#the full story is not totally friendly to lena or james

[dhaskoi]

Love, Judgment & Forgiveness

This was my entry for the Supercat Christmas in July fic exchange for the incomparable #damelola.  If you liked my earlier drabble about Lena getting caught with the kryptonite you might like this too.

Cat leans back in her seat with a sigh as she lays the paper down on the empty seat next to her, the DC cityscape slipping by outside the town car’s window.  When you work in the big white house your workday never really ends, but she’s found that with an early start she can snatch some time to herself on the drive in, usually spent flipping through her preferred papers.  Her fondness for newsprint is a little old fashioned, especially when her own publications (and she will always think of them as hers, no matter what shenanigans take place with CatCo stock) are steadily switching over to a focus on digital content.  The smoothness of the transition a significantly greater online presence is one of the things James has gotten right.  But Cat can’t imagine a time when she won’t love the tangibility of ink under her fingers, the weight of the folded paper in her hands, the rustle of the pages.  The day that picking up her morning paper doesn’t give her a little thrill she’ll know it’s time to cart herself off to a nursing home to play shuffleboard and be wheeled out into the sunlight at set times like a potted plant.  God willing she’ll die before there’s any risk of that.

She knew it would be hard, walking away from CatCo and National City for the second time.  She knew that this would happen, reading about Kara’s adventures and triumphs second or third hand and feeling left out.  The traitorous voice that used to whisper that she was already left out hardly even stirs these days, after all the times she’s repressed it.   Cat had told herself that White House Press Secretary was a job worthy to the challenge of keeping her fully distracted from what she’d left behind.  It turns out that once she’d settled into the role and started to get the hang of Beltway maneuverings the mechanics of the job were in fact less challenging than being a CEO.  She hadn’t realized how badly her schedule had been bloated by encounters with murderous, superpowered ex-employees, scheming billionaires (other than her), alien invasions and whatever crisis of the week their resident superhero had to deal with.

That said, she’s learning a lot from Olivia.  She suspects her old friend had more reasons than a desperate need to replace her decimated staff when she offered Cat the job, but Cat is so used to being on the other side of that equation that it took her an embarrassingly long time to realise she was being groomed for more.   She’s still considering what path she wants to take after her stint as press secretary wraps up.  On to communications director to put her name on some worthwhile legislation and get the experience she’d need to make a credible run for governor or the senate?  She doesn’t intend to be one of those idiots who thinks they can spend their way into an office without any accomplishments to prove she’s worthy of the task.

Some new business enterprise?  The way news gets distorted on social media has riled Cat for years, but being the WHPS has given her a new, more urgent perspective on the subject.  It’s different hearing briefings from the FBI about acts of violence set in motion by lies spread on Facebook and Tumblr.  Idle thoughts about a new type of media platform that integrates social media more directly, combined with rigorous fact checking and moderation, have been growing less idle lately.  Getting a new company off the ground at this stage of her life sounds like a nightmare, especially in a field that cutthroat, but the money from the CatCo sale and Carter’s impending college years are two significant differences from the insane and sleepless days when she was getting CatCo off the ground.

Which brings her to door number three.  A return to CatCo with the skills and knowledge she’s acquired here, using them to elevate her company further, take it to even greater heights.   Her understanding of how to leverage media influence for social change has been honed to an even sharper edge by her time in Washington – new knowledge of how the political machine works from the inside has given her some interesting thoughts about changes she’d like to make at CatCo if she went back.  The thought of it is tempting and unnerving in almost equal proportion.  Would she be moving forward or falling back into the same old rut if she went home to the city where she truly made her name?  And could she bear to see a certain bright-eyed reporter growing closer to the woman who seems to have stepped into what used to be Cat’s place in her life?  These are questions she doesn’t have answers to yet.  Until she does she’ll keep supporting and learning from Olivia –

Something in her driver’s body language catches her attention and Cat frowns, turning away from the window to reach forward and tap her on the shoulder.

“Lisa is there a -”

The whole world blurs as the car jerks to the side and Cat is thrown against the seatbelt suddenly cutting into her torso.  Force, pure force tossing her around. It’s like being a bug in a jar, picked up by the hand of a giant angry toddler and shaken hard.  Cat still remembers her first encounter with the sensation from her mercifully brief stint as a war correspondent when she’d been too close to an IED.  For years after she’d persisted in the happy delusion that that part of her life was over, until with the arrival of its own superhero National City suddenly seemed to have a new hostile alien or ridiculous metahuman attacking every damn week.  No matter how many times it happens you never get used to it.  Noise, tyres screeching, engine revving, Lisa in the front seat swearing - and then silence for a second before the sound of voices shouting and feet pounding.  Cat raises a hand to her head and tries to focus past the shock and the disorientation.  There’s an ache in her neck that makes it hard to raise her head.  Don’t stop thinking, that’s her rule in situations like this and it has always served her well.  First task?   Check on the person in the car with her, who is also the one person who might immediately be able to tell her what’s going on, or get free?  Do both.  Cat scrabbles at her seatbelt even as she calls out.

“Lisa?  Lisa can you hear me?  Lisa?”

No response.  Cat hopes she’s merely unconscious.  The crash didn’t feel as though it was that bad.  Did they have an accident or – no, there’s gunfire.  Despite the circumstances and the surge of adrenaline Cat feels a sort of tired resignation creeping over her for a second.  Does this always have to be her life?

Then the door slams open and rough hands are grapping at her shoulders, yanking her out unceremoniously to land on her hands and knees on the unforgiving tarmac.  She feels it cutting into her palms and her knees and takes a moment to be grateful that the situation isn’t triggering a flashback.   Therapy works, apparently.

Ordinarily the Press Secretary simply doesn’t rate their own secret service detail and Cat hasn’t broken the tradition.  Due to her colourful personal history (most press secretaries have never faced a single attempt on their life, let alone multiple attacks by supervillains) Cat has the distinction of being offered a detail by Olivia.  The worry was that someone with her high profile assuming such a public position might become a target in a way that the Press Secretary usually isn’t, but Cat dismissed the concern.   She doesn’t need a coterie of bodyguards to feel special - and she doesn’t believe that men and women whose job it is to take a bullet guarding the country’s leadership should be used as adornments to someone else’s ego.  Vanity is one thing, but that just smacks of insecurity to her.

And if she’s being honest with herself she couldn’t tolerate the loss of freedom, especially freedom of movement, that came with a security detail.  Evidently, that was a mistake.

There’s indistinct yelling around her as she looks up – right into the barrel of a gun, wonderful – and she catches something about ‘alien loving bitch’, oh of course, Cat thinks, the woman who named Supergirl becomes the face of the administration that passed the alien amnesty act.  It was only a matter of time before some bunch of backwoods bigots crawled out of the woodwork.  She really should have seen this coming, except she can never take these kinds of lunatics as seriously as she probably should, refuses to engage with the fearful mindset that considers them real threats.  Cadmus running around being, well, being Cadmus, also made it easy to forget that they weren’t the face of all prejudice in America and the threat didn’t end with Lillian being locked up.

Looks like she’s going to pay for that now.

The reality finally sinks in as she sees her assailant’s finger tighten on the trigger, some nondescript thug in coveralls with weaponry easily brought at any gun fair in the country.

This is it.  This is when she dies.  No lucky escape or last-minute superhero save this time.  The smallness of it stings a little.  After everything she’s survived this is how it all ends for her?

Time slows.

Cat has always known that the time gifted to us is finite and too precious to be wasted.  She’s understood so ever since she came home from school at the age of ten and found her beloved father dead in his study from a stroke decades too soon.  As a child she was furious, betrayed, she blamed everyone and everything and cried out the injustice.  As an adult she came to understand, slowly, that loss and pain are part of life, that they sharpen the edge of every experience.  Cat doesn’t fear death.  Unfinished business, on the other hand . . .

Carter.  He’s not so little nowadays, but he’ll always be her baby and he still needs his mother.  This is going to break his heart.  Will his father come through for his son this once?  If any deity should be listening, please let him grow up happier and steadier than she did.

Adam.  They’ve stayed in touch, sporadic yet ongoing.  He even sent a card for her last birthday.  She can never be the mother to him that she wanted to be, but there was hope for closeness, for something of the relationship she thought she’d lost any chance at.

Kara.  There’s a lot she still wanted to say to the most promising young woman she ever mentored.  A lot that she might never have said, regardless of what she tells herself in this last moment.  She can only hope Kara knows, that her veiled and not-so-veiled comments made it clear how important the other woman was to her, and in how many ways.  And she’s selfish enough to hope that she’ll be missed, that Kara will shed a tear or two just for Cat.

And then -

The familiar whoosh of displaced air and the distinctively heavy thump, felt as much as heard, that can only be caused by a pair of strong legs suddenly hitting the ground at speed.  There’s no stopping the smile that begins to from on her face, an ingrained reaction to the knowledge that a certain blonde Kryptonian is still her guardian angel.

