#supercorp fanfic

[atomicjellyb3an]

i swear supercorp authors sprinkle literal crack or something into their fics bc NO other fandom hits the same way theirs does in terms of fanfiction omg

like my body has a physical reaction

[nicofitz]

I commissioned this fabulous comic of my fic I Want To Adopt With You from @heeeygracie I cannot get enough of her art and i look forward to spending more money on it lmao ❤❤❤

[allgreekbitch]

hi i posted a silly supercorp fic x

[natalievoncatte]

There was someone in her penthouse.

Lena paused at the door, listening. The short hairs on the back of her neck stood up, a tingling sensation running down her spine. She wasn’t sure what tipped her off, but after the fifth kidnapping and three or four attempted murders in her own spaces -office, lab, here- she always listened to those instincts. Kara never complained if it was a false alarm when Lena activated her signal watch.

Her thumb hovered over the button. She took another step inside and the door latched behind her. She was about to press when Kara said,

“Please don’t press that.”

Something was off. Her voice was raspy, as though she had a sore throat, and oddly distorted. It was as if she spoke through a damaged speaker. Lena edged from the foyer into the kitchen, her heart still pounding.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Kara was standing in the living room in her super suit, or so Lena thought. Her cape was there, but the silhouette was different. Lena reached for the light switch and again Kara spoke.

“Don’t. Please.”

“Kara?”

“I’m not your Kara. I’m just… passing through.”

“Passing through my penthouse?”

Lena ran her thumb around the button, ready to press.

“Are you together in this world?”

Lena froze. The figure in her living room, Kara-but-not, was holding the framed photo of Lena with Kara smiling together, the one she’d once shattered. Kara had bought her a new frame for it when they were healing, still working out who they were going to be together, if their friendship could survive with a foundation that had so profoundly crumbled.

The glint caught Lena’s eye. One of Kara’s hands. At first she thought it was a medal glove but that wasn’t right. The shape was wrong, the fingers too thin, skeletal and claw-like. As her eyes adjusted, Lena could pick out more details.

Good God. The whole side of her face was missing, rebuilt into something inhuman and skeletal. A faint emerald glow from her chest and eye cast a pallid light across the living room.

“She’s my best friend,” said Lena.

“Best friend,” the creature whispered, her voice even harsher and more distorted.

“What do you want?”

“I told you, I’m passing through. I won’t be here long. But… can I look at you?”

“Look at me? I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“Just let me look at you and I’ll go. Promise me you won’t scream or call me a monster.”

Lena swallowed hard.

“Should I turn on the light?”

“I would rather you didn’t.”

“Alright, then.”

The figure slowly replaced the photograph and turned, moving towards Lena. She limped, just a little, left foot dragging. Lena gasped.

It was Kara, but not. She had been… mutilated was the only word Lena could find for it. Half her face, her right arm, her leg, and worst of all, a gaping hole in her chest that contained a chunk of vile green Kryptonite burning inside. Her skin was deathly pallid, almost blue, raked through with sickly green streaks surrounded by faint bruises, as if her blood itself was poisoning her.

“My God,” Lena breathed.

“You’re so beautiful,” Kara said, her remaining eye so full of sadness and regret that Lena felt tears welling in her own.

When Kara wept in return, she wept verdant blood. She drew closer, and Lena stood stock still as Kara pressed a corpse-cold palm to her cheek.

“It’s been so long since I heard your heartbeat,” she said. “Thank you.”

“W-what happened to you?”

“Your brother, what else? He impaled me with a Kryptonite harpoon. You saved me. It’s almost funny. The Metallo Protocol kept me alive. If you can call this living.”

“I’m so sorry,” Lena whispered. “Can I help you? Is there something I could do?”

Kara shook her head, mechanical joints in her neck grinding. “There’s no cure for death, zhao.”

Lena blinked. Zhao? Was that Kryptonian? She wasn’t sure what it meant.

The cold palm fell away from her cheek.

“There must be some way I can help,” said Lena.

“In my world I killed your brother,” said Kara.

“In this world, I did. For her.”

“She loves you.”

Lena flinched. It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her and her legs went weak. She had to steady herself on the kitchen island.

“What?”

“Kara. She loves you.”

“How… why do you say that?”

“I have visited thousands of worlds. Thousands of timelines. There are many where you don’t even exist, where I don’t. But in all the ones I’ve found with the both of us, there is one constant: Kara Zor-El loves Lena Luthor. It’s inevitable, it’s like gravity. There is something in all of me that must love you.”

“You’re traveling across dimensions?”

She nodded, closing her one eye. “I’m searching. Before I killed Lex, he used his masterstroke against me. He couldn’t kill me, so he hit me where he could do the most damage. He sent Lena to the Phantom Zone before I ripped his heart out of his chest. Then something happened… the yellow aliens told me there was a crisis, a multiversal collapse that split the phantom zone into infinite shards.”

“Yes, the Crisis, but there should be only one Earth now. Your world should have been merged with ours.”

Kara sighed, a broken, pained rasp. “What happens when you subtract infinity from infinity?”

Lena frowned. “I see.”

“I know she’s out there. I can feel her. I thought your world might be the one, but there’s another me here, and the wrong you.”

“I hope you find her.”

“Thank you. May I ask you something?”

“Go ahead” said Lena.

“Do you love her?”

Lena didn’t need to ask who she meant. She felt a lump form in her throat even as her chest fluttered. This cold broken wreckage of another Kara stared into her as if to parse the strands of her soul.

“Yes,” said Lena.

Kara edged closer. “Then tell her. Please. Don’t make her wait. She’s too scared to tell you. She’s like all of us- she’s so afraid of her own strength that she won’t hold anyone truly close for fear she’ll crush them. She’s afraid of losing you, or losing you again. She’s lost everything. Her world, her people, her culture, two mothers and two fathers- there is so much grief in her that it could freeze a newborn star but you, you are the light that shines in the darkness. You are her red sunrise.”

Lena said nothing, fighting the tremble in her lip.

“I must go. She’s out there and I have to keep trying to find her.”

She turned away and Lena caught her arm, gently tugging. She stopped.

“Wait?”

Kara turned back to her, and Lena darted in close and pressed a soft kiss to her cold lips.

“What?” Kara blurted.

“For luck. You’re going to find her.”

“I wish I had your faith.”

Lena now pressed a palm to Kara’s cheek.

“You will. You’re Supergirl. You can do anything.”

Kara smiled with half a face and pulled free, activating a device on her belt. A portal opened before her, filling the penthouse with blazing light. She stepped through and was gone.

Lena stumbled to the sofa and collapsed onto it, hugging herself as the tears flowed.

A few moments later, the familiar sound of stacked heels thudded on her balcony and the door slid open.

Kara, her Kara, swept into the penthouse, frantic.

“Lena, what happened? I saw that flash. I was out on patrol and… are you crying?”

Kara knelt beside her and brushed her hair back from her eyes with her soft warm hand and said, “Baby, are you okay?”

Lena looked at her, really looked at her, and was simply overwhelmed. There was so much depth in her blue eyes, so much kindness and compassion and love.

“I am now,” said Lena.

Kara blinked a few times. “I don’t understand. What happened?”

“I promise I’m tell you someday, but first I have to ask you something.”

“Ask,” said Kara. “Anything you want, you know that.”

Lena curled a finger around Kara’s chin and watched her eyes widen, first in confusion and then in nervous anticipation as Lena bent towards her and tilted her head just slightly to press their lips together.

At first Kara didn’t react and Lena thought she’d made a terrible mistake, but then something in Kara came around and she lunged onto the couch, pressing Lena down to the cushions.

“Lena,” Kara breathed. “What… how… do you… with me?”

Lena hugged her fiercely.

“Stay with me, Kara. That’s what I want. Stay with me.”

“Always.”

[tiny-pun]

The amount of fanfics I’ve read instead of books that were on my shelf or my lists is insane.

The amount of books I’ve read in order to read even more fanfics is insane too. Smh.

[humanonstrike]

I'd like to place an order for Supercorp please.

[frozen-moonlight]

LISTEN UP AND LISTEN UP GOOD

i had a weird dream that gave me an idea for a supercorp fic

so this will be my first post in this side blog, i want to share the begining of this fic so you can tell me if this is something you would like to read

(if you're interested in beta read this or any other of my fics just let me know)

so here it is what i have so far:

Kara's life had changed forever, everything happened too fast to make sense of and the ten months and twenty-nine days she spent in prison did not help her shed any light on the situation. If anything, everything seemed darker instead. Her life was absolutely and royally fucked, and she wasn't even sure how she ended up there. She was not who she used to be, no more Supergirl, no more Kara Danvers, she was but an empty shell at the bottom of the ocean. Prison was dehumanising, had broken her in ways she didn't know she could break and yet there she was, alive, her family was safe, and the world hadn't fallen apart. She did what she had to, the hero thing, the right thing, and it had destroyed her.

She had been out two days before she was supposed to. She didn't know why, and she didn't care. She was glad to be out. The therapist from the new "mental health program for persons deprived of their liberty" had been preparing her for the transition. Kara didn't know what she would've done without that program and often thought about all the women that had been in prison before it, especially the ones serving hard time. Kara had never seen the injustices of the legal and prison systems as clearly as she had in the past eleven months. No one, nor alien nor human, deserved most of the things she witnessed and suffered from.

She called Alex. "Hey," she said.

"Hello, Kara, are you okay?"

"I'm getting out today, in a couple of hours, could come pick me up?"

"Of course, I'll be there. I'm so glad you're getting out. I can't wait to take you home."

"Thank you, see you soon," with that she hung up the phone and went back to her cell.

The only stuff she had were the letters from Winn and from Elisa and some pictures of her and Alex and her friends. She hated that Winn had to end up in prison too, but at least she had someone who understood, even if Winn did have an easier time due to his father's reputation.

He kept telling her it wasn't her fault in every letter, and she kept apologising, it was her responsibility, she was the superhero, she was supposed to keep everyone safe, everyone, including him. Winn reminded her that he was in fact safe even if he was in prison. He was alive and so was pretty much everyone in National City, and it was all thanks to her, but it wasn't true, it wasn't thanks to her. Everyone, especially Winn, had sacrificed so much to keep everyone safe.

So maybe it wasn't her fault, but it was her responsibility.

When Alex picked her up, she hugged her as tightly as she could. She missed that, she missed being able to hug her sister. She missed wearing real clothes, and she missed seeing something other than walls. She missed the food. Alex ordered food even before they got to Kara's apartment.

Kara took a second to look around her apartment. It looked just like she left it. She imagined coming home so many times that actually being there didn't seem real. The thing she dreamed about the most, besides her bed, was her shower, so that was the first thing she did. While she waited for the water to warm up, she looked at herself in the mirror. She just stared at her reflexion until the mirror fogged up and that was when she truly saw herself.

 She had disappeared when Supergirl did. It was not the first time she had blown up her powers, but it seemed to be the last. After eleven months, they hadn't come back, and she didn't have any hope left. She was no longer a superhero. She was still an alien though. The sun gave her strength, but she was no longer super, her skin was still unbreakable, even though it took over three months for it to come back. She didn't have laser vision nor icing breath, and she could no longer fly. That was what she missed the most. She felt fragile and trapped in her own body. Those three months it took for her body to regain her strength were the scariest months of her life and even though her body was now strong again, she didn't feel strong at all, she felt broken and lost. She didn't know what the next step was, so she took a shower, put her comfiest clothes on and had dinner with her sister. 

The therapist told her that the only way to move on was to move on, to keep living, to remember what life was before prison was and to acknowledge that life was going to be different now, but that it wasn't over and Kara was going to try her hardest to continue with her life because she still had people that cared about her and that she cared about.

