't anymore. Then I just refused to talk for about two weeks. Like I could hear Alex trying to get me to go to my therapy but I didn't, not really. I knew what I needed to do but I just had no motivation. Like the crash knocked my desire to live right out of me. I curled inside myself. I couldn't even look at my own body, the broken bones and bruises had faded but my body was malformed from weeks in bed and no food. Soon Alex stopped coming. And who can blame her? She hated me for taking away her father.”

“Kara that can't be true.” Lena lays a hand on Kara's.

“I know that now. But I didn't then. I found out later how depressed I became after the accident. Then it dredged up the pain from losing my own parents and I spiraled hard.”

“How did you get back to this ray of sunshine?”

“A lot of therapy. Some drugs. And Winn’s constant companionship. The drugs made me foggy but as I got better, Alex helped me get back into actual exercise after I was cleared. The endorphins helped me get off the pills and stay off them, to my doctor's delight. It also helped with my self-image when my body started to look like me again. It's still a struggle sometimes though. The doubt creeps in. The nightmares sometimes wake me up.”

“Wow, Kara. I had no idea.”

The two fall asleep wrapped up together in Kara's bed. They had shared late into the night. It felt good for Lena to share who she was with someone. A small part of her panicked at someone knowing her this well. It meant she could be hurt so much worse but then there was Kara holding her and she was so real, and soft, and possessive of Lena that it was hard to believe Kara would ever let her go, literally sometimes.

[jedifighterpilot2727]

AU idea can you do a supercorp where they inexplicably have to share a bed??? Bonus points of mon (pain in the ass) el catches them and gets a rude awakening. LYSM

Protective Custody

“I’m really sorry about this.”

Kara says apologetically, setting their bags on the sofa before continuing.

“If it makes you feel any better, Alex says it should be like two nights, tops.”

It doesn’t.

Make Lena feel better that is.

Especially now that she’s getting a chance to look around the hotel room.

And she isn’t being a snob, really she isn’t, but the whole place just feels …

Dingy.

“Why do we have to stay here again? I know plenty of luxury hotels in national city that would be happy to-“

“That’s just it, Lee, that’s exactly where they would look for you! No one would ever guess that you’re in a place like this! It’s safer this way!”

“My best friend is Supergirl and I don’t even get the perk of being able to stay at a five star hotel when some idiot is trying to kill me?” She arches an eyebrow in Kara’s direction, but the other woman only pouts.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you, I want to take every precaution. I’m sorry this place isn’t the Hilton, but I’d rather sleep in a pile of trash for a week than have you get hurt. Besides, this place isn’t SO bad. I mean there’s a free ice machine down the hall! Free ice!”

Lena crinkles her nose at the thought of using ice machine left unattended for hours at a time.

Kara’s hands settle on her shoulders, rubbing up and down her arms in a soothing motion.

She tries not to shiver at the touch.

“It’ll be fun, like a sleepover.”

“A sleepover.” She deadpans.

“I’ll get popcorn, and takeout, and ice cream! And we can watch scary movies and play truth or dare!” Kara frowns. “At least I think that’s what people do at sleepovers, I’ve never actually been to one before.”

That’s when Lena feels her resolve break.

Because yes, the situation is shitty, and the hotel room is less than ideal; but Kara is desperately trying to not only to keep Lena safe, but also to make the situation more bearable.

She sighs, casting a long look at the bed.

“Fine, but you have to get extra potstickers so I can actually have some, I want green mint chocolate chip ice cream, and you take the money i give you and but a completely new bedspread and sheet set, because I am not sleeping on that thing - I can see stains on it without a blacklight. If you do that then I promise not to leave until Alex says its safe.”

Kara’s face breaks out in a wide grin.

“Deal!”

- - - - - - - - - -

The comforter Kara picks out is absolutely hideous.

It’s covered in a floral print that is too bright and too busy for Lena’s taste.

But still, it’s clean and soft and she can’t complain.