Cat looks up and is startled to see a flash of dark hair instead of the expected blonde.  With a flicker of disappointment, she realises it’s him, not her, and then she has to check that assumption too as further details sink in and she realizes something very strange is happening.  Black and white is her first impression.  A black, vaguely leather looking bodysuit with a metallic sheen and a matte white cloak that sweeps back from her shoulders.  Long dark hair falling in a queue down her back.   She’s moving too fast for Cat to see more than that, as she pushes herself to her feet.

The mystery woman – mystery girl, Cat realizes - rips through the attackers with superspeed and rather less moderation than she’s used to seeing from Kara or Superman, although it doesn’t look as if her surprise savior has killed anyone.   Her shoves and throws as she blurs from one location to the next are more than forceful enough to break bones and she throws their weapons away with enough energy to put bystanders at risk.  One of the thugs gets thrown into the side of the van that rammed Cat’s car with enough force to leave an ugly dent.

She’s new, says the analytical part of Cat’s mind that never switches off, even when the rest of her is saying her final goodbyes.   Determined but short on practical experience.  Like Kara when she first started out the new arrival isn’t familiar with the million little details that add up to doing a complicated job right and she hasn’t had the benefit of anyone else’s experience.  She’s trying, but it’s clear no-one has taught her how to fight safely with her strength.

What are they going to call her, Cat wonders?  There’s no convenient letter shaped symbol on her chest to hang a name on, no obvious theme for branding.  With a jolt of realisation it occurs to her that these decisions are not hers to make anymore.  Someone else – Kara? James? Please god not Lois – will choose a name for this new arrival.  The sense of loss she feels at that realization is stronger than she might have expected.  Then Cat realizes it’s over, every attacker down, and the new superhero in town is headed towards her at a swift trot.  The expression of concern on her face is a little surprising from someone Cat has never met.

Oh hell – Lisa.  Cat rushes towards the car, a little unsteady on her Jimmy Choos but not slowing down as she heads towards the driver side door to check on Lisa.

“Ynugh!  Cat,” a hesitant pause at Cat’s lack of response, “Miss Grant!  Miss Grant are you okay?”

The voice isn’t quite the light, warm tone so familiar to her (yet another giveaway of the secret she’s supposed to keep ignoring) but it’s close. And so are those worried blue eyes.  The face though . . . there’s something about it that claws at the edge of Cat’s memory.  Something that’s obvious yet out of sight.  She pushes it into a corner of her mind for later consideration, so she can focus on the more urgent present.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, Lisa, my driver, I think she was knocked unconscious -”

Before Cat can complete the thought the girl is reaching forward and with a tearing shriek of abused metal the door is ripped away and flung aside. Lisa’s seatbelt is no obstacle to Kryptonian strength (Cat’s assuming – she’s certainly got the flight, the strength and the speed) and in the time it takes Cat to blink Lisa is being laid gently down on the road by the mystery brunette.  Cat is already shrugging out of her blazer to make an impromptu pillow while the brunette looks her over with an analytical care that Cat recognizes.  That’s a tick for x-ray vision then.

“She’s okay, she’s okay.  It’s safe, she doesn’t have any spinal damage,” the young brunette says reassuringly when she sees Cat hesitate to disturb Lisa’s head.

“It’s just bumps and bruises and a mild concussion,” she goes on as Cat tucks the folded blazer under Lisa’s head.

“I am so glad you’re okay, Miss Grant.”

“So am I, miss . . .”

Cat lets her voice trail off questioningly.  Danger past and her immediate fears assuaged her investigative instincts are kicking in.  She wants answers.  She wants the story.

She wants to know what the hell is going on.

The young woman focuses an intense gaze on Cat, before breaking into a beaming smile.  Finally, able to get a clear look at her, what stands out is how pleased she looks with herself.  Cat is reminded more than anything of Carter as a child when he thought he’d managed to sneak an extra cookie without her realizing.  He was so adorable when he did that she occasionally let him get away with it, purely for the pleasure of his happy I’m-so-clever smile.  She’s striking, no surprise ( why do superheroes always look as though they came straight from central casting?) with fine features, clear skin, long dark hair and the blue eyes Cat already took note of.  Possibly the brightness of the smile she’s directing at Cat is skewing her judgment slightly there.

“I’m a friend, Miss Grant.  I promise you that.”

Cat looks her dead in the eye and makes a show of dusting herself before planting her hands on her waist, summoning every ounce of poise she has.

“Really? Isn’t it considered friendly to introduce oneself where you’re from?”   Cat smirks a little, reminded of her earlier thought and a long past conversation with Kara.  “If you don’t provide a name you’ll have to live with someone else’s pick.”

“I’m sure you’ll come up with something suitable, Miss Grant.”  More grinning.  “You’ve got some practice naming superheroes.”  She tilts her head in way that’s familiar to anyone who has spent much time around Kara, focusing elsewhere for a second.  Add another tick for super hearing, Cat decides.  “And that’s my cue to leave.  Stay safe, Cat.”

She grins wider and it’s so bright and fiercely joyful that the connection Cat had wondered at is undeniable.  Then she tenses, and Cat barely has time to take a faltering step back before the girl launches into the sky, going fast but not so fast she can’t be seen, until there’s a strange shimmer and she’s simply gone.  Cat stays watching for a moment, the way most people do when they’ve just seen one of the supers fly away, before the sound of sirens shakes her out of the reverie.

“That never stops being impressive,” she murmurs before returning to Lisa’s side, already drafting the release and considering how the administration will break the news without admitting they don’t know anything.

The next several hours are spent in the D.C headquarters of the D.E.O, recounting the same five minutes over and over, while Sam Lane pitches a hissy fit in the background.  Which explains why she’s hours behind the curve when James Olsen decides outing himself as the Guardian is a good idea.

Read the rest on AO3

[popculturebuffet]

Amphibia Reviewcaps:  Scavenger Hunt/ The Plantars Check In

KEITH DAVID IS HERE! KEITH DAVID IS HERE AND NOT IN SHADOWY STINGER BITS BUT FULL CHARACTER! And okay other stuff happened I guess. Anne deals with her insecurity over her girlfriend being way more smart and acomplished than her, then the Plantars meet King Keith David, followed by Sprig reinacting the plot of Home Alone 2 mixed with a bit of Blank Check. You know that forgetable disney movie about the white dumbass who uses his computer skillz to get rich and has to deal with the mob.. I assume. I really have no idea exactly what blank check was about and neither do you. KEITH DAVID, under the cut. 

Scavenger Hunt

And with Marcy’s big intro out of the way we’re back to simplier problem of the week episodes, though this one does lead into the next which does have some solid plot progression, and the new setting and fresh injection of Marcy mean they do feel a bit newer after the road episodes. Like a good road trip after all that time you finally get to see the sights, enjoy the place and just relax. And also eat because your usally hungry when you first arrive, which is what the plantars and new addition Marcy are doing to start.  Marcy’s treating, because she’s friends iwth the king and as we learn next episode the king gives his friends acess to the royal treasury because he’s a seemingly nice dude. Again, more on that in a minute. While Hop Pop marvels at Marcy’s smarts and analytics, a messag efrom the king arrives.. and yes I too have “A MESSAGE FROM THE KING A MESSAGE FROM THE KING’ from hamilton in my head right now. 

Turns out the King likes to send Puzzle grams, basically sending marcy on scavenger hunts to tell her something because their both massive dorks. And it is taking ALL my willpower not to jump right ot the keith david of things, but for the sake of profesionalism I will stay here. So our party splits up: Marcy, Anne and Sprig go off to solve the puzzle and see the town while Hop Pop ends up staying because you can get free shit the more you eat, which yeah is a nice thing and all but is usually not worth what you spend. But it’s not his dime so fair enough. The king’s toilet’s are probably gold with gems and the softest seats in the land. I mean if I were king of the world I”d want the best toilet in the world. I’d also install free health care and other good stuff, but I’d expect a really nice crapper as one of the perks of the job. 