-

let me know what you think

-- Bloom

[not-another-npc]

Everything I know about clexa, supercorp, and wayhaught I've learned from AO3 😆

Be honest: Have you ever loved reading fanfiction for a pairing you don't actually know, without any intention to ever read or watch the actual source material?

[ekingston]

also on ao3.

So here’s the thing: by the time Lena notices the device taped to the bottom of her credenza—blinking red lights are such a giveaway, you’d think villains would stop using them—she’s already thoroughly done with her day. The only thing that’s kept her upright is the prospect of opening the bottle of Bowmore waiting for her on the top shelf of said credenza, so when the blinking red light turns a solid, menacing sort of yellow and pauses, Lena’s first reaction is less BOMB and more tired resignation.

(The second one is BOMB, because no matter how unimaginative her assassin may be, no matter how many times Lena stares down the barrel of a gun or lurches through the air in a failing aircraft, it isn’t something she’ll ever actually get used to.)

Her reflexes have gotten pretty good. It’s one of the perks of what her therapist has emphatically confirmed qualifies as PTSD. It’s also responsible for the three different avenues of escape Lena has installed around her office. Her reinforced desk now topples on a hinge; good for gunmen and small artillery, but too flimsy for her current predicament. There is a trap door by the couch, but it hasn’t worked properly since the incident with James. Lena’s best bet is the rappel rope outside her balcony. Its harness is based loosely on Lex’s suit design, clasping quickly around the body, but Lena fears she won’t be fast enough. So she tips the desk anyway, on her way out the door.

The hair on her arms picks up the abrupt change in air pressure before her ears register the sound of breaking glass. There’s no time to make sure the harness is locked in place before she jumps, taking her only shot at making it out alive. The way she sees it, there isn’t much difference between being a bloody smear on the wall of her ruined office or on the sidewalk outside her building.

Her descent begins to slow almost immediately, the belay device working to provide her with a survivable landing. Lena breathes out slowly. Another near-miss, she thinks, already schooling her features, ready to shrug it off like the others.

Then there’s a decisive snap.

For a moment, Lena is flying rather than falling. The air around her is like water, and she’s weightless. Even as she drowns in air, gasping for breath as it’s knocked from her lungs, she’s overwhelmed by the feeling that This Is Okay.

(Later, she won’t be able to figure out if it was her fatalistic streak or the strong arms wrapped around her that told her everything was exactly the way it should be.)

Supergirl has her, a blur of red and blue and soft, golden hair. Kara, Lena reminds herself. She’s still struggling to superimpose the two very different women Kara Zor-El once was—were? to her.

They land in an alley just off West Cordova Street. Lena only slowly becomes aware that there’s solid ground beneath her feet, because Kara is still holding on to her. She’s so close Lena can smell the metallic tang of her skin, the one she used to associate with hours spent tinkering in R&D. It represents to her a feeling of potential and contentment and joy, so it suits Kara perfectly, although Lena hasn’t allowed herself to dwell too much on why it does.

“Kara,” Lena says, but Kara interrupts her.

“I would have been too late,” she says, and Lena notes with consternation that Kara’s lip is trembling. Lena probably values her own life less than she should, but dying feels like a much more unfortunate possibility if it means Kara’s face might look the way it does now, and Lena wants to find the person responsible and make them hurt.

She’s feeling a little reckless—as usual after an assassination attempt—and Kara is still holding on to her, looking windswept and distraught. Lena can’t remember the last time someone looked at her with such focus, without even a hint of menace behind it. Before she thinks about it she’s reaching out, fisting a hand in that soft, soft hair, and then there it is—she’s kissing Kara, and it’s a much more uncomplicated, much more straightforward thing than Lena had made it in her head.

And really, Lena should have expected what happens next, because that’s the kind of day it’s been. The paparazzo is not discreet, the wide angle lens glinting in the sunlight at the end of the alley.

When National City’s gossip hounds stop by the newsstand the next morning, they’re intrigued—less by a Luthor and a Super finally locking lips than by what the paparazzo must have told them after she was caught taking their picture. Was it a flattering remark on how good they look together that had made them forgive her for invading their privacy? (They do—expect to see them on next week’s cover, already having been voted National City’s #1 hottest couple.) Was it a particularly bad pun that made Supergirl smile at her like that? (Supposedly Supergirl is a fan of bad puns.) Perhaps, they speculate, the paparazzo possesses some sort of superpower herself; surely nothing less than magic could have turned Lena Luthor’s resigned exasperation into amusement, or Supergirl’s disappointment into genuine glee.

The paparazzo remains anonymous. Only on her private social media does she share that all it had taken was a single phrase—spoken with the breathless reverence only a hopeless sapphic Super-fan could muster—that had made Supergirl turn her attention back to Lena with a questioning smirk and suggest that, if a picture of them kissing was going to be plastered all over the tabloids, it had better be a spectacular kiss.

So it’s funny when the very same words—albeit paraphrased slightly—begin to pop up in every forum where the picture is shared over the following days:

“Damn. You’re going to be personally responsible for both the dramatic death and the ecstatic resurrection of every single lesbian on the planet.”

The original art & caption this is based on.

Written for the multi-fandom flash fiction challenge. Give it a whirl!

[supercorpkid]

North

Supergirl. Supercorp. Lena Luthor x Kara Danvers.

Word Count: 4.5k

Notes: loosely inspired by Clairo's song 'North'.

The key sticks in the lock. 

Of course it does. The house has been abandoned for years—so long Lena forgot it even existed until she needed somewhere no one would think to look.

The door groans open, and stale air breathes out like something exiled and forgotten. She doesn’t step inside. Not yet. Just stands there, one hand still on the key, trying to summon something—anything—from this place.

If she stares at the couch long enough, maybe a memory will surface. Lex and Lillian playing chess. Lionel with his whiskey, some heavy book cracked open on his lap. Maybe a younger version of herself curled by the fireplace, small and shadowed, just trying to be unnoticed.

But nothing comes. Not even when she forces it.

Her mind is playing tricks on her, because the only voice she hears—the only presence she feels—was never here.

Kara Danvers doesn’t even know this house exists. And still, Lena swears she can hear her, “Hey Lena, come snuggle on the couch and watch a movie.” She shakes her head as if to shake the voice inside her brain off.

The place smells like dust and old wood, varnish gone sharp with time, a ghost of lakewater and damp earth. But when Lena breathes in, it’s Kara she feels in her lungs. 

That’s why she left. That’s why she ran. Because everything in her penthouse smelled like Kara. Like sunlight and laughter, like warmth that creeps in on you. It smelled like sweet nothings and heavy comfort. Sun-warmed cotton, bare skin, and smooth-talking.

It clung to her pillows. Her couch. Her clothes. It haunted the house with invisible hands, brushing over her shoulders, curling against her spine.

Kara stayed over.

Just like that. No excuse. No justifying why she didn’t go home. She curled up on the couch with Lena like she belonged there. Head on Lena’s thigh. Gentle fingers tracing the seam of her trousers. Not sexual. Not not, either.

“You always smell like lavender. It's my favorite.”

Lena didn’t know what to say. Her heart was already beating too hard. Kara had looked up at her with those wide blue eyes and smiled like she’d just said something innocent.

In bed, later that night, she pushed it further.

Whispered as a secret in the quiet of the night, under the same darkness, surrounded by the same blanket, “Goodnight, my heart.”

And Lena's heart, god, it screamed. All of the sudden there were flashing lights. Sirens in her bloodstream. Every nerve buzzing like something terrible was about to happen—because something always does. When she lets someone close enough to touch the parts of her no one should reach—awful things happen to everyone involved.

She’d said nothing. Turned her back to Kara and stared at the wall like it might save her.

But it didn’t. Because Kara stayed the night. And in the morning after, she made coffee like it was her kitchen. She danced around in socks, humming some stupid song under her breath, calling Lena love like Lena had earned it. But…

Did she?

Lena could feel herself splitting down old fault lines. Cracks she’d plastered over years ago beginning to open again.

So she ran.

No note. No goodbye. Just a bag thrown together in ten minutes and a car aimed north.

Now the lake stares back at her through tall windows like it knows the truth.

This wasn’t supposed to be her story. She wasn’t supposed to be the one who fell first. She should’ve had the upper hand. The control. The distance. All the things she learned in this very house—maybe, probably—to wield like weapons.

But Kara had gotten under her skin. Sweetly. Softly. Like honey. Like flowers growing under your feet. Like something that gets you before you even notice it's there.

And somehow, impossibly, Kara is still here. In the creak of the floors. In the way the light moves across the walls. In the ache behind Lena’s ribs that won’t subside.

How is it that Kara's warmth seems to have followed her all the way here, when it should be a place filled with nothing but resentment and expensive art?

Lena drags herself upstairs. The bed is enormous. Cold. Blinding white. Too Luthor.

She strips it bare.

The old sheets go in a pile on the floor. She buys new ones. Drives an hour into town to make sure they’re not satin, not high thread count, not something Kara would sink into with a smile. These are scratchy. Beige. Soulless. That’s what she needs.

She buys too much food. A way to tell herself that she is here to stay. That, this time, she won't shake this feeling in two to three business days. No. This time, it's deep. Nestled inside her like marrow and she knows she will need weeks to get over her love for Kara Danvers. 

Maybe— maybe she even knows she will never truly get over it. She just needs to be functional before going back to National City.

There's a text on her phone, when she glances down at it. Kara’s name. That stupid heart Lena had added next to it. Pink. Soft. Mocking.

It’s not the Luthor way, she tells herself. Then again, perhaps it’s the most Luthor thing she’s ever done—this brand of operatic madness. Because she’s out the door before she can stop herself.

Underwear and a T-Shirt. Nothing else. Not even shoes.

She runs and runs—through grass, down the slope, straight to the edge of the lake. Breath ragged, chest burning. She keeps running.

And then, she stops just short before the water meets her toes and flings her phone so far into it, she knows she will never get it back. 

She doesn't even know what the text said. It doesn't matter. A hello at this point could have killed her.

She stares at the lake for about ten minutes until it dawns her, whoa—that was dramatic. And completely unnecessary. The superwatch is still perfectly fastened to her wrist, of course. Because while she may have lost her mind for a second, she’s not insane enough to throw that into the water.

She draws a breath and turns toward the house. Resigned. She walks back up the slope with wet grass clinging to her ankles and mud drying on her calves. Every step heavier than the last. By the time she makes it back inside, she wants to scream.

Because—what was that? What was all of that?

The sleepovers. The touches. The pet names. The way Kara looked at her in the mornings like it was already theirs, like Lena was something she could keep.

And then—nothing.

No explanations. No confessions. No kiss. 

Never a kiss. 

Was it all a game? Was she just… practice? A warm place to land until Kara figured out who she really wanted?

Lena knows Kara. Knows her heart, or thought she did. And she wants to believe that Kara wouldn’t play with her like that. That she wouldn’t be cruel.

But what if she is just too good at it?

That’s the part Lena can’t stand—the possibility that none of it meant anything. That Kara can smile and touch and whisper like that, and still walk away unscathed. That she can call someone my heart like it’s nothing.

And maybe Lena was foolish for believing it. For letting herself think that this could be different. That Kara—sweet, sunny, ever-loyal Kara—could see her, really see her, and still stay.

Lena rips open the fridge. The door bounces back from the force of it. She stares inside like it's supposed to offer her answers, and then laughs—a bitter, hollow sound that barely makes it out of her throat.

She’s angry now. And it’s better than being sad.

Because it hits her—how pathetic she must’ve looked. Curled up on the couch with Kara. Letting her lay there, tracing lines onto her trousers like that didn’t mean anything. Like she wasn’t branding Lena at that moment. Whispering things no one had ever said to her before and expecting her to survive it.

And what did Lena do?

She smiled. She let it happen.