She’s pretty sure the money Kara saved on the comforter went towards potstickers, because there are enough of them that even Kara is left moaning about too much food. The scary movie idea is quickly tossed, because neither of them can sit past the first jump scare. So instead, they find themselves sitting across from each other on the bed, a bowl of popcorn between them.

“Truth or dare?” Kara tosses a piece of popcorn at Lena and she fails to catch it in her mouth, instead watching as it fall in her lap.

“Hmmm, truth.”

“Have you ever hacked anything illegal?”

“I’m pretty sure hacking in general is illegal, Kara.”

Another piece of popcorn flies at her head.

Lena grins.

“Yes.”

“Really? What?”

“You didn’t ask what I’ve hacked, just if i had or not.”

Kara rolls her eyes and Lena laughs before posing her question.

“Truth or dare?”

“Ooh!! Dare!”

Lena thinks for a moment.

“I dare you to go take a selfie from the Empire State building.”

“Pshh, that’s easy!”

Before she can blink, Kara is gone in a rush of wind.

Six seconds, that’s how long it takes Kara to get back. Lena barely has time to register the sound of the room door slamming with Kara’s return before a flushed Kara is waving her phone in Lena’s face.

She grabs the phone to steady it, laughing when she sees the picture. It’s Kara in her Supergirl suit, flying above the Empire State building, eyes crossed and tongue hanging out of her mouth.

“Dork!”

“Yeah, but you love me though!” Kara grins cheekily and Lena feels her heart hammer in her chest.

“Truth or dare?” Kara mumbles around a mouthful of popcorn.

And maybe she’s on a sugar high from the ice cream, or maybe all of the attempts on her life have her feeling daring; but she feels herself step over the ledge.

“Dare me to kiss you.”

Kara’s eyes flicker to her lips and then freeze, and Lena feels her heart freeze with them.

After a breathless moment, Kara speaks.

“Are you sure?”

This is her chance to take it back, to say she misspoke - but she doesn’t, instead forging ahead.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more sure of anything in my life.”

Kara doesn’t say anything and Lena feels her heart sink. Finally, blue eyes rise to meet hers.

“This isn’t - I’m not -“ Kara’s hand flutters up to push at glasses that aren’t there and Lena takes pity on her.

“Kara, it’s fine. You don’t have to, I shouldn’t have said anything. Just please, forget I said anything.” She smiles sadly, and a look of panic crosses Kara’s face.

“No! No, I don’t want to forget, I just -“ She exhales shakily. “I was just trying to say that I don’t want it to be just a kiss.”

“Kara, I don’t -“

“I’ve been trying to ask you out for a month!” Kara blurts. “But every time I start to say anything, the words just catch in my throat. You’re my best friend, Lee. And I didn’t want to mess that up.” A grin slowly spreads across Kara’s face. “But if you think it’s a safe bet … I dare you. To kiss -“

Lena doesn’t wait for her to finish, lunging across the bed and tackling her - lips crashing together in a heated kiss.

Maybe shitty hotel rooms and DEO protective custody weren’t so bad after all.

- - - - - - - - - -

Blackout curtains.

Another thing cheap hotel rooms don’t have.

Lena would be irritated, but the sight of Kara bathed in the soft glow of the sun is enough to stop her in her tracks.

She would wake up early every morning if this were the sight to greet her.

Kara’s blonde hair is splayed across the pillow case, eyes closed and mouth open in a silent snore. Lena’s eyes trace down the muscles of her neck and across her bare shoulders. The hideous comforter hides Kara’s breasts from view, but Lena still has images saved in her mind from the night before.

Well, early the same morning, really.

“I can feel you staring at me.” Kara mumbles, eyes still closed.

“Sorry.” She makes to move, but Kara shifts beneath her, hands coming up to grab Lena’s hips and lift her so that she’s straddling Kara.

“I didn’t say I minded.” Kara peeks at her from between heavy lashes and Lena grins.

“I thought of another con for cheap hotels.”

“What’s that?”

“No breakfast in bed.”