Anyway the hop pop plot really is just him eating a lot to get free stuff and showing up at the end , so i’ll focus ont he main plot which is pretty standard: Anne is insecure about how smart Marcy is, and TRIES to out marcy her in solving the puzzle, while befrending various people: Resucing a girl’s cat/caterpillar from a tree, befreinding an old lady and doing her nails, and then bonding with the gnatcho cart lady.. which made me want nachos bad, who enocourage a dispondent anne to be herself and try anyway. But yeah Marcy suceeds instead, Anne gets depressed, then Anne tries TOO Hard on the last clue when Marcy is stuck and ends up in the sewer with the alligators.. which unlike real life sewer gators, were put there on purpose by marcy to eat garbage when she redid the sewer system.. because of course she did she’s the best. It’s a really nice gag. They escape the gator when the various people Anne helped form a chain, along with an exasperated hop pop and Polly.  Then sprig blabs about Anne’s insecurity, and Marcy comforts her, pointing out that while she’s a genius and what not.. she dosen’t.. get people. Anne does, which.. I found a nice twist. The first thing she did,g etting the cat, made me think “oh their going to go with her physical skills”.. but instead in a nice twist that made me like this episode more, it’s her heart. And it’s not something they pulled out of thin air: While it hasn’t really come into play a lot this season, last season was all about Anne slowly connecting with the town and being suprisingly good with people.. she can be blunt, dosen’t think things through.. but she does have empathy, problem solving and a desire to genuinely help people who need it. It’s a hard trait to learn and it’s one she does with natural ease. It’s a nice bit of showing her character and what she’s good at. Also the message turns out to be “bring the plantars” which.. yeah the second the first clue was bring, even without next episodes description, I could’ve guessed. And they close the episode as all episodes should close.. feeding nachos to a  sewer gator. 

Final Thoughts I:  As you could tell by how easily I sped through it, the episode was...eh. It’s not bad, but no episode of the series has been truly terrible. It honestly, and this kind of complaint is overused, feels like filler. And granted I rarely watch anime, I know cartoons work different.. but this episode feels like it’s just there to provide more Marcy before we focus primarily on the Plantars again, and before the plot turns them against her.  Which isn’t a bad thing mind and she’s great as she was last week.  The problem is Anne. Her feeling down about herself, while a normal human emotion.. just dosen’t jibe with her normal brand of overconfidence. It’s not entirely out of the blue for her not ot feel as smart as marcy, it’s just set up poorly. We could’ve easily used a flashback or something to the human world to help make it feel like a more longstanding issue, than one that just crops up because Polly said a thing after a full episode of her being totally fine with Marcy being way smarter than her. Even the intro has her entirely fine with it. It would’ve flowed better if she played off she was fine, but secretly was trying to one up her and did feel dumber versus that being spelled out so early, as it woudl’ve fit more with the character. So yeah this one’s more just forgetable, a stop gap between two plot important episodes. And I don’t mind catching our breath after the last episode given it was a huge one what with introducing a new major character and a new setting and having a lot of action set pieces, I just know the show can do that BETTER, as seen with HandY Anne following up , if a year after, from the emotionally draining season 1 finale, they just.. didn’t this time and it just flopped a bit, but still had enough nice moments and good bits to make it still enjoyable. 

That’s something I do have to give the show credit on as I have been hard on it, as i’ve said reviwing more forgetable episodes is hard: Most shows don’t make it out of season 1 without at least one terrible episode. OK KO had “Let’s Not Be Skeletons”, Ducktales had “The Beagle Birthday Massacre” (And i’m a huge fan of Lena as a character, just to be clear, her debut episode was terrible for other reasons) , Steven Universe had Arcade Mania,  Adventure Time had “Freak City” and Legend of Korra had “The Spirit of Compettiton”.. and really the whole love triangle plot but that’s a story for another day.. all of these are really..e xcept arcade mania that one’s just dull and pointless. But i’m not: My point is it’s still a really good sign the show hasn’t really flopped over in the span of two seasons, with even the annoying quarallers pass still having some really good stuff to it. I may be critical, because as a critic that’s my job no one pays me for, but I do love this show and want to make it clear it’s still excellent. I’d rather watch this episode again than any episode of “Hoops”.. seriously I have no interest in that show and I question why Jake Johnston thought signing on for it was a good idea. Then again, Keith David was in this

And this

And BOTH of these

So I can’t blame Jake for wanting an easy paycheck when Screen Legend Keith David has done far worse for one. Speaking of Keith David....

The Plantars Check In 

IT’S TIME. 

We’ve had a sample of keith david with the omnoius end from last week but now we get the full package. And i’ve made no secret how much I absolutley love Keith David or how excited I was to see him joint he cast. The main is a voice acting and regular acting legend. Sure he usually does bit parts, but he does the hell out of them. 

The man also has a longer history in disney than I ever realized. While I knew he played Goliath and Dr. Facilier, I had no idea just how much minor voice work he’s done for disney over the decades, doing a LOT of minor roles during the 90′s and even vocing Mufasa in “House of Mouse”, subbing for James Earl Jones which.. yeah if anyone’s the next Jamers Earl Jones, it’s Keith. He’s the king of making a meal out of side rolls and on the ocasions he gets a big one he makes a damn buffet of it, as seen with Gargoyles and Community. 

So yeah, I love the guy and was excited for his first full apperance and pleasantly suprised.  We open at what looks like a comibation of the temple of time and Hyrule Castle for Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and I swear that’s what their going for with the background music here.  Anyways after Lady Oliva tries to keep things formal, and reveals King Andrias has been king for over a thousand years, which makes things even more interesting, he .. happily hops off the throne, gives the Plantars a friendly greeting and then a bear hug. I was expecting him to be stern yet nice, for now, but this is a nice change of pace and i’ts shown by the way Olvia acts towards this behavior, wishing he’d be proper because “Most unorthodox” and all that monocle popping nonsense, that this is normal for him. So it’s not ENTIRELY an act for their benefit. He is apparently nice to his immediate subjects, vistors and especially Marcy. It’s also lovely to see Keith David play such a diffrent character from his usual villian, stoic badass or hilarious grandpa rolls, instead playing a cheerful and boisterous king. He honestly reminds me a lot fo River from star vs the forces of evil. Which by the way I also love Alan Tuduk and regret not bringing him up in either review river’s been in so far. 

Anyway, we then get some more plot stuff as he meets anne, and we get a nice bit of him doing the “thumb of approval” and marveling at anne’s awkawrd fistbump in response. But it’s down to buisness, he wants to send his loyal knight and new friend he just met home, but needs the box. While anne reveals she don’t got it, with Hop Pop acting nervous as he realizes “oh shit, maybe lying to my surrogate grandaughter about something this important when we’re ont he way to a place where people will naturally want ot see the thing, and STILL not telling her after meeting Marcy and knowing sh’ed want to know about it too has started to backfire!” And yeah while he has sympathetic motives, and clearly knows SOMETHING about the box, and I supsect King Keith David does too but give me a second, his not telling Anne what he did at any time is only going to make it harder to trust him later, especially if Marcy ends up betraying them. He also notices something I actually failed to notice , as did Anne: The colorful stones on the calamity box are drained of color. So the King’s going to have to reserach this for a bit, with Marcy helping obviously and since Anne’s usless at research, the king instead happily treats the plantars to a vacation on him while they sort thigns out: A stay at the nicest hotel in the city, on his dime, and acess to his royal credit card, which given he’s king of everything means he just gave them the unlimited funds code. 

Before we move on, my thoughts on the king: He’s hard to read. I do think he’s genuinely that nice a person.. but he CLEARLY has a dark side, having subjugated the toads and the frogs, which had to have happened under him as he’s first in his line and both remember the status quo as only such. Hop Pop dosen’t even question the way things are or one god king ruling over all for over a thousand years. The question is did he do so because he didn’t know better, because he thought he had to, or because 

I do n’t know what that’s from but expect me to be using it a LOT from now on. My point is it’s hard to tell what his game is here. He could be a cruel asshole masquerading as a fun loving king on the service to sugarcoat his shadier actions.. or he could be a well intentioned extermist, doing awful things for what he sees as the greater good and possibly having lost the plot, or his empathy over thousands of years. Or he genunley could have no idea what he’s planning is bad and see no harm in it due to a different set of morals, again due to being immortal. There’s a LOT of intresting directions they can go with this character and i’m curious to see just what sort of vilian, or possibly good guy all along though I doubt it, he will be and given both grime, more recently i’ll admit but still, and sasha have been complex villians instead of one dimensional assholes, the show will no doubt give us something spectacular. HOpefully i’m not tempting fate but if I am, screw it, i’m rolling those dice. This is going to be godo and I can’t wait.  It’ll also be intresting to see if he genuinely values marcy or is putting on the good king act and puzzles and all that to manipulate her. After all we’ve seen with Sasha that she’s easily manipulated, as far as we can tell, and sees this all as a game.. it’d be easy enough to lead her along by playing int othe genre and her desires to get her to play his game the way he needs her to. Though it’s also a question of if Marcy will see it or back the wrong side... though she MIGHT. while she isn’t great with people, she does know games and half the time a benevolent ally will turn out to be a dick in sheeps clothing. Though i’m hoping that isn’t the case for Marcy. But we’ll see..