God, what kind of Luthor was she? A bad one. One that would be scrutinized if anyone else from her family had seen.

She was twelve. Sitting in the lounge of this very house, legs tucked up under her as she watched Lex play chess against their mother. Lillian didn’t even glance at her as she moved a rook and said, flatly, “People who are soft don’t get to win.”

Lex had chuckled, cruel and easy. “People who are soft get turned into weapons.”

Lena had pretended not to care, pretended it wasn't about her they were talking about. Had pretended her heart wasn’t cracking just a little when Lionel looked up from his whiskey and said, “See, Lena. You have to learn that no one will like you if you’re soft.”

She stares at herself on the nearest shiny surface. Her hair’s a mess. Her eyes are red. She looks like someone who didn’t learn.

Kara had walked right into her life with sunshine and sweetness and meant it, and Lena still managed to fall for it like a fool. Like a Luthor desperate to believe she could be loved.

No. No.

This was her mistake—thinking she could be soft. Thinking she could lay back and let someone like Kara hold her and stay the night without consequences.

She grips the counter tighter.

If she’s going to break, she’ll do it on her own terms.

The wine doesn’t even taste good.

She finds it in the cellar, one of the few things in this house she vaguely remembers liking. Dusty bottles, stupid labels, vintage worth more than most people’s cars. She doesn’t care. Just pops the cork with shaking hands and drinks straight from the neck, mouth tilted, jaw tight.

She finishes and starts another bottle in the same breath. Manages to get halfway through it, before she stumbles her way upstairs again. Leaves her clothes in a trail behind her like she’s shedding everything Kara ever touched.

The sheets are beige. Soulless. Chosen for their lack of memory. And yet…

She throws herself into the bed—and freezes. The scent hits her before she’s even fully underneath. That fucking smell.

Not Kara, not exactly. Not like her skin or her perfume. It’s subtler. But it’s there. That warm cotton softness, that trace of vanilla from Kara’s shampoo. The smell of safety. Of being held.

And Lena chokes on it.

“No,” she whispers, fists already twisting the pillow, dragging it out from under her to throw across the room. “No—no—no.”

She tears the blanket off, throws it down, tears at the sheets like they’ve betrayed her. Which they have. Which everything has.

“I bought these. I chose them,” she says, voice rising, cracking. “You’re not supposed to be here. You’re not supposed to be anywhere near me.”

But Kara always was good at sneaking in.

Even now, even here—hundreds of miles away, behind locked doors and miles of dirt road—Kara got in anyway.

That’s what breaks her.

Not the wine. Not the bed. Not the house or the lake or even the fucking text she never read.

It’s the realization that no matter how far she runs, she still brought Kara with her. Kara Danvers is in her blood now. Every breath tastes like her. Every ache leads back to her.

She sinks to the floor beside the bed, knees drawn to her chest, arms around them like a cage. And then the tears come. Angry. Humiliating. Loud.

Not the elegant kind that slides down cheeks like poetry—no, these are the kind that rip their way out. Ugly. Shaking. Snotty.

“I hate you,” she sobs into her own arms. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you—”

But she doesn’t. God, she doesn’t.

And that’s the worst part.

She presses her face into her arms and tells herself it’ll pass. That she’ll wake up tomorrow and feel nothing.

But the ache only gets louder.

Because right now, she doesn’t believe Kara ever meant it. Not really. Not the hand warm on her tight, not the pet name, not the staying over, not the never leaving.

And that’s the part Lena can’t forgive.

She cries until her throat hurts. Until she’s gasping more than sobbing. Until her body is wrung out and her skin feels too tight for her bones.

Eventually, she drags herself into the bed again—not because she wants to, but because the floor is cold and she’s shivering. The sheets are still warm from her outburst, but the smell lingers. She hates that it’s in the fabric, hates that it’s in her. That even now, Kara feels closer than anyone else ever has.

She stares at the ceiling in the dark, blinking through the leftover tears, and lets the silence press in around her. No phone. No noise. Just her, alone in the bed she tried so hard to make sterile.

She wants to hate her. But Kara never gave her a clean wound. Only the kind that keeps reopening.

She kind of wishes Kara had kissed her and then disappeared. Slept with her and then laughed. Lied, cheated, done something she could hold like a weapon. But Kara hadn’t done anything like that. She’d just stayed. She’d lingered.

She’d said things like goodnight, my heart.

And Lena—idiot, idiot—she’d believed it.

That’s what gets her again. The punch of it. The humiliation of how deeply she let herself believe. Like some wide-eyed farm girl in a high school movie, not someone raised by wolves in thousand-dollar suits.

“Luthors weren’t built to be this stupid,” she mutters bitterly into the mattress.

But she was. Somehow, she was.

Because when Kara smiled at her like that—when she touched her hair like it was silk, and called her love like it meant something—Lena believed her.

And now she doesn’t know how to stop feeling Kara in her bones.

She’s surviving on tears. And anger. And wine, obviously.

Usually, by now, she would’ve gotten over it. She would’ve reasoned with herself—told herself it was ridiculous. That having this many emotions about one person is not only unhealthy, but maniacal.

She’s not Lex. She’s not about to become the kind of person who spirals over Kara Danvers like he did over Clark Kent.

Only… Lex didn’t want Clark to kiss him breathless and say he was in love.

Or maybe he did. It would explain a lot more.

Maybe Clark played with Lex’s feelings the same way Kara plays with hers.

Kara leaned in too close one night, in the penthouse. Close enough that Lena could see her own breath stutter in Kara’s glasses. Close enough that when Kara whispered something—I swear this lipstick drives me insane—and then kissed her cheek like it was nothing. She thought she would die.

But her hands had stayed on Lena’s hips for a second too long. Her eyes had dropped to Lena’s mouth like they’d meant to.

And Lena, like a fool, had tilted forward.

Just slightly. Just enough to ruin everything.

But Kara only smiled. Like Lena had misread the whole thing. Like they were playing some game Kara never agreed to start.

And then she’d left.

Went home like she hadn’t just lit Lena’s entire ribcage on fire and walked out before watching it burn.

Maybe it wasn’t even romantic. Maybe it never was.

Maybe Kara’s just doing that thing people do—keep your friends close, your enemies closer. Whispering sweet things to keep her soft. Keeping her roped in, just in case. For leverage. For safety. So she’ll always know where to find her, if she needs to.

Maybe that’s all Lena ever was. A safety net. A contingency plan with good taste in wine and a huge bed Kara liked sleeping in.

Because how else do you explain it?

How else do you explain the way she keeps coming back? The way she touches Lena like it’s second nature and then pulls away like she didn’t mean it? Like Lena imagined the whole thing?

God, maybe she did.

Maybe that’s the real Luthor curse—not the madness or the ambition or the name carved in stone—but the delusion. The desperate, pathetic hope that someone like Kara Danvers could ever mean it when she calls her love.

Before she realizes, it’s been a week.

Look, Lena is a pathetic mess when it comes to Kara Danvers. But she’s better than that. She’s smart. Resourceful. Half a Luthor—for whatever that's worth.

So she comes up with a plan. A damn good one.

She keeps herself busy with the stupid house. Cleans it. Throws things away. Hides others in the basement. She gives herself a clean slate. Somewhere she can almost see herself living for real. After all, she does have a portal.

But when her mind plays tricks on her, she has a contingency plan.

She runs. Down the slope and straight into the freezing lake, until her body is fighting just to survive. Until the cold shocks her brain quiet again.

It isn’t a perfect system, but it helps.

Until it doesn’t.

It works until she’s dragging herself out of the lake, soaked and shivering and breathless—only to see Kara standing at the edge. Just waiting. Her mind is either powerful enough to conjure Kara here, or she’s been found.

She freezes.

Literally and figuratively.

Kara says nothing at first. Just looks at her like she’s not cold, not dripping, not trembling from the inside out. Like she’s something Kara’s been watching for a long time.

Lena wants to scream.

Instead, she walks right past her. Leaves a trail of lakewater and bruised dignity all the way up to the house.

“Wait—”

Kara follows. Of course she does.

“I’ve been texting. You just disappeared, and I had no idea—”

Lena slams the door behind her like it might keep the words out. Like it might keep her out. Even though she knows Kara is strong enough to break it open if she wants to.

“Ever think I didn’t want to see you?” Lena snaps through the door. Her voice shakes more than she means it to.

No way—no fucking way—she’s letting Kara into this house. It’s been hard enough trying to scrub away the smell of memories, the echoes of touch, the look Kara left her with.

“Lena.”

It comes out in that stupid, pleading tone Lena hates. Or loves. The one only Kara ever uses. The one no one else would dare use. The one she’s addicted to.

Kara’s at the window now. Hand pressed to the glass like she could reach through it.

Lena blinks hard. Maybe she’s still hallucinating. Maybe Kara’s just a trick of the cold.

But when she opens her eyes again—

“Lena, please. Let’s talk.”

It makes Lena laugh. Sharp. Bitter. It bounces off the clean walls she’s spent a week pretending weren’t the ruins of her heart.

“Why are you running?” Kara asks. “Why were you half-naked in a freezing lake all the way up north, alone? Why are you acting like I’m the reason for all this?”

A shiver crawls down Lena’s spine.

She realizes, belatedly, she’s still mostly naked—and freezing. She grabs the robe by the door, perfectly placed from all the other times she’s had to defibrillate her emotions back into submission.

Still, the shiver doesn’t stop.

Because Kara is right there on the other side of the glass, asking all the questions Lena thought she’d buried. The ones she thought they’d both already answered.

“Let me in?” Kara says. So softly it nearly undoes her. It’s the gentlest thing Lena’s ever heard. It makes her knees shake.

“I have let you in. So many times.”

Kara’s lips part like she might argue—but she doesn’t. Of course she doesn’t. She just stands there, blinking like she wasn’t expecting that.

Lena laughs again. Bitter. Broken. “You want to talk? Now? After all this time pretending there was nothing between us?”

“I wasn’t—” 

“Yes, you were,” Lena cuts in. “You always were. Pretending it didn’t mean anything when you looked at me like that. When you touched me like that. Like it was nothing when you whispered things no friend would say and left before I could answer.”

She’s shaking again. Robe clenched in both fists like armor.

Kara’s eyes go wide. “That’s not— I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

“No,” Lena says, stepping forward, voice low and sharp. “You were just trying to keep me. Keep me around. Keep me wanting you so you’d never have to decide if you wanted me back.”

Silence falls. Heavy. Too big for the room.

Kara looks down. “That’s not fair.”

“No,” Lena agrees for an entirely different reason. “It isn’t.”

They stare at each other through the glass. Kara looks like she might cry. Lena already is—but the tears are stuck somewhere between fury and ache.

“You don’t get to show up here like this. You know why I ran. You’ve always known.”

Kara presses her forehead to the glass. “Baby. Please. This isn’t how we should talk.”

“Like what? With something between us?” Lena huffs a laugh. “This is the only way I can talk to you—so you don’t sneak in again and tear down all my walls and make me love you like I’ve never been hurt.”

Kara doesn’t flinch. She just watches her. Tender and unflinching. Like Lena's breaking along the same fault lines Kara has traced with her hands a thousand times before.

“I never snuck in,” Kara says quietly. “You let me. Every single time.”

Lena’s breath stutters.

“And every single time, you ran. When it got close. When it got good. You ran.”

Lena stiffens. “Don’t turn this on me—”

“I’m not, I’m not blaming you. I’m just saying I knew. I saw this coming.”

Lena blinks fast. Her voice drops. “I thought if I stayed gone, you’d stop caring.”

Kara shakes her head. “I thought if I gave you space, you’d come back when you were ready. Like you always do.”

Lena just stares at her, like seeing her for the first time. Like something she believed is quietly cracking apart inside her.

“I keep trying to reach you, but every time, you disappear. You know it’s not just me, Lena.”