“Mmm, every hotel has breakfast in bed when it takes your superhero girlfriend less than three minutes to fly to Paris and bring back your favorite croissants.” Kara flips them and Lena finds herself pressed back into the mattress, Kara’s teeth nipping at her neck.

“You … you don’t have to . .. mmm, you don’t have to fly to Paris.” She manages to stutter out between moans.

“I want to.” Kara promises, pulling back so Lena can see the sincerity in her eyes. “Almost as much as I want to -“

There’s a knock on the door and then a rattling of the door knob before the door is swinging open.

Kara presses her protectively into the mattress with one hand, and pulls the covers up with the other; Lena’s heart pounding for an entirely different reason than it had been a few seconds before.

When the figure at the door is revealed, Kara groans.

“Mon-el, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I heard my girlfriend got stuck playing body guard all night, so I thought I’d stop by and see her. Why is there popcorn all over the floor?“

She can almost hear Kara roll her eyes.

“For the last time, I’m not your girlfriend. I will never be your girlfriend. And I would appreciate it if you would learn to knock because I was sort of in the middle of something.”

“Anything I can help with?” Mon-el asks suggestively and Lena wants to gag, instead she sits up, taking care that everything below her shoulders remains covered.

“I don’t think so.” She says coolly, and Mon-el’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Why are you and Lena in the same bed?”

“Because it’s safer if we share a room.” Lena says wryly, and Kara snorts.

“We’re together, Mon-el. As in girlfriends.”

“Oh! Oh!” Realization dawns on his face, and a raunchy grin spreads across his face. “I could still help, I mean, on Daxam-“

“If Lena and I ever decide to share our bed, it will decidedly not be with you.”

“But -“

“Out.” Kara points towards the door, and Lena doesn’t think she’s ever heard Kara sound so menacing. It’s inexplicably satisfying.

Mon-el turns and lets himself out, closing the door behind him.

Or rather, he tries to close the door behind him.

“Umm, I think - I think I broke it.” He holds up the handle, and Lena can feel Kara tense beside her.

“I swear to Rao, if you’re still here in two seconds, I will personally wreck you.”

Thankfully, he seems to take the warning to heart because he vanishes from sight and Kara collapses back on the bed before reaching for her shirt and pajama pants.

“Ugh I get that he’s new to Earth or whatever, but I’m pretty sure breaking somebody’s door is illegal on all planets.” Kara wedges a chair under the door before picking her phone up from the table. “On the plus side, Alex says it’s safe for you to go back to your apartment.”

Lena waits until Kara is looking back at her for a response before she raises her eyebrow and suggestively tugs her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Will you come home with me? We could finish what we started?”

“How fast can you get dressed?”

[jedifighterpilot2727]

Heya so can i request a supercorp prompt? If thats a yes, how about lena and kara flirting as 'friends' and playing truth or dare and something like "kara, i dare you to kiss me" and being flustered but still does it and kara getting lena back with something even flirtier? You know?

This actually something I posted for a different prompt, but it fills this one pretty well too! I think (hope) you’ll like it!

Protective Custody   

“I’m really sorry about this.”

Kara says apologetically, setting their bags on the sofa before continuing.

“If it makes you feel any better, Alex says it should be like two nights, tops.”

It doesn’t.

Make Lena feel better that is.

Especially now that she’s getting a chance to look around the hotel room.

And she isn’t being a snob, really she isn’t, but the whole place just feels …

Dingy.

“Why do we have to stay here again? I know plenty of luxury hotels in national city that would be happy to-“

“That’s just it, Lee, that’s exactly where they would look for you! No one would ever guess that you’re in a place like this! It’s safer this way!”

“My best friend is Supergirl and I don’t even get the perk of being able to stay at a five star hotel when some idiot is trying to kill me?” She arches an eyebrow in Kara’s direction, but the other woman only pouts.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you, I want to take every precaution. I’m sorry this place isn’t the Hilton, but I’d rather sleep in a pile of trash for a week than have you get hurt. Besides, this place isn’t SO bad. I mean there’s a free ice machine down the hall! Free ice!”