Anyways with the first third or so of the episode down, the Plantars Check in, TITLE DROP, and Polly, Anne and Hop Pop all put on comfy robes and relax, while Sprig being sprig wants to go exploring though hop pop refuses to leave him wiht the card because of course he does. And honestly having done a few road trips myself.. yeah usually when you get back to the hotel first you want to just relax and crash, maybe go out for dinner or something with your friends, which they already did ahead of time, and recharge before doing allt he fun vacation stuff. Though I also relate to sprig as I too have been in hotels with arcades and pools from time to time as a kid and a teen and wanted to go do the fun stuff while everyone’s tired. Thankfully I also liked to read or play my various game consoles, from the game boy advance up to the switch on my most recent vacations,so I understand his restlessness.  The rest of the episode goes about how you’d expect, with Sprig taking the card once hteir asleep and adventuring around and getting into various hilarious one off gags via montage, before loosing the card and fighting over it with a Bellhop Named Belle, played byt he always wonderful and always talented Krstien Schal.. about two episodes late for the gravity falls homage but never too late to do some voice acting. Sprig gets the card thanks to futurama caffine bullet time, saves paige and then saves her from firing by talking like a rich kid asshole to save paiges job before collapsing and being woken by everyone else wanting to go do fun shit. 

Final Thoughts 2: This one was better. While again I sped through the recap section this time.. it was funny> While the plot was a simple: kid sneaks out and does something he’s not supposed to yet and gets into trouble and ironic ending and all that, it’s funny enough to be enjoyable, Kristin is game as always, and the gag of Sprig using the card to wave off the snooty man at the counter is great. While most of the meat of hte episode is with the king at the start, the rst of it is still an enjoyable come down episode after the plot heavy first third of this one and marcy at the gates and does the job way better thant he previous episode. While it doen’t have a lot of tie to character or what not, it dosen’t WASTE any either. I didn’t realize till this episode that while sprig certainly hasn’t been unterutlized, he really hasn’t had his own episode this season, sharing Quaraller’s Pass with poly and only having subplots in “A Caravan Named Desire” and “Marcy at the Gates”. Here he gets a plot to himself and while it does nothing for his overal character, it’s entertaining enough, with some great gags like the caffine bullet time, the aformentioned rich people gag and the hair bit being the best “Now to put on my hat!”. It just lets the character loose to have a fun side story. See I can dog on an episode for WASTING a good opprotunity, even if I understand the stress of production and what not.. but I won’t dog one for just having fun and letting a character have the limelight if it’s still entertaining which this was. The problem with say “Scavenger Hunt”, “The Ballad of Hopidiah Plantar”, “A Caravan Named Desire” and “The Ballad of Hopidiah Plantar” is that while their not BAD episodes, they had far more potential. This one knows it’s basically home alone 2 meets blank check, but actually entertaining, and justh as fun with it. Is it hte best episode ever? Probably not. But was it fun and a nice change of pace, as well as relatable to me and thus giving me a bit of the warm fuzzies, especially in this hellscape of our lord 2020? Absolutley.  That does it for this week. if you liked this review i’ve reveiwed the rest of the season so far , just check the Disney tab on my blog, along with many other shows, and i’ll be covering the show weekly for the rest of the season, along with Ducktales when it comes back next month, so follow if you want more of that and random reblogs and such. You can also shoot me an ask if you have any things you want my opinon on, any episodes you want to request or you can direct message me to outright comission an episode of any aimated show for me to review for 5 bucks a review. Either way, till we meet again, bwahahahahaha. 

[mondayglasses]

Supergirl: 5x01. Event Horizon maybe but not the one they want or you want to remember.

So I watched the episode and it was beyond terrible. I mean for a season opener there was no action and they are 100% going to bait the SC fans if not go that route. Let me give you a breakdown.

It’s starts with Kara saving some kids who are going to get killed by a bus? Sound familiar? Cause they have literally done it a million times. Lena then tells Supergirl she knows who she is and punches her. It’s the scene from the trailer. It’s essentially a sim and Lena’s way of getting her anger out apparently.

Lena has a new AI friend who is like Gideon/Jarvis. When did she have time to build it and how did she have the tech? Who knows but it’s Lena so she probably did it in an evening cause you know she is amazing. She then goes into a load of diatribe about how she doesn’t trust humans cause they are ambitious and she doesn’t trust them etc? Of course that doesn’t include her, that could never include her.

Cut to a scene where J’onn, Alex, Kelly and Kara are in Noonans (which neither looks nor feels like Noonans) and everyone is staring into space cause they got virtual reality contact lenses. Apparently Kelly conveniently has a job at Obsidian the same company that is going to take over CatCo and they share the same building. Sound convenient? Cause it is and they can’t find a more tactful way to include Kelly at every turn.

They then talk about this new contact lens tech that Kara knows nothing about. You know the same Kara who won a Pulitzer for her hard hitting journalism that was full of all the facts. We can’t possibly expect Kara, a journalist to know about the latest tech that is taking over the city, no that’s not her job (biggest eye roll).

We then get to hear about everyone’s very scripted thoughts on what they think about technology and how dangerous it is or the potential good it can do. It was like the writers where challenged with trying to tell the audience the theme of the season but none of them had any idea how to do it subtly. Instead they give lines to characters that feel the furthest thing from natural.

Once J’onn leaves to go and teach tai chi, yes you heard me right tai chi and Kelly goes to her new job Alex rounds on Kara and demands that she tell Lena that she is Supergirl. This being the same Alex who has warned Kara countless times about the dangers of revealing who she is. It’s like everyone has collective amnesia and has forgotten all Lena’s dubious behaviour in previous seasons. If there is one person after 4 seasons I wouldn’t trust with anything it’s Lena no matter how friendly you are with her. But here we have the head of the DEO telling Supergirl, one of their greatest assets to tell Lena who she is. Sound OOC? Yes this whole scene is.

Kara’s response to it all is, of course, to doubt and blame herself cause Kara as to blame for everything. If there is someone that needs to beat themselves up more it’s Kara. *sigh*

The next scene we see the new boss of CatCo. Surprise! Not really. Another season another boss and owner. I swear CatCo is like Supergirl’s version of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. Although we might not be surprised by the new boss James and Kara are. Apparently normal business rules don’t apply to CatCo. You seemingly can buy the company on a whim without informing the board, or share holders or even your employees. You don’t even have to tell the government nor does it take months, potentially years. No, you can just rock up one day take over the Editor in Chiefs office and buying a company and the building. (Heavy eye roll).

Now you might ask what Andrea Rojas’s background is and if she is qualified for the position, the answers is no. She was given a portion of her daddy’s business and made a dodgy deal with Lena. But that doesn’t matter. Who needs qualifications at CatCo?????

What about Andrea Rojas personality you ask? Well she is a strong willed bitchy woman and does what she wants apparently. You know cause female CEOs and bosses can’t possibly be nice and supportive and help their employees by empowering them. They have to scare and bribe people and if they don’t do what you want then ruin their lives.

In the next scene we see a group of school kids at a museum that has things donated by the Supers. Cute yes but you have to wonder, would Superman or the DEO really allow a high tech alien pod with such a histories as Cal’s be donated to a museum and openly put on display. I think not. Also a ride about the phantom zone has got to be something out of a horror film. It is pure torture for everyone there, no time passes, all the worst of Krypton’s criminals were sent their, how is that a fun ride???? “Oh hey lets just say a friendly hello to Zod” (face palm). More to the point the only person who has really experienced the phantom zone in this universe that we know of is Kara and it gave her nightmares. There is no way she would wish that on anyone else.

Moving on, one of the little girls in the group is dodgy and bad things happen. Cut then to Lena and Kara in her office. The topic of CatCo comes up and Lena says that she was going to have lunch and tell Kara. Like Kara is the only person that needs to know that CatCo is being sold. No, the editor in chief, the board (remember them from S1?, yeh the writers don’t) they don’t need to be informed, who cares about them. *sigh* Lena then talks some more, not giving Kara a chance to say anything and then says, again no joke “The only reason I bought the company was you”. Yes you heard that right, you don’t need to clean your ears, Lena says that she only bought the company for Kara. It’s clear that the writers have been reading so many SC comments on twitter that they have lost their minds and memories and believe whatever they write. Forget the fact that in S3 Lena says the opposite about buying the company. Also if you are thinking that this seems like SC trope it’s cause it is.

After Kara and Lena’s “chat” AKA Lena’s monologue we get back to the museum where Supergirl arrives to “save” the day. I say save loosely cause she can’t even punch a dinosaur with full strength apparently. Once again the writers have conveniently forgotten that their main character could in fact throw that dinosaur into space, or burn a hole in it with her laser vision. No Kara just breaths on it a little and then gets knocked over, yes Supergirl girl of steel gets knocked over and Martian Manhunter arrives to help. While Kara, the alien with superspeed lies on the floor J’onn goes to attack it and gets thrown back by a force. Great “fight scenes” from Supergirl once again. (eye roll)

Back to Andrea, CatCo new extraordinary boss. She has a staff meeting where she essentially tells everyone she has taken CatCo over and it’s apart of Obsidian. Yes another creepy tech company taking over a media company cause it makes all the sense in the world and it isn’t dodgy. We haven’t had this trope before. It makes me wonder does National City publicise itself as the place to get away with questionable experiments? First Lord Tech, then L Corp, then Sphere Tech now we get Obsidian.  