A breath catches in her chest. She follows Kara’s eyes to the door. "Please?”

And that does it.

With trembling fingers, she unhooks the latch. The door creaks open like even the house is holding its breath.

Kara doesn’t move.

Lena breathes in, sharp and shallow. “I hate you for being right.”

“I know.”

“I hate that I still—” Her voice breaks.

“I know.”

Kara steps in. Slowly. Carefully. Like approaching a wounded animal, unsure if it’ll bite or collapse.

“I didn’t come here to win,” she says. “I didn’t come to pull you back.”

“Then why did you come?”

“To be here. If you want me to leave, I will. But I couldn’t let you think I didn’t care.”

Lena’s lip quivers. She stares at Kara like she’s trying to find all the parts of her she’d rewritten as apathy. As abandonment.

“I thought you didn’t want me,” she whispers.

“I’ve always wanted you.” Kara says it so fast, so sure, there’s no room left for doubt. “But you have to want it too. You have to want it enough not to run when we’re close. When we’re almost there.”

Lena looks away—and this time, the tears come. Quiet. Unstoppable.

“I know you’re scared,” Kara says, softer now, each word wrapped in care. “I know they taught you to question everything—especially love. But you don’t have to question mine.”

And something in Lena breaks. She exhales like there’s a crack in her chest—like something old and heavy has finally given way.

“I thought you were playing with me,” she whispers. “Because it was convenient. Not real.”

Kara flinches, her face folding like the words physically hurt. “Lena, you’ve always been real. I want to give you everything. I just need you to stay when it gets real. We have to stop doing this to each other.”

Lena wipes her face and finally meets her eyes. “I always thought it was you pulling away… but maybe it’s been me. This whole time.”

Kara steps closer. Still not touching. Just there—radiating warmth like sunlight through winter glass, soft and sure.

“Let me stay?” she asks. “Let me in again?”

Lena’s voice is barely a breath. “And if I want you to stay forever?”

Kara’s smile is huge, warm, uncontainable. Like the sun breaking into the house, rewriting its history. It reaches the darkest, dustiest corners. And it does even more in Lena’s heart.

“It’s the only way I know how when it comes to you, my heart.”

Lena doesn’t speak. She just breathes Kara in like she’s been underwater for days and only now found air again.

Then, quietly, like the words might break her even more than silence already has, “Hold me?”

Kara doesn’t answer. Doesn’t need to.

She steps forward and wraps her arms around Lena, careful at first, like she still might be pushed away. But the second their bodies meet, Lena exhales, a choked sound against Kara’s shoulder. She’s still shivering, damp and cold, but Kara’s warmth is immediate, all-consuming, the kind of heat that sinks into bone. And so she just melts.

Her arms circle Kara’s waist like she’s anchoring herself to something real for the first time in days. Maybe longer.

Kara pulls back just enough to cup Lena’s face, her thumbs brushing the tears away like they don’t scare her, like she wants to touch every part of the pain and still stay.

Lena’s eyes flutter shut, then open again. Steady now.

“No more waiting,” she says, voice raw. “No more running. Make me yours in a way none of us can deny anymore.”

Kara’s breath catches. Her gaze flicks to Lena’s lips like it’s instinct—like she’s been holding back for years and suddenly can’t remember why.

She kisses her.

Soft at first—reverent, trembling with everything they just said. But Lena makes a sound, a tiny, desperate thing in the back of her throat, and Kara deepens it without hesitation. Her hands slide into Lena’s hair, pulling her closer like she’s trying to fuse them together. Like there’s no world beyond this room, this kiss, this moment.

And Lena burns. From the inside out. With just a kiss, Kara surrounds her again. The warmth creeps in slow and steady—the smell of vanilla, sun-warmed cotton, and bare skin. It’s everywhere. It wraps around her like a weighted comfort, like coming home.

And Lena wonders, dazed and breathless, why she ever ran from this. Because this—this feeling, this touch, this one person—is the best she’s ever had.

When Kara finally parts their lips for air, Lena already knows what’s coming. Knows it like a vow. A promise etched deep into something eternal.

“No more dancing at the edge of us,” Kara murmurs.

And Lena, heart thudding, voice barely more than a breath, answers with her own vow—soft but certain: “No more hiding our feelings.”

Kara lifts her like it’s easy, like it’s always been meant to be, and Lena wraps her legs around her without hesitation. She’s laughing through her tears now, breathless, alive.

She used to think love like this would ruin her—but it’s the only thing that ever made her brave enough to stay.

[natalievoncatte]

They didn’t know Alex was watching them.

She was the only one awake- Kelly was sleeping in near silence, her breath tickling Alex’s throat, as her head lay pillowed on Alex’s chest. After the reception had formally drawn to a close, the core group, the Superfriends, had all moved on to the sprawling mansion that Lena had generously rented for them to inhabit for a few days before Alex and Kelly left for their proper honeymoon.

Alex was the only one awake. They’d all be tired and hadn’t even finished the drunken game of monopoly they’d begun for old time’s sake. Kelly had changed out of her wedding dress and Alex out of her suit and they lay curled up on a loveseat beside the crackling fireplace. Nia and Brainy were in a similar state on the couch. Between them all, Kara’s little doggie monopoly piece remained where it had last landed on Park Place, forcing her to declare bankruptcy and, of course, end up ceding all her deeds to Lena.

The game was essentially over at that point and everyone knew it, so the drinking began to lubricate the passing of stories and telling of tales. A second buzz in the same day always hit harder than the first and everyone fell asleep where they sat, except Alex.

She had a sick terrible feeling in her stomach, not of regret surely, but a dread she had trouble explaining. It finally hit her as she watched the firelight dance across Kara’s features.

Something had changed. Something was over, a page turned to a new chapter. One where, Alex somehow knew, their lives would no longer revolve around alien insanities and mystical calamities. The world was settling, shuffling back to the state it was in before Kara caught that plane all those years ago and announced herself to the world.

A more normal time, calmer, changed perhaps in many ways but just… life.

Now that Alex was at the threshold with her toes curled back from it and unsure if she was ready to cross, she felt a little loss. Her future was looking less superheroic and more soccermometic; Kelly had her two-thirds of the way convinced to reactivate her medical license and join a practice. When everyone talked about their futures the sounded mundane, even Kara was more excited about her big new job and chasing her dreams.

Wait.

Alex was wrong. Kara was awake, she was just so utterly entranced that one might be misled into thinking that she was merely dreaming.

Kara and Lena somehow ended up in a wide chair together, curled up in a tangle of limbs, wrapped in Kara’s cape as a blanket. Lena was tucked in under Kara’s chin on Kara’s lap, clearly in a deep, peaceful sleep.

Kara, however, was very much awake. She held Lena in a particular way, at once shockingly gentle and fiercely protective, making a fortress of her arms. Kara was intently focused on her chair-mate, either staring at her with the most pitiful expression of fear and anxiety or nuzzling her nose into her dark curly locks and sighing.

Alex frowned, unsure what to do or say. Her sister looked pained, as pained as Alex had ever seen her. She knew for a fact that she and Lena weren’t fighting- they spent more time together than ever now; it had started with them effectively splitting their time between their respective apartments but over the last couple of months had shifted to Lena, for all intents and purposes, shacking up with Kara. They spent no more than one night in ten apart and of those nine they were together, eight seemed to be at the loft.

Whenever Alex set foot inside, Lena was simply there, for no special or particular reason, the two of them just sharing the same space casually and naturally.

So why did Kara look so broken?

“Hey, kiddo,” Alex whispered. “Why the long face?”

“I can’t talk about it now.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t.”

“You guys didn’t have a fight or something, did you?”

Kara was quiet for a time.

“I think I waited too long.”

“For what?” said Alex.

“Don’t you know?”

Alex furrowed her brows, watching intently. Lena stirred, perhaps nudged towards consciousness a little by their murmured conversation and the urgency in Kara’s soft voice.

Then it hit her. Indeed, it struck her like a physical force. Kara looked down at Lena again and Alex gasped at the realization, wondering how the hell she had missed this, of all things.

She’s seen Kara smitten before, like she’d been with Kenny or the fuckboi from the dickhead planet. That was different. That was not this. Kara looked at Lena like she might not be able to breathe if she let her out of her sight.

Oh. Oh shit.

“We’re all moving on with our lives,” Kara whispered. “Taking new jobs, getting married, starting new careers. What happens when she’s too busy for me, Alex? When she finds somebody else and wants a real family and a real life and not… whatever we’re doing? What happens when…”

Kara must have noticed, her incredibly unfair super senses alerting her even before Alex noticed that Lena was awake, her blue eyes dark and soft in the flickering light.

Total silence fell over the room; all Alex could hear was Kelly breathing against her.

“I have a real family, Kara,” Lena said, softly. “They’re right here. You’re right here.”

“Lena?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Lena said, lifting her head gently from Kara’s face. “Ever. I promise.”

They stared at each other for long heavy moment and said nothing. Kara’s eyes were so soft, her gaze so heavy with love, beyond love, adoration, almost worship. Lena gave her a little smile and looked up at her through her lashes.

“Oh for fucks sake, will one of you just goddamn do it already?” Alex blurted.

To her surprise, or maybe not, it was Lena who crossed the gap, who sealed the deal. She was the one who kissed Kara but in moments it didn’t matter who started it, and Kara simply stood and lifted Lena with superhuman ease and was already carrying her up the stairs.

Silence again fell on the room.

“Querl,” Nia said, from the couch.

“Yes?”

“You’re from the future.”

“Indeed.”

“You knew the whole time, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Oh come on!” Nia snapped.

“I’m trying to sleep,” said Kelly, prompting Alex to snort.

Finally, they all did.

[nottawriter]

I commissioned @iwishicoulddrawheatherforaliving for this piece based on a fic by @snowydragonscave

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50632990

It's a beautifully written Kara & Lena fic that really spoke to me and Gracie's art is so perfect.

Thank you both for creating such great Supercorp content 💙❤

[sssammich]

fic: angels work the night shift (complete version)

what's up yall happy supercorp sunday

this is the full fic of this snippet i posted a couple days ago

read the fic on ao3, 9k words

ok thx love u bye

--

"Fucking shit."

Lena rifles through the small stack of papers sitting beside her purse in the front passenger seat and realizes with great annoyance that the paperwork that Sam, her Chief Financial Officer, sent over isn't in there. She would have let it go and finally driven home were it not for the meeting about said paperwork early the next day.

Shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath, she attempts to cool the frustrations that's fraying the last of her sanity, and reaches out for her purse before heading back out of the underground parking lot and towards her private elevator.

Standing in front of the shiny reflective doors, her mouth curves down when she inspects her appearance, the bags under her eyes more prominent despite the makeup she has to cover it, her once tightly pulled high ponytail looser now, hanging limp behind her. Her cream satin blouse hangs on her thin frame, the bottom of it having come loose from where she'd tucked it in her navy blue pencil skirt. A pitying sight, if she's being truthful, but the accompanying pity party will need to be postponed until after tomorrow's meeting—no doubt a means for members of the board to undermine her at every turn while the ship sinks.

There doesn't seem to be any clear path to any real reprieve for her after inheriting the family business, not after her own brother, the touted Man of Tomorrow, had been arrested for murdering their father and placing their mother in a coma.

Eventually, her elevator reaches the top floor of her office suite and she straightens, internally waving away the thoughts of what her life has become, what her family has become. She has no control over those things, but she does have control of finding that stupid file she left on her desk that she will undoubtedly spend the next couple of hours detangling until she succumbs to exhaustion.

The elevator doors opens to her floor and she beelines for her office, alarm tingling when she looks at her door sitting ajar.