Lena crinkles her nose at the thought of using ice machine left unattended for hours at a time.

Kara’s hands settle on her shoulders, rubbing up and down her arms in a soothing motion.

She tries not to shiver at the touch.

“It’ll be fun, like a sleepover.”

“A sleepover.” She deadpans.

“I’ll get popcorn, and takeout, and ice cream! And we can watch scary movies and play truth or dare!” Kara frowns. “At least I think that’s what people do at sleepovers, I’ve never actually been to one before.”

That’s when Lena feels her resolve break.

Because yes, the situation is shitty, and the hotel room is less than ideal; but Kara is desperately trying to not only to keep Lena safe, but also to make the situation more bearable.

She sighs, casting a long look at the bed.

“Fine, but you have to get extra potstickers so I can actually have some, I want green mint chocolate chip ice cream, and you take the money i give you and but a completely new bedspread and sheet set, because I am not sleeping on that thing - I can see stains on it without a blacklight. If you do that then I promise not to leave until Alex says its safe.”

Kara’s face breaks out in a wide grin.

“Deal!”

- - - - - - - - - -

The comforter Kara picks out is absolutely hideous.

It’s covered in a floral print that is too bright and too busy for Lena’s taste.

But still, it’s clean and soft and she can’t complain.

She’s pretty sure the money Kara saved on the comforter went towards potstickers, because there are enough of them that even Kara is left moaning about too much food. The scary movie idea is quickly tossed, because neither of them can sit past the first jump scare. So instead, they find themselves sitting across from each other on the bed, a bowl of popcorn between them.

“Truth or dare?” Kara tosses a piece of popcorn at Lena and she fails to catch it in her mouth, instead watching as it fall in her lap.

“Hmmm, truth.”

“Have you ever hacked anything illegal?”

“I’m pretty sure hacking in general is illegal, Kara.”

Another piece of popcorn flies at her head.

Lena grins.

“Yes.”

“Really? What?”

“You didn’t ask what I’ve hacked, just if i had or not.”

Kara rolls her eyes and Lena laughs before posing her question.

“Truth or dare?”

“Ooh!! Dare!”

Lena thinks for a moment.

“I dare you to go take a selfie from the Empire State building.”

“Pshh, that’s easy!”

Before she can blink, Kara is gone in a rush of wind.

Six seconds, that’s how long it takes Kara to get back. Lena barely has time to register the sound of the room door slamming with Kara’s return before a flushed Kara is waving her phone in Lena’s face.

She grabs the phone to steady it, laughing when she sees the picture. It’s Kara in her Supergirl suit, flying above the Empire State building, eyes crossed and tongue hanging out of her mouth.

“Dork!”

“Yeah, but you love me though!” Kara grins cheekily and Lena feels her heart hammer in her chest.

“Truth or dare?” Kara mumbles around a mouthful of popcorn.

And maybe she’s on a sugar high from the ice cream, or maybe all of the attempts on her life have her feeling daring; but she feels herself step over the ledge.

“Dare me to kiss you.”

Kara’s eyes flicker to her lips and then freeze, and Lena feels her heart freeze with them.

After a breathless moment, Kara speaks.

“Are you sure?”

This is her chance to take it back, to say she misspoke - but she doesn’t, instead forging ahead.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more sure of anything in my life.”

Kara doesn’t say anything and Lena feels her heart sink. Finally, blue eyes rise to meet hers.

“This isn’t - I’m not -“ Kara’s hand flutters up to push at glasses that aren’t there and Lena takes pity on her.

“Kara, it’s fine. You don’t have to, I shouldn’t have said anything. Just please, forget I said anything.” She smiles sadly, and a look of panic crosses Kara’s face.

“No! No, I don’t want to forget, I just -“ She exhales shakily. “I was just trying to say that I don’t want it to be just a kiss.”