Anyway I digress, in this scene Andrea essentially tells everyone that she wants CatCo to become clickbait and a tabloid newspaper/magazine. When questions she explains that reporting the truth (you know like wars and people dying) isn’t as important as profit and getting internet traffic or “consumer reporting” whatever that is…. She even says that Kara Pulitzer Prize winning story reduced the amount of traffic. Now I am no expert in media but if someone wins a prize for something that tends to drive up internet traffic. Even if people disagree with it human being are naturally curious. But then what do I know? Andrea also goes on and changes everyone’s contract to be 3 years only (I am pretty sure you can’t just do that) and invites anyone who doesn’t agree with her to quit.

One massive question that hangs over this scene and the later ones are WHERE IS CAT? If she saw what was happening to her company she would literally do anything she could to stop it. There is no way she would be ok with this. I mean Cat wouldn’t even publish the list of cheaters in S1 yet she is nowhere to be found and apparently is completely fine with the company that she started and bears her name to be passed around from person to person like a hot potato.

After all this stupidity we finally get back to Supergirl being Supergirl, you know fighting or something…… Kara gets called to come and look at a site and finds Brainy, Alex and J’onn, yes J’onn who is no longer a part of the DEO and who shouldn’t be allowed clearance at sites like this. Anywho they find a phantom zone projector and Alex and Kara work out too late that it’s a trap. The villain of the week appears and starts causing trouble. Supergirl gets some overly scripted dialogue which reminds everyone that yes she is still Supergirl and no the writer don’t have total amnesia (they still remember Alura from season 1).

A fight scene ensues where everyone gets blown over by some wind. Supergirl again uses none of her powers and ends up hiding behind some boxes with Brainy and Alex. As appears to be the norm now J’onn goes and fights her herself, meanwhile Kara continues to hide. Eventually Alex tells Kara to grab the projector and sort out the situation. As she does you can see her battling the wind to do what she needs to do. Yes, I did say battling some wind cause Supergirl who can lift an entire building and blow a wind out of her mouth that is probably as strong cannot withstand what is coming from this enemy. Amazing huh? (heavy eye roll).

 After that Oscar worthy scene, we get a lovely heart to heart between the Olsen siblings. Kelly tells James how amazing he is and then says she won’t stand against her new boss but gives him her abstract support. What is abstract support you might ask? I have absolutely no idea. The only thing I can think is she means she will be with them in thought but not in action, which let’s face it is completely useless and doesn’t help anyone. The long and the short of it though is that James quits CatCo and goes to pursue “something else”. And so we say goodbye to James, another original cast member who is male and no longer needed.

In another scene we get to see Kara come face to face with Andrea once again as well as meet the new guy, William Dey. William is a reporter from the Times “in London” who has an ego (cause we don’t have enough on the show already). Kara is told he has re-written her article and cut stuff out and although Kara says that it’s bias not to give all the facts he doesn’t care, he writes the POV that is requested. (Somewhere in the world Snapper is having an aneurysm hearing this.) Kara gets angry and turns to Andrea and says the following:

“I will be reporting what I want and writing it the way I want to. I will fight you every time, on every story to make sure it is told the way it deserves to be told. I will not be tolerated being rewritten by him and I will not allow my voice to be silenced.”

If your confused don’t worry you aren’t alone. This statement makes little sense when you break it down. Here Kara is saying she will do what she wants and refuses to be re-written but if she does what she wants that’s exactly what will happen. In fact it’s already been done.

At this point I have to question if Kara’s actions of defiantly staying at CatCo are helpful (even if it was nice to see Kara put her foot down). Andrea claims that she could ruin Kara’s and others careers so they will never work again if they quit but that hasn’t bothered Kara before. She was ready to quit on James in season 3 and in season 2 she gets fired for going out there and reporting the truth in the only way she could on her blog. Where has Kara’s moral compass gone from season 2? A few years ago she would have written it all on her blog thinking it was more important than her job. Now that she is a Pulitzer prize winner, and probably still has Cat support (yes I didn’t forget about her even if the writers did) the threat of ruining her is less potent. She could bring back danver.com or work full time at the DEO like she was going to before but instead she chooses to stay at CatCo where she is not be able to write what she wants? It makes no sense at all. Also Andrea’s threat about stopping someone from ever working again seems empty when all we know about her is that her father gave her part of his company. If it was Cat I would shudder with her I just laugh.

Now finally we get towards the end and we see Kara at her Pulitzer ceremony. Brainy gives her some nano tech which contains her suit that can be attached discretely onto her glasses. He explains that she needs to be careful because whenever she takes her glasses off her suit will appear. Inconvenient? 100%. Can you imagine Kara getting home and taking her glasses off only for her suit to appear? Then again her suit these days is more like a comfortable and slightly loose onesie that maybe she wants it that way.

The funniest part of it all is that in the very next scene Kara takes her glasses off and despite what Brainy says the suit doesn’t appear (although the next time it does). How does it work? Only the brainy, I mean only the writers…. Uhhhh no one knows.

It’s at this point in the episode we finally get the scene when Kara reveals her identity to Lena. As you would expect from this show and these writers, Kara cries throughout, apologies too much and blames herself. Her pain is hard to watch particularly when you know that it’s not warranted and they just want to make Kara sad. Lena plays the victim card, sheds a tear, yes a tear, and then goes to make a speech about Kara. In it she talks about how Kara stands for the truth (dig the knife in some more Luthor), and that we lie (but not you huh perfect Lena) and that Kara makes mistakes but picks herself up. They hug, cause they need to give SC the content they want and all seems to be ok, right? Wrong. If you know the show at all you will know that it’s all fake from Lena and she will stab Kara in the back as soon as she can.

She does in fact do this later in the episode when Supergirl comes to give her a signal watch (like James had) and says she isn’t going to keep anything from Lena. Lena then goes and tells her AI (her only friend is an AI, that’s not creepy) that Kara “broke her heart” (sounds romantic huh? Bait much) and that she didn’t want Supergirl dead she just wants to cause her pain. Yes apparently wanting to emotionally and possibly physically torture someone is better and more moral than murdering them. Who knew?

The final fight scene for the group comes at the Pulizer event when they all end up in a theatre. Again the amazing fight scene come to the for and we see Guardian, Manhunter, Dreamer, Brainy and Alex all stand in a line and blast the villain with their powers. Before you ask, yes standing in front of the enemy where they can see what you are doing, in a straight line no less and using one of your powers will work, everyone knows it’s the best strategy. Many great battles have been won that way. It is not at all necessary for Supergirl to use her superspeed or flight powers to disable the person, nor should J’onn use his physic abilities to play with their minds. Where is the fun in that?

When that tremendous strategy doesn’t work, they stand around, yes stand around and chat for a few minutes while the villain IDK goes for a coffee break? And then J’onn on behalf of the team once again tries to attack. Alex, yes Alex, the only human with no powers whatsoever, magically finds the phantom projector that was taken as a precaution to the Pulitzer event (there is nothing weird about that) and J’onn gets sucked into a black hole. Supergirl finally realises she can fly and tries to save him. To do that she uses her heat vision on the black hole cause that makes total scientific sense, don’t you dare question it. 

Once the crisis is over, all the superheroes have successfully used none of their powers in any way that’s useful and we can once again applaud the Supergirl team for another incredible fight. 

The episode ends with Nia telling Brainy to kiss her, and J’onn discovering he has a brother. While that storyline could be interesting it feels a tad repetative and you have to wonder if J’onn is going to find a problematic relative every season until the show ends. Who will be next, his daughter? his cousin? Place your bets.

As the Supergirl seasons progress they seem to get worse and worse but this episode has definitely taken the cake. For a premiere it was unexciting and with no real fight scenes and very little Supergirl you have to question who will tune in next week or for the rest of the season. SC may think that this is the best season ever and the writer will bait them with the “kara broke my heart lines” and hugs but they despite what they think are not large enough to keep the ratings up. If they keep going like this then we all better hope this show finishes sooner rather than later. The cast deserves better.

Anyway drop a comment or question below if you have any thoughts.

[sapphicscholar]

Literally just Halloween fluff to make up for what I've heard was a shitshow of an episode (though I won't see it until tomorrow night, so please no spoilers!) Pairings: Sanvers, Supercorp, Scholsen, and Lucy/Vasquez (don't know a name for them..) because fuck it, I want all the cute gay pairings

A/N: Happy Halloween! Also, heyyy, I’m back! Thanks for the patience and best wishes for the exam! It…well, it happened. Fun story: walking into the room, I over heard one of the women who was waiting to take the Math GRE Subject Test whisper to her friend, “Oh god, those are the lit kids. They’re the only ones with more of a curve than we get because the test is so hard almost everyone fails.” Cool, cool, cool, thanks for the fun vote of confidence!