Her pace slows despite the persistent ache in the ball of her left foot and the sting on the heel of her right. She narrows her eyes, clutching her purse tightly in hand, and running through a mental list of what she can use inside of her purse for defense. When she reaches the door, she tilts her head and peeks through the sliver of space between, finds her desk lamp has been turned on. There are sounds of movement, footsteps, and something she can't quite make.

Then she hears…humming.

Narrowing her eyes, she grasps the edge of her door and pushes it slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves.

Her hand grasps the door's edge, carefully opening it only to discover a person with their back turned to her. Her eyes trail from the black sneakers to the powder blue overalls with the top half hanging around the person's waist. A black tank top serves as a backdrop to the blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, swishing back and forth as they move from side to side.

The woman turns a little, a mop in hand, as she uses the top of the mop handle as a microphone, singing some familiar tune that Lena can't quite place.

"All by myself, don't wanna be…"

The corner of Lena's mouth twitches into an amused smile when she realizes what she's looking at, or perhaps, who she's looking at, and how completely swayed and distracted they are with the music that they're listening to.

Lena's eyes are focused on this woman as she remains rooted in her place, watching this impromptu concert while the woman belts out the chorus of the song.

It's not until the woman opens her eyes and resumes the back and forth mopping that Lena realizes where she is and what she's doing there in the first place. Yet despite needing to collect the files at her desk, she's not sure if she should keep walking to her desk, make some kind of overt gesture or simply call out to the woman to signal her presence. She might have ended up taking too long because before she can make a decision, the clattering of a dropped mop handle reverberates in the room and a surprised shriek is coming from the woman who stands between Lena and her desk.

"Excuse me," she says.

The woman raises her hands up just as she pulls her headphones down. "I didn't—uh, who are you?"

"This is my office." As she goes to make a move towards her desk, the woman steps forward and blocks her, hands no longer up in the air and now towards her, as if to stop her.

The woman scrunches up her face. "I'm gonna need some i-identification. Ma'am."

Lena quirks a brow, but the woman remains with her hands up despite her demand. "You don't trust me?"

"Only until after you show me proof."

"And who's to say you're who you are?"

The woman frowns before straightening her shoulders, enough for Lena to discover that she stands broadly, arms exposed, before she taps on the ID badge clipped to her waist. "Kara Danvers. Overnight Custodial Specialist. Now you."

A beat passes, then another, before she tilts her head, attempting to bypass this Kara Danvers, but to no avail because Kara stops steps to block her again. "Do you know whose office you're cleaning?"

"Yes. Lena Luthor's."

"But you don't know what she looks like."

"Um."

"So how would you know the difference?"

Kara frowns, but she stands her ground. "I can call the security guards to confirm. Actually, that's what I'll do."

Lena then proceeds to watch as Kara stands between her and her forsaken paperwork as she quickly radios for security. She would have been annoyed about this whole thing if she wasn't also touched that this veritable stranger is doing everything in her power to protect her company. So despite being tired, Lena waits for security to respond and clear her.

"Hi Scooter, listen, I have someone here in Lena Luthor's office claiming she's Lena Luthor but isn't showing identification. I just want to confirm. Um, over."

"Copy that, Danvers. Please have the woman approach the radio."

She bites back a smile, already anticipating Scott's request (or in this case, Scooter's request, already making a mental note to ask about this nickname) for her. Instead, she stands up straight and watches as Kara approaches with the radio between them.

"Go ahead, Scooter," she starts, pressing on the radio's talk button, just shy of Kara's fingers as she holds the radio up. "Please ask what you need from me."

There's what she thinks is a throat clear, but can't be sure with the static of the radio. "Right. Please provide today's ten digit confirmation code."

She doesn't tear her attention away from staring at Kara and the blue of her eyes. "1-0-2-4-1-9-9-4-3-8."

"Confirmed. Danvers, she's clear."

"Thanks, Scooter. Sorry for the bother."

"Good work, Danvers. Over and out."

"Uh, over and out." Kara clips the radio by her name badge and offers an apologetic smile that crinkles the corner of her eyes. Lena attempts not to focus on that. "You're cleared. Sorry."

"Don't be," she says, finally able to walk towards her desk unimpeded once Kara steps back. She picks up the folder and quickly flips through it to confirm it's exactly what she needs before turning around and meeting Kara's gaze. "I appreciate and commend the thorough precaution. Certainly more thoughtful than what I've experienced as of late."

"Oh."

"Forget I said that," she says, with a shake of her head. "It's clearly been a long night."

She motions to walk away when Kara's words stops her.

"It's not fair, how they're hounding you in the news. "

She arches a brow. "You know my name and you know about the news surrounding me but you don't know what I look like?"

"Uh. I'm no good with faces," she says with a shrug, Lena noting the definition of her shoulder muscles before turning her attention back towards Kara's blue eyes. "Face blindness."

She nods, though she remains somewhat dubious. "I understand. Well, Kara Danvers, as lovely as this has been, I must be going."

Kara's body jerks up and nods. "Oh, shoot. You're right! Sorry, it's so late and I've just kept you here even longer. Sorry, Miss Luthor, ma'am. I don't—"

She puts a hand up. "Just Lena is fine."

"Right."

"Well, goodnight Miss Lu-Lena. Lena."

"Goodnight…" she intones, waiting until realization dawns on the blonde woman in front of her.

"Kara. Just Kara is also fine."

"Goodnight then, Kara."

She walks back to the door only chancing a glance over her shoulder and finding Kara giving her a small wave, the mop back in her capable hands. She smiles back, but her pace doesn't slow until she reaches the elevators.

---

Lena's ensuing weeks become a chaotic storm of meetings and court proceedings and hospital visits and escaping the nightmare of paparazzi and press hounding her for a glimpse of the LuthorCorp CEO.

Lena almost forgets about Kara Danvers until she finds herself back in her office after midnight.

She hadn't meant to stay this late in the office today, but she hadn't been able to break away after two back-to-back international conference calls with their satellite offices that needed to have her there.

Instead of using the coffee machine in her office, she decides to take a short trip a few floors down to one of the break rooms just to stretch her legs. She's only a few steps away from the break room when she hears singing. She recognizes the voice, surprised at how well she remembers it, an amused smile transforming her face.

"…but it's just a sweet, sweet fantasy baby…"

She carefully walks towards the threshold and, sure enough, finds Kara holding her phone with one hand and what Lena assumes is a mug of coffee in the other, her headphones on her head. Just like the last time Lena saw Kara, her overalls uniform has the top half wrapped around her waist, though this time, her tank top is white.

Lena doesn't move from her spot, afraid to make any sudden movements in case she startles the other woman. She waits and watches as Kara gets comfortable at a table, busy singing along to whatever she's listening to on her phone. The mug hovers by her lips when Kara looks up from her seat and finds Lena standing by the entrance.

Her shriek of surprise is worse than last time especially when she spills almost half of her coffee all over herself as she attempts to keep herself upright in her seat. Lena grimaces before she offers an apologetic and guilty smile and a wave.

"What the heck, lady!" Kara says, wrenching her tank top away from her body and squeezing it. Lena scolds herself for inappropriately checking her employee out, especially when she discovers tan skin under the now stained fabric.

"I'm sorry, Kara. I didn't mean to startle you again," she offers.

"Again?" Her face contorts in confusion and has Lena frowning because of it. Then a flash of recognition appears on Kara's face and her cheeks redden, her head bowed slightly. "Oh! Miss Luth—Miss Lena. Hi. Sorry, I didn't realize you'd be down here."

"I was hoping to make a cup for myself," she nods towards the half-empty cup sitting in front of Kara. "I didn't know how to make my presence known without startling you, but it seems I'd done it anyway."

"The fault is mine," Kara insists. "I should definitely stop listening to headphones while at work. But it's literally only me on these floors, so anybody showing up would for sure scare me."

With the misunderstanding resolved, Lena goes to the coffee maker. "Can I make you another cup?"

"Oh, that's okay. Probably for the best I don't have too much caffeine, then I won't be able to sleep later when I'm done with work."

Lena waits for the coffee maker's classic groan before placing the mug on the cup dock, her arms crossed over her chest while she leans against the counter and waits for her cup to fill.

"How long have you been working the overnight shift?" she asks.

"Almost a year next month. Started doing it because it's the best paying job I could get while going to school."

"Oh? May I ask what you're studying?"

"Um. Marketing. I take the evening classes and then head straight here."

She nods, processes the information that Kara shares with her. "Not passionate about marketing, I take it?"

Kara laughs, the sound melodic and bright, a start contrast to dark sky that blankets over them just outside the windows. "Not at all. But it's the program I was in before I deferred college a few years back, and I wasn't really sure what to go back into without starting over. So, marketing it is."

Puzzle pieces of Kara forms in Lena's mind, each one marked with all that she's shared so far in their short time together.

"If you could just do anything without worrying about starting over, what would you do?"

"Not sure. I like helping people whenever I can. But that could be anything."

"Is there anybody you admire and want to emulate, maybe?"

There's a half-smile on Kara's face and she turns her head slightly, her blonde ponytail swishing behind her. "Let me think on it and get back to you."

"You've got yourself a deal," she says before she gathers her coffee cup and walks over to the condiments, placing just one packet of sugar in her coffee. When she glances up, she catches the disgusted face on Kara's face. "Is there a problem?"

"That's not nearly enough sugar to offset the bitter taste of coffee."

It's her turn to laugh holding the cup just by her lips, the aroma of the coffee permeating her senses. "The coffee doesn't need anything else, Kara. It's good on its own."

"With all due respect, boss, but I'll have to disagree. Four packets of sugar and half a mug of creamer or bust."

Her jaw drops, aghast, and she twists her body as if to shield her coffee cup away from Kara who's flashing her a bright and pearly white smile. "That's atrocious."

Kara pouts, her elbows leaning on the table. "It's the only way to mask the nasty taste!"

"Then why drink coffee?"

"Because when you add all the good stuff, it's not so bad."

She shakes her head, wonders how she's possibly having this conversation. Though she'll admit it's the most pleasant interaction she's had all day. With a quick look at the clock on the opposite wall, she realizes that she's lingered far too long for someone who needed to have left the office hours ago.

"I'd hate to cut our conversation short," she starts to say, realizing how much she believes her words this time. "But I should be getting back to my office so I can finally head home." Kara jumps to her feet, the coffee stain on her tank top on full display that makes Lena's mouth twitch in a small frown. "Let me buy you a new one."

Kara looks down at herself before offering Lena a shrug and a grin. "No, no. My clumsiness is the true culprit here."

She wants to say more, poised to do just that, but her phone in her pocket chimes with emails pouring in from the other side of the globe.

"Duty calls," she says. "Goodnight Kara."

"Miss Lena."

There's an amused shake of her head when she meets Kara's eyes. "Just Lena really is fine."

"But you're, like, the super boss."

"Does being the super boss mean you can't call me by my name?" she wonders aloud.

"No. But you're the boss and I'm just a janitor." The smile on Kara's face is smaller this time, dimmer too, and her fingers have started fiddling with her stained shirt.

"Don't disparage the very vital work that you do around here, Kara. Without you maintaining order in my office, it'd look like a tornado made residence in there. Then what would the members of the board say when they strong arm their way in there and attempt to undermine my decisions?"

"Aye, aye." Kara flashes her a lopsided grin and throws her a mock salute. "For what it's worth, none of those old geezers stand a chance against you."

"I'll take it." She sighs and offers Kara a small smile. "Goodnight, Kara. Have a good rest of your shift tonight."

"Thanks. Sleep well—for, you know, for when you do."

She raises her mug to Kara before trekking back to the elevator and making her way back to her office.

---

Lena gets her assistant to order and discreetly wrap a stack of tank tops, in both black and white, delivered up to her office. She's not sure what to do now, how she should proceed. She has a business dinner tonight that she can't miss, so staying late in the office is not something she can do. She could always wait until the next day, but the idea of letting this half-baked idea fester any longer would only serve to intensify the anxiety she now feels for overstepping and being presumptuous.