“Kara, I don’t -“

“I’ve been trying to ask you out for a month!” Kara blurts. “But every time I start to say anything, the words just catch in my throat. You’re my best friend, Lee. And I didn’t want to mess that up.” A grin slowly spreads across Kara’s face. “But if you think it’s a safe bet . . . I dare you. To kiss -“

Lena doesn’t wait for her to finish, lunging across the bed and tackling her - lips crashing together in a heated kiss.

Maybe shitty hotel rooms and DEO protective custody weren’t so bad after all.

- - - - - - - - - -

Blackout curtains.

Another thing cheap hotel rooms don’t have.

Lena would be irritated, but the sight of Kara bathed in the soft glow of the sun is enough to stop her in her tracks.

She would wake up early every morning if this were the sight to greet her.

Kara’s blonde hair is splayed across the pillow case, eyes closed and mouth open in a silent snore. Lena’s eyes trace down the muscles of her neck and across her bare shoulders. The hideous comforter hides Kara’s breasts from view, but Lena still has images saved in her mind from the night before.

Well, early the same morning, really.

“I can feel you staring at me.” Kara mumbles, eyes still closed.

“Sorry.” She makes to move, but Kara shifts beneath her, hands coming up to grab Lena’s hips and lift her so that she’s straddling Kara.

“I didn’t say I minded.” Kara peeks at her from between heavy lashes and Lena grins.

“I thought of another con for cheap hotels.”

“What’s that?”

“No breakfast in bed.”

“Mmm, every hotel has breakfast in bed when it takes your superhero girlfriend less than three minutes to fly to Paris and bring back your favorite croissants.” Kara flips them and Lena finds herself pressed back into the mattress, Kara’s teeth nipping at her neck.

“You … you don’t have to . .. mmm, you don’t have to fly to Paris.” She manages to stutter out between moans.

“I want to.” Kara promises, pulling back so Lena can see the sincerity in her eyes. “Almost as much as I want to -“

There’s a knock on the door and then a rattling of the door knob before the door is swinging open.

Kara presses her protectively into the mattress with one hand, and pulls the covers up with the other; Lena’s heart pounding for an entirely different reason than it had been a few seconds before.

When the figure at the door is revealed, Kara groans.

“Mon-el, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I heard my girlfriend got stuck playing body guard all night, so I thought I’d stop by and see her. Why is there popcorn all over the floor?“

She can almost hear Kara roll her eyes.

“For the last time, I’m not your girlfriend. I will never be your girlfriend. And I would appreciate it if you would learn to knock because I was sort of in the middle of something.”

“Anything I can help with?” Mon-el asks suggestively and Lena wants to gag, instead she sits up, taking care that everything below her shoulders remains covered.

“I don’t think so.” She says coolly, and Mon-el’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Why are you and Lena in the same bed?”

“Because it’s safer if we share a room.” Lena says wryly, and Kara snorts.

“We’re together, Mon-el. As in girlfriends.”

“Oh! Oh!” Realization dawns on his face, and a raunchy grin spreads across his face. “I could still help, I mean, on Daxam-“

“If Lena and I ever decide to share our bed, it will decidedly not be with you.”

“But -“

“Out.” Kara points towards the door, and Lena doesn’t think she’s ever heard Kara sound so menacing. It’s inexplicably satisfying.

Mon-el turns and lets himself out, closing the door behind him.

Or rather, he tries to close the door behind him.

“Umm, I think - I think I broke it.” He holds up the handle, and Lena can feel Kara tense beside her.

“I swear to Rao, if you’re still here in two seconds, I will personally wreck you.”

Thankfully, he seems to take the warning to heart because he vanishes from sight and Kara collapses back on the bed before reaching for her shirt and pajama pants.

“Ugh I get that he’s new to Earth or whatever, but I’m pretty sure breaking somebody’s door is illegal on all planets.” Kara wedges a chair under the door before picking her phone up from the table. “On the plus side, Alex says it’s safe for you to go back to your apartment.”

Lena waits until Kara is looking back at her for a response before she raises her eyebrow and suggestively tugs her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Will you come home with me? We could finish what we started?”

“How fast can you get dressed?”