I’m still pausing on the new prompts because I want to catch up so I don’t have the queue hanging over my head, but asks on Tumblr are open since I’m more than happy to answer questions/brainstorm ideas that may or may not end up in future fic/generally chat about random shit. This one was not prompted, but I liked the idea, so I ran with it for a short fluffy one-shot. I’ll get a Tumblr post up sometime soon with a master list of all of my Halloween fics, one of which may not go up until later this week…

Chapter Text

“Where’s my gun?” Maggie yelled from the living room.

“You don’t need it tonight!” Alex called back, her voice slightly breathy as she forced her foot into her tall boots.

“Not the real one—the toy one! For my costume!”

“Oh. Uh…I think it’s in the closet.”

“Spent enough time in there to know,” Maggie mumbled, laughing when Alex’s retort came back almost instantly: “I couldn’t hear the specifics, but I’m sure it was rude!”

As Maggie rooted through the closet, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist as Alex’s breath was suddenly hot against her neck. “Need a hand? I’ve been told I have quite the reach.”

Laughing, Maggie spun in Alex’s arms, her breath catching at the sight of Alex’s red and black spandex suit, the telltale yellow “i” emblazoned on her chest. “Well, hello there, Elastigirl.”

“Eyes back in your head, Sawyer. Tonight we have to be appropriate for the kiddos.”

“Only until 9…”

Smiling even as she shook her head, Alex leaned in and kissed Maggie softly. “C’mon, Jessie, let’s find your cowboy hat and your gun and get your cute little butt down to CatCo.”

“My cute little but would definitely prefer to stay here with you and that spandex suit.”

“Wasn’t this whole thing your idea?”

“With Kara, and I’m totally sure should could handle it on her own…”

“Nope. You two are finally getting along well, and I’m not about to jeopardize that for sex.”

“What if I promise to—”

Alex cut her off with a finger to the lips and a stern shake of the head. She might have more self-control than most, but there was only so much she could resist, and when Maggie took it upon herself to verbalize all the things she wanted to do to Alex—well, all bets were off. “I’ll get your gun and the candy. You find your hat and my mask.”

“Roger that, Elastigirl.”

“Is this going to go on all night?”

“You betcha.”

One heated makeout that left the car windows fogged and costumes slightly askew later they finally made their way into CatCo, waving as they caught sight of Kara dashing to and fro in full Supergirl attire as she put the finishing touches on the decorations for their alien-friendly Halloween. When Maggie had mentioned over dinner one night that there was often an uptick in instances of anti-alien attacks on Halloween as too many young off-worlders attempted to go out—gills and tentacles and blue skin on display, assuming it was the one night a year they could be themselves—only to find themselves found out as “real” aliens and subjected to the anti-alien hostilities Cadmus and the like continued to stir up, Kara had been quick to jump into action, intent on finding a safe way for the aliens who, unlike her, didn’t have the privilege of blending in to celebrate the holiday like the other kids their age. After one short meeting with James and Lena and two slightly longer meetings with J’onn and Maggie’s captain about ensuring the support of local law enforcement, Kara was off and running to plan CatCo’s first “All-Inclusive Halloween Extravaganza.”

Kara, Maggie, and M’gann had worked together to find the closest approximation to sweets from all different planets (as well as to mark anything that could be toxic to certain species), to come up with a whole host of games and activities, and to promote the event to local kids. Alex had to admit, she was beyond impressed with the results. The entire first floor of CatCo had been transformed. A string of cubicles was now a row of activity booths, including face painting, bobbing for apples, and painting mini pumpkins, while the entire back section of the floor had become a haunted house run by Winn and Vasquez, who had worked together to rig up animatronic ghouls, sound systems, and motion sensor-activated surprises.

With another half hour until the kids started arriving, Alex carried their candy over to the sweets table where James and Lena were busy sorting and labeling everything—both of them more than a little concerned about potential lawsuits from leaving anything that could be lethal or toxic unlabeled.

“Cute costume,” James commented. “Didn’t want to go the couples route?”

“Nah, she doesn’t quite have the size to pull off a Mr. Incredible costume. And I wasn’t about to dress up as Woody and match her.”

“Buzz Lightyear?” Lena suggested, stifling a laugh at Alex’s unamused expression.

“I prefer a bit of flexibility in my costumes.”

“Ah yes, the DEO catsuit—but now in red!” James teased, earning a glare from Alex.

“You’re talking a big game for a man in spandex himself.”

“You can’t go wrong with the Superman route…”

“Excuse me, I think you could have killed it as Supergirl too,” Lena chimed in, twirling slightly in her skirt, stopping only when she noticed the real Supergirl frozen in place, mouth hanging open. With a wink and a small wave to her girlfriend, Lena turned her attention back to Alex, not missing the protective big sister scowl. “So! The candy.”

Figuring she could be generous for the holiday, Alex indulged the digression and turned her attention back to sorting the sweets.

Across the room, Lucy strolled in with a few of the other DEO agents there to make sure nothing happened to ruin the fun night for the kids.

“What are you, Luce?” Kara asked, assessing the totally unmarked black spandex suit paired with black heels.

Lucy gestured at the furry ears on her headband and rolled her eyes, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m a cat. Duh.”

“A very sexy cat,” Vasquez added, wrapping her arms around Lucy and pulling her in for a kiss.

“Don’t get your night of the living dead makeup on me!” Lucy squealed, though her laugh and indulgent smile gave her away.

“C’mon, let your undead zombie bride carry you through the door of the haunted house.”

“I feel like that’s seven years of bad luck…”

“Nah, I won’t break any mirrors.”

Kara chuckled as Vasquez bent at the knees and easily scooped Lucy up into her arms bridal style, whisking her across the room and leaving Kara to direct the DEO agents to different areas of the floor.

---

After a few quiet minutes while Kara anxiously paced around, peering out the door in the hopes that someone would arrive, local families slowly began trickling in, the young aliens mingling with the human children of some of National City’s prominent alien rights advocates as their parents gathered at the cider table to chat. Within half an hour, the floor was crowded, and the sound of laughter and squeals from inside the haunted house filled the air, mingling with the Halloween soundtrack Lucy had prepared for the occasion, letting the occasional Rocky Horror song slip in among the kids tunes.

“You proud of the event?” Alex asked, sidling up next to Maggie and handing over a cup of the cider she’d spiked just a bit.

“Yeah, I think it’s going well,” Maggie offered with a small shrug of her shoulders.

“Ugh, why is it that you’re only a cocky shit at home.”

“Cause you love it when I’m a cocky shit in the bedroom,” Maggie teased.

Blushing slightly, Alex swatted at Maggie’s upper arm. “Just take credit for the damn event, Sawyer. It’s a huge success.”

“Yeah? Yeah, it kind of is.”

“Definitely is.”

---

Across the room, James made his way over to the haunted house, having left the treat table in Kara and Lena’s very capable hands, hoping they wouldn’t distract one another too much. “How’s my little master of ceremonies doing?” James asked, draping an arm across Winn’s shoulders.

“Master of horror, master of gore—c’mon, let me have a cool title.”

“Is Man in the Van not cool enough for you?” James teased. Seeing the small pout on Winn’s face, he pulled out the caramel apple he’d brought over. “Make it better?”

“A little.”

“What if I offered to go through the haunted house with you?”

“It’s not fun when we both know what’s going to happen,” Winn reasoned, though he’d been dying to take James out to the truly creepy warehouse-turned-haunted house in downtown National City since it opened.

“What if I told you that I asked Vasquez to rig up a few horrors that you don’t know about?”

“Well, then, I might just say you’re the best boyfriend ever.”

“Only a might?”

“Let’s see how it goes first,” Winn stipulated, though the poorly concealed grin gave him away, and he excitedly grabbed James hand and dragged him over to the entrance as soon as Vasquez was all set up.

By the time they made it out, Winn was in James’ arms and even James looked like he had seen a ghost. “What the hell, Vasquez? I thought we had a deal!”

“The deal was to scare the crap out of Winn. I did that, didn’t I?” Vasquez gestured at the way Winn had wrapped himself around James like a koala bear.

“But I didn’t tell you to scare me too!”

“Who says it was intentional?” Vasquez asked, trying and failing to look innocent.

“Lucy told you, didn’t she?”

“Told her what?” Lucy asked, popping into the conversation.

“About how he’s super scared of mice,” Vasquez announced, drawing a loud laugh from Lucy who nodded gleefully.

“So how’d you get Winn that scared? I thought he was supposed to be all master of horror tonight.”

“Oh, Winn here is terrified of the Joker…just threw in that signature laugh and a few choice holograms and boom—instant koala bear.”

“It’s a perfectly legitimate fear,” Winn pouted as he let himself be lowered to the ground.

“Sure it is.”

“Whatever.”