She settles instead for scribbling a small note on the memo pad at her desk and signs it before folding it and placing it inside the bag. Buzzing her secretary in, she draws up an impassive face, her hand fiddling with her fountain pen.

"Jess," she begins when her assistant arrives just by her desk. "Have this bag delivered to Kara Danvers."

"Kara Danvers?"

"Custodial Staff."

"Right." Jess stares at her for a second before resuming her note-taking. "Anything I need to relay to her?"

"No. Simply that it's to be given to her at the start of her shift later tonight."

"Understood." Jess retrieves the bag from the couch and exits her office while Lena remains with the ball of nervous anxiety she's been nursing for the last couple of hours. It's almost a relief when she gets called down to the engineering lab to troubleshoot an engineering snafu, eager to set aside thoughts of Kara so she can actually get stuff done.

---

The next morning, Lena arrives in her office and finds a tented note resting at the center of her desk. She takes a second to put her workbag and coffee cup down before plucking the note up and turning it in her grasp.

She laughs when she reads Super Boss written in a neat combination of print and cursive. She flips the card open and reads,

Dear Lena,

Thank you for the replacement shirts that I received tonight. Even though I do recall mentioning that my clumsiness was the culprit and therefore the gift was not necessary. Appreciated, though you didn't have to.

But thank you, anyway. It was very sweet, and gave me the perfect excuse to throw away some of the older ones I was holding onto. Not the one that I spilled on, though. I'm keeping it for sentimental reasons. I've got it framed in my studio apartment as I write this, hanging right above my television and everything. I'm sure you understand.

Bonus points that my supervisor couldn't stop being nosy and wondering what was in the bag or why someone from your offices would hand deliver it for me. Maybe I'll tell him I was awarded new microfiber cloths. What do you think?

I hope you have a wonderful day, boss.

Kara

For the rest of the day, Lena fails spectacularly in keeping the smile on her face in check garnering slightly odd looks from her assistant and other employees.

---

It won't be for another three months that she finds herself staying late at the office, her life having become a whirlwind of chaos with her work and personal life blowing up for all the world to see: her mother, Lillian, had finally woken up from her coma, and Lena had been called to the stand to testify against her own brother.

Her choice of hiding in her office hadn't been planned, but the quiet of her office and the darkness bathing the room around her is enough for now.

She's sitting on her couch with her head in one hand and balled up tissues in the other, her decanter and an empty tumbler on the coffee table in front of her. It barely registers in her mind that there's rustling coming from her office door. She rushes to her desk, hand hovering underneath the silent alarm, her other hand clutching at her baton from her purse.

Yet when the door opens and she finds the same powder blue overalls with hanging by the waist and a tank top-wearing blonde woman, she sighs in relief at the familiar face.

Kara doesn't jump or startle this time, but she does end up standing by the door, a shocked expression on her face when she realizes that Lena's there. Quickly, she tugs at her headphones and offers Lena a smile.

"Who let you in here?" Lena's not quite sure how to respond to that, but it seems she doesn't have to when Kara walks in, pushing her cleaning cart forward, and realization dawns on her. "Oh, hi Lena."

She releases a wet laugh, her body loosening from the rigid posture she'd been holding. She releases the baton from her purse and moves her hand away from the silent alarm trigger, but doesn't otherwise leave her current station.

"How'd you realize it was me?"

"I didn't at first because your hair is down so I wasn't sure if that was you. But then I smelled your perfume."

Kara has pushed her cleaning cart all the way to her desk and they both look at one another. She wants to ask how Kara recognizes her perfume, but her fuzzy brain can't hold onto the thread long enough. Then, Kara asks, "Have you been crying?"

Lena sags against her desk this time, her head hanging low as her chin dips against her chest. "It's just been a very long day."

Kara slowly approaches her and extends a hand. "Wanna sit for a minute?"

She glances down at the outstretched hand, open and inviting, before looking back up at patient blue eyes. She nods, accepting what's offered to her as they make their way to the couch.

"My hand's clean, I promise."

She chuckles, throws a look at the woman beside her before she takes her seat on the couch. Kara takes a few short steps towards her cart and grabs a water bottle before walking around and sitting beside her.

"Here, drink some."

Accepting the water, she takes a few swigs, careful not to spill on herself. The cool water feels good as it makes its way down her parched mouth and sinks into her belly. It certainly has a better effect than the alcohol she's been nursing for the last hour. Kara is fiddling with something in her pocket for a few moments until she reveals three granola bars and two fruit leather strips.

"You take one, I take one."

"I couldn't take your snack, Kara. I shouldn't even be here right now."

"Sure you can. You gift me clothes, I gift you store-brand granola and Fruit-by-the-Foot knockoffs. It's a fair trade."

She eyes the snacks held in Kara's hand, the very same one that held her firmly just moments ago. She'd contest this, but she is tired beyond exhaustion, so she acquiesces, grabbing one of each and slowly peeling the wrapper of the granola bar. Kara mirrors her, peeling her own granola bar and taking a bite just as Lena takes a bite.

It's an odd thing to find herself in, Lena thinks, with one of her custodial staff sitting with her as she contends with the shambles that has become of her life. Still, there is comfort in Kara's presence, a lack of expectation from a woman who takes a moment to recognize her and doesn't immediately recoil when it dawns on her that she's a Luthor.

"Good, right?" Kara asks after she chews and swallows half the granola bar. "Got it on sale this weekend and bought two packs. So if you want another one, just let me know."

She's about to protest, but her stomach gurgles, her body betraying her in front of her visitor.

"Sometimes it's the little things, you know?"

She nods, though she can't imagine if there's any little thing left to enjoy in her life. Kara smiles at her, her cheek puffing slightly as she finishes the granola in her hand. Okay, perhaps there's one little thing to enjoy in her life.

Lena eventually moves onto the fruit leather, the inside slightly sticky as she unfurls the roll. She takes a tentative bite, the sweetness just on the edge of cloying, but all the same comforting.

"I don't know if I've ever had this," she confesses, inspecting the package in her hand.

"What? You're kidding!"

"I highly doubt I had processed foods until I was in boarding school, and even then, they had a highly specific diet the girls were supposed to follow."

Kara looks on at her in slight disbelief, but no apparent judgment directed at her. "This was one of the treats my parents used to have for me growing up. Usually as incentive to get my homework done."

"That sounds nice. What do your parents do?"

"My dad was a Chemistry professor and my mother was an adjudicator."

"Was?"

Kara offers her a small smile. "They passed some years back, car accident."

Her first instinct is to offer her condolences and apology for having asked, but the way Kara's looking at her makes her bite her tongue. Instead, she takes another bite of her granola, the two of them sitting in companionable silence. Then, "Were they good people?"

"Yeah, I think so. They tried to do right by me, at least. They weren't perfect, but they tried to do good where and when they could."

She wants to sob, a pressure of envy sits against her ribcage of a life she would never know: a family who tried to do good when they could, to do right by her to their best of their ability. Instead, she's left to pick up the pieces of her father's death, her mother's incapacitation, and her brother's imprisonment.

"You do that, you know." Lena's head snaps up to look at her, blinking away the shine of tears from her eyes to get a better view of Kara's face. "Try to do good, I mean."

Lena swallows the lump in her throat, her eyes focused on Kara as her brain attempts to process her words.

"Sorry, was that—was that out of line?"

She shakes her head. "No, not at all. It just took me by surprise. You might be the only person in the world who thinks that."

"There are more people who believe in you than you think."

An errant tear does manage to escape, and she rushes to wipe it with her free hand. "God, sorry."

Kara rummages through the pocket of her overalls and takes out an honest-to-god handkerchief. It's white with three simple blue parallel lines on one edge of the square. Lena wordlessly accepts it and uses it to dab at her face, hopeful that whatever makeup she must have smeared all over her face doesn't transfer on the fabric.

"Thanks."

"'Course."

"I didn't think people still carried handkerchiefs," she comments, clutching at the cloth in her hand—it's soft to the touch, softer than she'd imagined. Kara simply chuckles when she responds.

"People usually don't anymore. But my parents used to carry them, so..."

"That's sweet, carrying on their legacy."

"Something like that. They weren't perfect people and getting older without them let me see that. But I loved them. You know?"

Eventually, Lena recognizes how late it's gotten and that she ought to get some sleep. She requests for a car from security downstairs, gathering her belongings while Kara busies herself to clean her office. She's just about to put the bottle of liquor back in the bar cart when Kara calls out to her.

"Leave it. I'll take care of it, don't worry."

The phone dings in her other hand letting her know that her driver is waiting for her, so she makes her way towards Kara who now held the vacuum in front of her.

"Thank you, Kara. For tonight. It means…" she doesn't know how to end her sentence without simply blurting out an insufficient 'everything', how to thank this person for sharing parts of herself and keeping her company despite the isolation that Lena has felt so acutely tonight. She sighs, hopes that the sag of relief in her bones is enough to convey her appreciation. "Goodnight, Kara."

The brightness of Kara's smile directed at her is one she'll remember for the rest of her life, she thinks. "Sleep well, Lena."

Later, when she's sitting in the backseat, she'll realize with a slight panic that she's still clutching onto the handkerchief that Kara offered her. Knowing that she can't do anything about returning it tonight, she ends up pushing it up against her cheek, the softness of the fabric a comfort pressed up against her skin.

She closes her eyes and smiles.

---

The following week, Lena finds one box of granola bars and one box of fruit leather sitting on her desk with the same tented note at the top. Her face splits into a smile when she reads Super Boss in the now familiar handwriting.

Dear Lena,

For your personal stash.

Kara

She takes a fruit leather out and unrolls it, taking a bite of it first thing that morning before placing the two boxes in her side drawer. Lena barely hides the smirk when Jess walks in with her tablet in hand and gapes at her for a second when she catches sight of the snack in Lena's hand.

---

An international acquisition deal keeps Lena busy in the following couple of months. Her itinerary has her traveling to several countries in a short span. When she has a minute or two to spare, her mind wanders to thoughts of a particular employee, one who carries handkerchiefs and keeps her pockets stocked with granola and fruit leather. Lena had half a mind to return the handkerchief the very next day, but she couldn't get herself to relinquish her hold even after she'd washed it and folded it and placed it at her desk with her own note for Kara to see. Something about it gave her comfort and she wasn't sure she could give that up so easily right now.

While spending some time in Japan, Lena thought about the time difference, how her midday was right in the middle of Kara's shift. She wondered about what Kara was singing to at that moment, if she'd been trying a different flavor of granola bars, what color handkerchief did she carry while Lean held onto her white and blue striped one.

By the time she returns to National City, her sleeping schedule is completely out of sync despite her best efforts to control her caffeine intake. Which is why tonight she's in her office working late, various files and her barely touched Chinese food all over the coffee table.

When she hears rustling by her door, she checks her watch and pauses her work, her body twisted enough to see her visitor.

Kara appears in her usual uniform with her cleaning cart in tow. Kara stills at the door before her face slowly splits into a smile as she enters the office and walks right up to the couch.

"Working through the midnight oil?"

"More like jet lag has dictated how I spend my days and nights as of late."

"Well, at least you have Sister Liu's keeping you company tonight," Kara nods to her table.

She laughs, tries to clear up some of the papers that have littered her space. "I've not been a very good host to them, if that's the case. I think all I've had is a bite of my lo mein and two potstickers."

Kara gasps, her hands resting on her waist, well-defined arms on full display. "How can you possibly only eat three bites of the best Chinese food in the entire city?"

Lena sits up. "Why don't you have some."

"I couldn't possibly. Plus, I'm on the clock right now."

"Then take a break."

"Have you?" she challenges, but Lena can only shrug since she can't say that she has. "Besides, I can't eat your food, Lena! You haven't eaten any of it!"

"I have plenty to share, but it probably does need reheating."

Kara looks at her, narrowing her eyes, when she says, "Well then let's both take it to the breakroom downstairs and eat there."

She's about to protest when she reconsiders knowing that her work can wait. So she smiles up at Kara from her spot on the couch and nods.

Kara takes the lead in heating up her food before opening the cupboards and finding plates and utensils. She offers to help but Kara shoos her away, so she makes herself useful and pours them both glasses of water. When the microwave dings, Kara's quick to take out the plastic container before Lena can even get to it, a playful glare thrown her way.

"Go sit."

She quirks a brow. "Last I checked, I was your boss."

Lena then smiles when Kara throws her a cheeky eyeroll and says, "Okay. Go sit, boss."

Doing as she's told, she takes her place at the table and watches as Kara plates her once-forgotten dinner, portioning it perfectly for the two of them. It's a silly thing for her to imagine a life where this could happen, but they're not at work or her breakroom, but instead at home together. Kara's studio apartment or her penthouse perhaps. A dangerous thing to entertain in her mind, tempting as it is. Chalks this lapse of judgment to her frayed and fraught emotions.

Still, when Kara's face breaks into a smile as she sits across from Lena, she reminds herself that there's no harm for a little fantasy that will go nowhere. Least of all when it's after midnight.

From her seat, she watches as Kara takes an appreciative bite of her potsticker. "Man, they really have the best potsticker in the world. Even China, probably."

She laughs, shaking her head as she forks a bite of her own lo mein into her mouth. Lena surprises herself when she gets through her plate quickly, the hunger she'd staved off for the last few hours coming back in full force.

"See, Sister Liu's is the best," Kara announces when she tips her head towards Lena's now clear plate.

"It did come highly recommended from my assistant."

"Yeah, she and I have talked about it in passing. I was actually the one to put her on it, so I'm glad that my rec made it all the way to the top."

"I hadn't realized you were familiar with my assistant," she comments, attempting to temper the surprise in her voice.

"Oh, sure. I've seen her a few times when I come into work early on nights I don't have class. I'm usually hauling a takeout bag in while she's on her way out."

"Perhaps you can relay some food suggestions to her. I normally have her order from the same place most of the time."

Kara smiles at that. "You're talking to the right person, then."

"Oh?"

"Definitely. You'll eat good, I promise."

She doesn't doubt Kara at all, not when she's flashing Lena a bright smile. When they finish eating, Lena insists she washes the plates they used since Kara 'cooked'. The hearty laugh that fills the quiet break room replenishes a drought she can't identify inside of her. She laughs along as she passes the plates for Kara to dry.

It's so easy, here.

It's so easy, here, for Lena to forget where she is, who she is.

It's so easy, here, to imagine a life that isn't hers, with a woman who has delivered more joy and light in her life than she could have ever expected.

They eventually walk back to Lena's office, Lena's soul and stomach satiated, and she considers leaving the files as they are and heading home.

"Time to go?"

"I think so," she says, even as she covers her mouth from a yawn. "Leave the room as it is, I'll sort through these things in the morning."

"Might still do some light dusting," Kara says with a shrug. Then she puts her hand out to reveal a fortune cookie. "For the trip home."

"Keep it."

"No, this is your fortune. You have to keep it." Kara reaches out and takes Lena's hand before placing the fortune cookie in the center of her palm before curling her fingers carefully into a loose fist. "You have to eat the cookie first entirely before you read the fortune or it won't work."

She huffs, but nods. "I didn't realize there were so many rules. But okay. I will do as told."

Kara gives her a triumphant smile. "Good. Sleep well, when you do."

"Goodnight, Kara."

With a parting wave to Kara when the elevator doors close, she stare at the fortune cookie still in hand. She rips the plastic open and splits the cookie, careful to take heed of Kara's advice. By the time she reaches her car, she's already eaten the cookie, yet it's not until she's sitting in the passenger seat that she looks at the small slip of paper.

She laughs when she reads her fortune.

Your heart will skip a beat.

---

Lena arrives in the office a bit tired but in good spirits, greeting Jess with a smile. Walking into her office, she shakes her head when she sees the clutter she'd made the night before cleared up, the files stacked neatly. She finds a colorful spread of papers at her desk and smiles when she sees the familiar scrawl on a tented memo.

Dear Lena,

Here are my top recommendations. I've circled my favorite dishes in all of them that I think you'd like. Happy eating, boss!

Kara

Lena plucks the menu for Big Belly Burger at the very top of the pile and grins at the sticky note she finds on the inside.

If you don't think this cheeseburger is delicious then I will eat my shoe. Also, get the cheese fries. Trust me.

She turns to another menu, one for a cafe called Noonan's, and finds a sticky note on it.

This cinnamon bun is the best thing you'll ever eat here. I am a professional, so trust me on this, I am so serious.

She leaves the notes on the menus though she devours reading each and every single one, each one a glimpse of Kara's life, each one a piece in a growing puzzle she forms of who Kara is. Touched by the consideration and thankful for the food recommendations despite how indulgent and less than healthy they appear, Lena sets aside the menus in the same drawer that houses the granola bars and fruit leather. She reminds herself to get some more and perhaps purchase extra to pass off to her favorite custodian.

She presses a button on her phone and waits until the call gets picked up.

"To what do I owe this call first thing in the morning?" Sam asks.

"What do you think about grabbing Big Belly Burger for lunch?" There's a beat of silence that passes between them and she wonders if Sam's not familiar. "Have you never had it?"

Then, Sam laughs. "No, I've had it, alright. I just didn't think you did."

"Well, I saw a glowing recommendation to try out the cheeseburger," she responds, looking down at Kara's note.

---

Three weeks later, Kara comes in super early and catches Lena just as she's getting ready to leave for the evening. It's a surprise all her own when Kara knocks on her already open door. Her blonde hair is down, reaching just a below her shoulders. She's in a navy blue button down paired with black skinny jeans and sneakers. She looks just at ease in this outfit as she does in her normal work uniform and such a thought brings a smile on her face.

"Kara Danvers, you're at work awfully early." She puts the last of her files in her work bag and waits at her desk.

"It's my night off, actually."

"Far be it for me to judge someone at work when they shouldn't be, but what are you doing here?"

"Uh, well. I actually I'm here to put in my two weeks' notice."

Lena's heart sinks. "Ah."

"Yeah, I uh, finished school last week and my cousin in Metropolis invited me to move in with him and his wife now that I'm done with school."

"So soon?" she asks, unable to help herself.

"Yeah, he'd waited to ask me 'til I was done with school since that was really the only thing keeping me here."

"I see."

"Yeah. It's not true, of course, there are other things that I really like about this place," Kara reasons, looking at her intently. Lena doesn't want to make anything out of nothing, so she only nods, encourages Kara to continue. "It was kind of fast, but I think he just didn't want me to be alone. I haven't been in a long time, but it's hard to fault a guy for being concerned when he lives on the opposite side of the country."

A slew of things rush through Lena's head, but now is not the time to think about any of them. Instead, what she says is, "Well, first, congratulations are in order. I didn't realize you'd finished school."

"I did, yeah. Thanks. Taking evening classes paid off and being gainfully employed here definitely helped."

"If you don't mind my company, then let me take you out for dinner to celebrate…unless you have plans?"

Kara smiles. "No. This was just it, I was mostly going to go home and start packing."

She grabs her work bag and leads the two of them to the private elevator. "Do you mind riding with me or do you feel more comfortable taking a separate car or walking to dinner?"

"Nuh uh," Kara says with a shake of her head, her eyes staring at the sleek sports car that Lena unlocks with her fob. "You can take me anywhere you want if I get to ride shotgun in this thing."

Laughter springs from her lips and she shakes her head before hoisting her bag into the back seat. "Hop in, then."

They make quick work of the drive, Kara's eyes scanning the entire interior of the car while she calibrates the directions to one of the restaurants that Kara suggested. If it were up to Lena, she would have taken this woman to the fanciest place she knew and wined and dined her.

She parks on the street in front of an unassuming Indian restaurant. She recalls the logo from the menu and how it matched with the logo right out front. They get seated right away, Kara being greeted with great familiarity by the server, something that Lena has never really seen save for the movies.

"Kara, always good to see you, my friend." The elderly man says with a pat on Kara's shoulder.

"Hi, Anish. This is Lena."

"Nice to meet you," she offers as she takes the man's hand.

"Date?"

Kara's eyes widen and she shakes her head, an embarrassed smile on her face. "Be cool for once, Anish. She's my boss. Gosh. Besides, she's definitely out of my league." The last of her words trail as she muffles them with the menu in front of her face, but Lena pretends not to hear, pretends not to react at the possibility that Kara may have already thought of them dating.

"We're celebrating Kara's graduation," she offers instead, delighted by the man's eyes lighting up at the news.

"Then let me get dinner started right away for you two!"

He leaves and gets them waters and time to look over the menu.

"You're a popular girl, Kara Danvers."

A bashful smile appears on her face and Kara smooshes half her face into her palm as she leans on the table. "I am a loyal customer, I'll say that."

"They'll be sad when you go."

"Yeah, I was thinking of making the rounds next week to let them know. Feels weird to just up and leave."

She nods, her eyes landing back on Kara in front of her. "Certainly thoughtful of you. One of the many things I have come to admire about you, actually."

It's then that Kara covers her face with both hands and Lena can't help but giggle. "Jeeze."

Daring to act, Lena pushes forward and tugs at one of Kara's hands so she can see Lena.

"Hey, I mean it. You've been a very thoughtful person, Kara. And I've appreciated everything you've done for my company and for me, specifically."

"I'd do them again, no problem. Everyone needs somebody in their corner."

There's no response that comes out of her mouth, and she's thankful for the interruption from Anish as he begins to prepare their table in front of them, talking all the while and sharing stories of Kara, all of which she accepts readily.

With food served and Anish attending to other guests, she and Kara fall into easy conversation, much like all the times they've shared together, however few and far between they were. Lena does her best to table that particular thought later in the comfort of her own home, the reality of Kara's impending departure hitting her more than she ever imagined.

So she remains present at this dinner where she learns that Kara's cousin and his wife are reporters at The Daily Planet and they have one son named Jonathan. How Kara can really only cook the basics and turns to takeout for the majority of her nourishment. How Kara likes to paint and draw in her spare time but didn't ever want to make that into her job.

How Kara considers Lena someone she wants to emulate, someone she looks up to. A flash of one of their late night conversations springs to mind, about school and marketing programs.

"No, you can't possibly."

"Sure I can, and I do! I mean, how you've been able to manage everything that's happened to you over the last couple of years has been nothing less than saintly, if you ask me."

It's her turn to become bashful, dipping her head. "Well, thank you."

Dinner ends with a feast of desserts that Anish fills their table with when he overhears that Kara's moving to Metropolis. She laughs, heart full, when Kara gazes at her just as Anish explains that he has his own cousin in Metropolis and even though his restaurant is not as good as his, he would still recommend it so she can have a taste of home. When it's time to pay and Anish refuses them, Lena simply tucks a few hundred dollar bills into his shirt pocket and pats him on the shoulder. It's only then that the older man finally loses his cool.

Each of them walk out with a to-go bag each, the two of them giggling openly when they breathe in the night air. Kara accepts the ride to her apartment and so they spend the fifteen-minute drive chatting about nothing in particular, content with simply enjoying each other's company.

The traitorous part of Lena can't help but shake the idea of how good this all feels, how light and alive she feels in Kara's presence. So she indulges herself and appreciates it for the time that it is, another moment in finding joy, however fleeting, with Kara around.

When they reach the front of Kara's building, she gets out of her own seat and walks around to meet Kara.