“Anyway, I’ve gotta head back over to the music, but I’m about to give a little dance lesson to the grown ups on how to do the Time Warp so I suggest you close your haunted house for the night.” With a small mock salute, Lucy turned and strutted back over to the makeshift dance floor.

“I’m not gonna miss watching you pelvic thrust, babe,” Vasquez called after Lucy, hopping out of the control seat to follow her across the room.

“Sure you already get plenty of that at home…” Winn trailed off, smiling impishly at Vasquez, who had rounded on him.

“You know Danvers isn’t the only one who knows six very painful ways to kill you with her index finger, right, Schott?”

“Psh, you’ll never be as scary as the Joker! Good try!”

“I can project the Joker hologram into your bedroom when you least expect it,” Vasquez threatened.

“Shutting up now.”

“Good idea.”

From across the room, they heard Lucy announce over the microphone: “It’s time for the Time Warp, and if I don’t see Superman, Captain Kirk, Jessie, Elastigirl, Supergirl 1, Supergirl 2, and Zombie Bride out on the dance floor, they’re gonna be joining me on stage to teach you all the dance!”

Within moments, the entire Superfriends crew had materialized on the dance floor, leaving M’gann and J’onn, who had arrived late after a quick patrol as Supergirl, to play the responsible adults at the snack table. As the opening chords rang out through the speakers, Alex felt Maggie’s hand squeezing her own.

“What’s that for?”

“I love you. I love this. I love our weird little family, you know?”

“Yeah, I love you too.”

“I can see you two lovebirds not stepping to the left!” Lucy yelled, her gaze trained on Alex and Maggie. “Would you like to come up here and help me demonstrate the moves?”

With a laugh and a middle finger that Maggie hastily knocked down before any of the kids could see, Alex let herself be pulled into the routine.

[fuck-you-i-am-spiderman]

I won’t say I’m in love: Ch 7

Chapter 7: Sleepovers are for sharing

Find it here Ao3 and ff.net

Summary:  Lena's hesitant at first but how can she say no to Kara's puppy face and it's not like she's ever really had a sleepover, she has no idea what she's up against. 

Link to the next chapter 

                      Does this look like 2 updates I think it does!

Lena sat at the Slytherin table, newspaper in one hand and a goblet of orange juice in the other. Her usually neat hair was tied in a loose ponytail, with random strands of hair falling down around her face. Her eyes skimming over the meaningless drabble, she turned the page, sighing when all she saw was more pointless gossip.

“Hey, you.”

She loved the sound of that voice, even during the wee hours of the morning. Her face immediately brightening, she turned to see Kara grinning at her. Kara’s arms opened, and Lena stood, instantly gravitating into the embrace. Kara’s strong arms wrapped around her as Lena’s face rested against Kara’s collarbone. When they pulled apart, Kara gave a shy smile, awkwardly motioning for them to sit back down.

Lena intertwined her hands with Kara’s as they settled down on the bench, ignoring the glares and odd looks they received.

“You’re up early… on a Saturday. Are you feeling okay, Darling?” Lena asked, her eyebrows quirking up as she flashed a teasing smile.

“Oh hush, you.” Kara nudged her shoulder playfully, making Lena laugh. Then the girl leaned over to pick at the half-eaten food on Lena’s plate.

Lena didn’t mind, really; she rarely ate breakfast, and Kara could eat enough for ten people. With Kara momentarily distracted by the range of pastries and fresh fruit slices, Lena took the opportunity to take in Kara’s appearance. The Hufflepuff had her hair down and was wearing a Hufflepuff headband, a well-worn but comfy-looking “Power to the Girls” sweater, a pair of light blue jeans, and black sneakers. Her fake girlfriend looked good, and Lena shamelessly ogled her for another minute. That is, until she heard a quiet cough. A faint blush flushing over her cheeks, she looked up to find Kara watching her with a smug smile. She couldn’t speak as Kara gave herself the once over before turning back to her food with a self-assured grin.

“You should just take a picture.”

Lena struggled to hide her shock as Kara smiled in that adorable way and plopped an orange slice into her mouth. After a moment, Lena gathered herself. “You’re being cheekier than usual,” she noted.

“Pfft! Don’t even pretend you don’t like it.”

“I definitely don’t hate it. I love that you can be confident around me. Most people aren’t…”

“Well, I’m not most people.” Kara squeezed Lena’s hand, giving her a firm but friendly smile.

“No, you’re not.” The way Lena whispered the words made Kara’s heart flutter, and once again she felt the overwhelming urge to kiss Lena senseless. It had been getting worse each time she saw her, and she knew it was definitely more than a crush. She wanted to tell Lena how she really felt; but they were in pretty deep and it was highly unlikely Lena would feel the same for her. Or at least, that’s what Kara kept telling herself.

The sound of her name being called brought Kara out of her thoughts, and the look of concern in Lena’s eyes told her that the Slytherin had been calling her name for a while.

“Sorry, I was just…” She stopped, flushing.

“You don’t need to explain, Darling, unless you want to.”

“I… I was thinking about you, actually.”

Lena arched an eyebrow but remained silent.

“Well, I was thinking about us.” Kara’s eyes widened as she realised what that might sound like.

Lena watched her expression change, an amused grin on her face. “You’re not breaking up with me, right?” she joked.

“No!” Kara shook her head frantically, her hands twitching and her body starting to slip into panic mode as the thought of not being with Lena clouded her mind. She had no idea how Lena knew, but she was thankful when Lena’s lips brushed against her own. A warm hand settled gently on top of her shaking fingers, stilling them as Lena drew her in closer. Kara melted into the kiss, revelling in the warmth as Lena calmed her. Lena cupped Kara’s cheek delicately with her free hand as she began to pull back. Kara found herself following, and it was only when she felt herself hum against Lena’s lips that they finally broke apart. Lena’s hand traced her jawline, lingering there for a moment before she seemed to realise herself and leaped back. Kara tried to contain her disappointment at the loss, instead moving her now free hand to adjust her glasses.

“Feeling a bit better?”

Kara didn’t trust her voice not to waver, so she nodded and was rewarded with a soft smile. Lena was patient, letting Kara collect her thoughts before the Hufflepuff spoke again, her voice hesitant and shy as she looked down at her lap.

“I- I don’t want to break up, Lena… Do you?” She stilled, not looking up.

The timid edge to her voice broke Lena’s heart. She reached out a hand to still Kara’s nervously drumming fingers, and waited until Kara looked up to speak. Making sure to keep her tone soft and reassuring, she answered, “Not at all. This arrangement is meant to help you, Kara.”

“You know it’s more than just an arrangement, though. Right? I mean- I don’t want you to think I’m using you, or that my feelings aren’t genuine. We- We’re friends and I care about you – but I totally understand if you think I’m overstepping. I did force you into this whole mess and then I ambushed you into being my friend and then I just had to tell everybody when we could have stopped this and-“

Kara’s words were cut off as Lena clamped a hand over her mouth. Her eyebrows furrowed, confusion flooding her gaze as Lena chuckled.

“Has anyone ever told you that you talk a lot?”

Lena removed her hand to see Kara pouting at her, and it took everything she had not to lean over and kiss it away.

“It’s endearing.” Kara scoffed, and Lena continued. “It is, so stop pouting at me or I might have to start calling you Puppy.” She laughed as Kara comically shook her head, her pout growing as Lena laughed again. “I didn’t know you were feeling this insecure, so I want you to listen closely. Okay?” She waited until Kara nodded. “You did not ambush me or back me into any corners. I make my own decisions, and – if you remember correctly – I was the one to suggest this little arrangement. So technically I was the one to overstep. That being said, I don’t regret it. Quite the opposite, actually. You are my best friend, Kara; you were the first person to treat me with unwavering kindness and compassion without expecting anything in return. And the fact that you still question this just goes to show that I need to tell you more often how much I care.”

Kara’s eyes watered and then she smiled. Lena wasn’t prepared for the strong arms that flung around her or the way Kara nestled into her neck. What she was most unprepared for, though, was how Kara whispered “thank you” against her. It was as though Kara had never had anyone care that much. That made Lena hold on even tighter.

Lena didn’t stop rubbing Kara’s back – even when Kara pulled back, her eyes glossy as she gave Lena a shaky smile. She started to mumble an apology, but a pointed look from the Luthor stopped her.

Lena smiled, deciding to change the subject. “Are you having another game extravaganza this weekend?”

Kara’s face lit up at this, her eyes shining as she beamed at the Slytherin. “That’s it! That’s what I wanted to ask you.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. Using an elbow to prop herself against the table, she leaned in closer and smiled, her voice light and teasing as she said, “Well, now I’m curious. Do tell, Miss Danvers, what is it that you wanted to ask me?”

Kara laughed, her face flushing as she shifted, adjusting her glasses again. Her hands wrung together for a moment before her rambling began, and then they unconsciously flapped around as if necessary in demonstrating her words.