"Thanks for dinner tonight," Kara says, scratching the back of her head. "Not what I thought would happen when I put my resignation notice in, but I can't complain."

"I think you'll have Anish to thank for the food. But I appreciated you letting me take you out to celebrate. I really am proud of you for finishing what you set out to do. I wish you nothing but luck in Metropolis."

"Can I—sorry, this is probably really inappropriate, but can I give you a hug?"

Lena wants nothing more, so she opens her arms until they wind their way around Kara's neck. For a long moment, one that Lena will feel for days to come, they simply hold each other in place, steady breaths passing between them until the embrace meets its end.

"Thanks for taking care of my office," she says intently when they finally separate, hoping to convey that what she really means is Thanks for taking care of me.

By the smile that Kara sends her way and the softness in her eyes, she can tell that Kara has heard her loud and clear when she responds, simply, "It was my pleasure."

---

On what Lena knows is Kara's last night, she orders for the handkerchief she'd been carrying with her to be delivered back to Kara. It sits in a simple box with a note of thanks for letting her keep it for so long.

Yet when she reaches her desk the next morning, the box is already sitting at her desk. When she flips it open, the handkerchief is still there.

---

Months go by and Lena's life continues, day in and day out. The changes that she makes in the company keeps her busy.

Lillian's recovery keeps her busy.

Her life is better than it has been in a long time. Every so often, though, her thoughts drift to Kara. How she's doing in Metropolis. She considered keeping tabs on Kara, but decided against it knowing that it would only hurt her in the long run. Nevertheless, when she catches her self working late in the office, or needing a pick-me-up snack, memories of Kara populate her mind. How a handful of interactions with this one woman helped keep her from floating adrift in the hardest year of her life.

How someone she otherwise would never have met helped keep her sane, kept her fed, and offered a light in a life that had been tumultuous and miserable for her.

A year passes and Lena is all the better for it. Her life has settled, stabilized. It's more than she could have hoped for, certainly more than she could have imagined a year prior when she'd only gotten her bearings in order.

After Kara left, she'd resolved to leave work earlier, never to catch herself in the office so late in the night. Something about the sacredness of those nights needed to be preserved with the woman who left for the opposite side of the country. It's a silly notion, but Jess seems all the happier for it when she leaves work at a more consistent hour in the evening.

"Miss Luthor, your 11 AM had to cancel last minute."

Faced with a free hour, she grabs her purse and heads for the elevator. "I'm gonna take a long lunch. Hold my calls until I get back."

She makes her way to Noonan's and orders herself a kale salad, a cinnamon bun, and a cup of coffee before occupying a seat outside. Engrossed in eating her lunch just as she flips a page of her book, she falls into the shadows of someone standing by the free chair of her table. She squints to get a better look, the person in a blazer with short hair that end right below the ears. Still, the shadows obscure the person's face.

"I think you dropped this," the voice says. "I have one just like it."

Sure enough, this stranger pulls out a handkerchief of her own from her pocket and it's a simple square with three parallel lines on one edge, this time all red. Shock appears on her face when she finally recognizes exactly who's standing in front of her.

"Kara?" she asks, her voice sounding unsure as she jumps to get a better look.

"Hi, Lena."

In front of her is Kara, the woman who has drifted in and out of Lena's thoughts over time. Unable to help herself, she reaches forward and clutches at Kara's arm, strong and solid in her grasp, proof of the woman's presence in front of her.

Later, Lena will text Jess to postpone the rest of her afternoon meetings because she'll be out for the rest of the day. She won't think too deeply when she hears the amusement in Jess' voice when she says it's not a problem and for her to enjoy her lunch.

Then, Lena will discover that Kara has moved back to National City just two weeks ago as a junior reporter for CatCo Magazine, that she's back to living in the same building that Lena once drove her to, and that even though Kara thinks it's a long shot, she'd really like to take Lena out to this new restaurant she found. As friends, perhaps, but maybe more, if Lena's open and willing.

And after that, Lena accepts on the condition that it is as more than friends and even suggests that she drive them there in her sports car that Kara enjoys so much.

For now, though, her heart skips at her good fortune joining her for lunch.

"I didn't think you'd remember me," she admits, somehow the first thing that comes to mind once they seat themselves.

"It's true, I'm no good with faces," Kara says, before her own face splits into a mischievous smile, leaning in closer that Lena has no choice but to do the same. "But there's no way I could ever forget you."

[harleychick91]

Who doesn’t like a specifically honest AI?

Check out Hope on AO3!

[spaceman-earthgirl]

“Did you see this?” Lena asks, holding her phone out towards Kara. “It’s about your cousin.”

Kara’s instantly worried. If there’s a news article about Clark, there’s only two things it could be. One, he’s been in a big fight or something else dangerous has happened, or if it’s about Clark, and not Superman, then that could only spell bad news for Clark and his secret identity.

Kara’s heart actually stops for a moment when she sees “Clark Kent” in the headline, but lets out a sigh of relief when she realises it’s not a Daily Planet article, but an article from an online gossip magazine.

Lois Lane and Clark Kent, Metropolis’s Hottest New Couple?

Kara quickly scans the article, which is nothing but gossip, and two photos, one of Clark and Lois holding hands, another of the couple leaning close at a restaurant.

Kara smiles as she hands the phone back to Lena. Despite the lack of privacy some papparazi have, Kara is happy for her cousin.

“So, it’s true then?”

Kara nods. “It is. Clark called me last week. He was so happy they’re soulmates. Anyone with eyes could see they belong together but it’s nice to have it confirmed.”

And nice for Kara too. She’d always wondered if it was still possible that she could have a soulmate, one not from Krypton.

Turns out it is.

“That’s-“ Lena cuts herself off. “Wait, confirmed? What do you mean?”

Kara’s eyes widen as she realises her slip. She’s thought about telling Lena in so many different ways, at so many different times. But fear has always stopped her. What if she told Lena the truth, what if they kissed, and she finds out Lena isn’t her soulmate?

Kara’s never felt this way about anyone before, doesn’t think she could ever feel like this about anyone else either.

“I…do you believe in soulmates?” Kara asks, stalling slightly.

“No.” Lena replies. “Or I didn’t, until you just implied that soulmates are real.”

read the rest on ao3 or under the cut

Kara sighs. There’s no getting out of this. “They’re not real, at least not on Earth. Or not usually. Lois is the only human I’ve seen or heard of that has a soulmate. Clark and Lois are soulmates. All Kryptonian’s have one.”

“Are you…” Lena narrows her eyes. “You’re being serious?”

Kara nods. “The legend goes that Rao picks your soulmate, the person whose soul matches yours, the one most suited to you. But he doesn’t tell you who it is, you have to find that person yourself.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, they just find each other.” Kara had lost hope, with no one but her cousin left on Earth. But then she’d found Lena. Even before Clark had told her about Lois, she’d wondered if Lena could be her soulmate. “And then after your first kiss, a mark appears on your skin with their name, and that’s how you know they’re the one.”

Kara can see Lena’s mind working. “Does that mean Clark and Lois now have the other’s name written on each other?”

Kara laughs. “Yes. It was actually pretty funny when Clark called me, he’d had to explain to a very confused Lois why she now had a tattoo of Clark’s name.”

“So, you have to kiss someone to know?”

Kara nods. “I’m not sure why. I think it gives you a chance to get to know someone before you find out you’re destined to be together.”

“Have you found your soulmate?”

Kara shakes her head, though it feels wrong when she’s pretty sure her soulmate is right in front of her. Not that she knows for sure. “Not yet.”

“Do you wonder, every time you kiss someone, that they’ll be the one?”

“Yes and no. When I was younger, I’d hoped, just to prove I wasn’t alone. Sometimes I know they’re not the one, but now I know there’s someone out there for me, and I just have to wait.”

Lena lets out a little laugh. “I guess it puts more pressure on a first kiss, like there isn’t enough already.”

Kara laughs too. “It really does.” She can’t help but wonder, that without this extra pressure, whether she would have already told Lena how she feels.

“Who knows,” Lena says, still smiling. “It could even be me.”

Kara chokes on nothing. The hand that appears at Kara’s back, soothing up and down as Kara tries to catch her breath, doesn’t help at all.

“It…it could be,” Kara finally manages to get out.

Lena looks amused, clearly enjoying Kara’s struggle, and Kara suddenly wants to do nothing more than kiss that look off of Lena’s face.

Lena shrugs. “We’ve never kissed so you never know.”

“I haven’t kissed a lot of people,” Kara points out unnecessarily. “It could be any of them too.” She’s not sure why she says it, except for the fact she wants to point the focus of the conversation away from Lena and kissing.

“Well, you’re not getting any younger, you need to start crossing people off that list.”

Kara rolls her eyes and suddenly everything feels back to normal, she’s just talking to her best friend, the person besides Alex she trusts most in the universe.

“Are you hungry, we could-“ Kara starts, assuming the conversation is over, at least for now, until Kara can work up the courage to tell Lena how she feels, but Lena isn’t done.

“Kara,” Lena cuts in, looking suddenly serious. “I don’t know if I’m way off here but I know I’m not going to be able to stop thinking about this.” Lena reaches out and takes Kara’s hand and Kara’s breath catches in her chest. “Please tell me you feel this too? Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s fallen in love with their best friend? I didn’t even believe in soulmates before today but I’ve always believed we found each other for a reason, that we belong together. And maybe this is why.”

There are tears in Lena’s eyes by the time she finishes talking and Kara’s own heart is racing as she reaches up to catch a tear before it spills down Lena’s cheek.

And then she doesn’t even think as she leans forward, capturing Lena’s lips in a kiss she’s dreamt about too many times to count.

Lena’s breath catches as their lips meet and now Kara’s crying too as Lena’s hand grips her shirt, holding her close.

The kiss is brief, only because Kara’s forgotten something crucial and she has to tell Lena. “I love you, too,” Kara says as she pulls back, the words brushing Lena’s mouth as she does.

Kara’s whole body is on fire as green eyes meet hers, still so close. Kara doesn’t even need to look down to where her arm is tingling, to know that Lena’s her soulmate. She’s pretty sure deep down she’s known since she first laid eyes on her.

With great effort she does look away from Lena, only because she wants to show Lena the words now written on her skin.

Kara pulls up her sleeve and there it is, in black ink, undeniable against her tan skin. There is Lena’s name, and Kara is crying again.

“That’s going to be tough to hide,” Lena says, and it’s meant to be a joke but it comes out too breathless to be anything but awe. Lena lifts her hand, runs her fingers gently over the name, and Kara’s knees go weak.

“Do you…” Kara asks, because now she wants to see it, needs to see her name on Lena’s skin too.

Lena turns, and she must have had the same feeling as Kara because she lifts up her shirt and there it is, low on Lena’s back, ‘Kara Zor-El’ written clear as day.

Kara reaches out, thumb ghosting over the spot her name is written.

“It is there?” Lena asks, voice filled with such hope that Kara places her hands on her arms, spins her gently until they’re facing each other again.

“Yes.” Kara lifts her hands, cups Lena’s cheek, thumbs catching more tears as they fall. They both know they’re happy tears. “I love you,” Kara repeats, because she can now. She’s going to say it so many times, Lena will get sick of it.

“I love you, too,” Lena repeats, her smile so bright Kara’s knees go weak again. And then Lena leans forward and kisses her again and Kara is lucky she manages to stay upright because Lena’s mouth feels so right and perfect against her own.

---

Two days later, in the CatCo gossip column, there’s a picture of the two of them kissing in Noonan’s, with the title:

Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers, National City’s Hottest New Couple?

[marinawolf]

can supergirl come back for a few special episodes with the sole purpose of making supercorp canon? Please? Reblog if you’d watch this (so if the powers that be see it, they know they have an audience)