“We – Alex and I – have this tradition, and… Well, she didn’t exactly approve at first. It happened once, and she was really mad about it. I couldn’t sleep one night, so I woke Winn and we explored a bit. I still don’t know how Alex knew we were awake, but I mean she’s a prefect, so… But anyway, Winn dared me and I stupidly said I’d do it. And then one thing led to another and we were sneaking to the Shrieking Shack. Alex followed us and she was so mad. She yelled at us for weeks after that. And after she’d finally calmed down, she smacked the back of our heads for not inviting her. And after that, it just became our thing. It was just us three, but then Winn told James who told Lucy who told Maggie that we had monthly sleepovers. So…” Kara took a much needed breath before continuing. “What I’m trying to say is would you like to come to the one that’s happening tonight? In the Shrieking Shack with our friends and with me. I’ll be there and we all get snacks and bring games and tell stories and we watch muggle movies and we get to share sleeping bags – not that you have to, but it’s like a rite of passage and it’s really fun and, oh! Rao, I’m rambling again.”

“You had me at ‘I’ll be there’. Of course I’ll come.”

Kara bounced in her seat, and Lena thought she’d never looked more adorable, so relaxed and full of life. She knew she should be concerned at how fast she’d fallen, but right now – with Kara smiling at her as though she’d given her the world – she couldn’t find it in her to care.

"Would you stop fussing already? She said she’d be here, so she will be.”

Alex's voice sounded far away as Kara sat there, bouncing her leg. She heard her sister’s groan, and a moment later a hand stopped her, forcefully holding her leg still as Alex spoke again.

"Kara, you're making the room shake."

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Alex softened. “It’s okay. I know you’re nervous, but it’s just a sleepover. We’ve done this before. Tonight is no different.”

“Lena’s never come to one of our sleepovers, though. What if she hates it?”

“Trust me, she won’t hate it.”

“How do you know?”

Alex gave her a pointed look, shaking her head at how oblivious her sister was being. “Because you’re here, you idiot! Lena looks at you like you can touch the stars.”

Kara smiled a little at that, not sure she fully believed her; but the shaking in her leg had stopped. Alex wrapped an arm around her, and for a while Kara let herself relax into her sister’s embrace. That is, until they heard footsteps approaching. She leaped up and excitedly hurried over, ready to greet the Slytherin – only to be met by Lucy, Winn, James, and Mon-El. Her face fell, shoulders slumping as she tried to hide her disappointment. She knew she’d failed, though, when she heard Alex’s poorly disguised laughter.

“Don’t act too happy to see us, babe,” Lucy smirked, pressing a hand to her chest in mock offence.

Kara grimaced, doing her best to slap on a smile. “Of course I’m happy to see you guys! I was just expecting…” she trailed off, fidgeting with her hands.

“Ahhh. Upset your girlfriend isn’t here yet?” Winn teased, and Kara could only offer a shrug as she slumped back into her seat beside Alex.

The others all flopped down, getting comfy as Kara sulked. Her eyes briefly drifted to where Mon-El and Winn sat, and the way Mon-El smiled at her only made her feel worse. He looked all too smug seeing her misery, and she grumbled as much into Alex’s ear.

With each minute that passed, Kara got more and more anxious. Not even the cluster of snacks could make her smile as she sat dejectedly gnawing on a liquorice wand. Chatter buzzed around her, but Kara's eyes stayed locked on the doorway.

"Some girlfriend. She can't even be bothered to show up."

Kara's fist clenched as her gaze cut to Mon-El. The bite in her tone was evident and the tension only increased as she glared. "Lena is coming, and she was actually invited - unlike someone."

"Wow! That was really uncalled for, Kara."

"No. What's uncalled for is you constantly throwing dirty looks at my girlfriend. What is uncalled for is you harassing me and badgering me about dating you – even though I’ve told you many times I’m not interested. I don’t appreciate your snide comments about my girlfriend. Lena is wonderful! She’s smart and kind, and everything good in the world. So just shut the fuck up about her!” Kara was shaking, her expression violent as she stood.

Silence followed her words, several pairs of wide eyes on her. Winn’s mouth fell open and Alex looked gobsmacked. Mon-El’s expression was one of confusion as he looked around as though to make sure he wasn’t the only one to have heard her. Lucy and James, on the other hand, were muffling their laughter with their hands. Everything was silent, and as Kara went to sit back down, she saw two figures standing in the doorway.

Maggie’s grin was almost too wide for her face, dimples showing as she beamed, her eyes shining with unspoken pride. And next to her stood Lena. Lena’s face was almost as red as Kara’s – but her eyes were darker than Kara had ever seen and she was biting her lip so hard Kara feared she might draw blood.

It was Maggie who finally broke the silence. “Looks like we arrived at the perfect time.” She smirked.

Kara let out a relieved sigh, shaking her head and practically skipping over to greet the pair. She let her eyes roam over Lena’s perfect form, taking in every part of her. Lena was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a well-worn Holyhead Harpies t-shirt. Her silky raven hair was down, a welcome change from the perfect buns she usually styled. Kara noticed Lena wasn’t wearing any makeup, and her heels had been traded for a beaten-up pair of chucks. She swooned at how casual Lena looked.

"Lena!"

Kara took no notice of the fact that Lena had brought enough snacks and drinks to feed everyone for a week. Instead, she wrapped her arms around the Luthor and swept her off her feet, hugging her tightly as she spun them both around. Lena gasped, but her shock was immediately replaced by a soft laugh and a bright smile.

“Where’s my hug, Little Danvers?”

Kara rolled her eyes, but gently set Lena back on the ground, releasing her with a pout before moving to embrace her other friend – somewhat awkwardly, given the array of treats in the Ravenclaw’s arms. She pulled back after a moment, and Maggie chuckled before heading over to the group and leaving the two alone.

Kara smiled, stepping closer to pluck the items from Lena’s hand, carrying them with ease. Lena flashed her a grateful smile, and it was quiet for a moment as Kara leaned in, her voice barely louder than a whisper. “How much of that did you hear?”

“Enough. Thank you for defending me. Though it isn’t necessary, I do appreciate it.”

“Of course it’s necessary! You are a wonderful person, Lena, and you deserve someone who will be there for you, always.”

Lena didn’t respond, but Kara could see a ghost of a smile on her face. It was enough. Kara held out her free hand, smiling when Lena accepted, interlocking their fingers and letting Kara guide her to the group. They were met with a chorus of “Hey Lena” and a grunt from Mon-El.

“If you keep bringing that many snacks, you will always be welcome to join us!” Winn grinned, snatching up a large box of Bertie Bots and a bottle of butterbeer from Kara’s hands before slouching back in his seat.

Lena smiled at him, doing a mock salute before letting Kara pull her along to a large armchair beside Alex’s. Kara let go of her hand and sat down, scooting over to make room for Lena. The seat was spacious, but Lena knew she needed to be closer to Kara – so instead, she settled down on Kara’s lap, letting her legs drape over Kara’s as she wrapped an arm around the blonde’s neck. She expected Kara’s reaction, smiling as Kara flushed and ducked her head as a shy smile appeared on her lips.

“Is this okay, Darling?”

Kara nodded, wrapping an arm around Lena’s waist and bring them closer still. “It’s perfect.”

“You’re both so adorable,” Lucy said, throwing a piece of candy at them. “It’s gross.”

The others chuckled in agreement, the ice broken as they started to discuss games.

"Alright, enough! These muggle games are awful!" Alex complained, tossing the Monopoly board aside as Lena sported a victorious smile.

"You're only saying that because you suck at them," Kara quipped, turning to stage whisper to Lena, "She does this every time, and then always asks for a rematch with magical games."

"Stop bullshitting about me to your girlfriend!"

"Language."

"Oh, please! We all heard your language earlier, Kara. You don’t get to say anything now."

Alex turns to smile at Maggie, before sticking her tongue out and pulling a face at Kara, who returned with one of her own. The moment was short-lived when Lena whispered something under her breath, causing her and Kara to break out laughing.

"You're so bad!" Kara giggled.

Lena nodded affirmation, leaning over to place a kiss on Kara’s cheek.

“Can we play a game that doesn’t involve counters or something sharp, at least?” Winn chipped in. “I don’t trust Alex after last time!” He rubbed his shoulder, clearly remembering how Alex had thrown chess pieces at him earlier.

“How about Truth or Dare?” Mon-El suggested. When no one protested, he took it as a win. Kara could feel his gaze on her and Lena, but she shrugged it off, hoping he’d remember her warning from earlier.

They all rearranged the room, forming a circle and removing food from the table. Alex moved a bottle to the centre.

“I am so not drunk enough for this,” the Gryffindor mumbled. She retrieved a bottle from the side and took a long sip, protesting when Maggie leaned over and plucked it from her grasp.

“You’ve got to share, Danvers.”

“Firewhisky?! You brought firewhisky? Alex, no!”

“Don’t be a baby, Kara. Besides, you had more than one sip last time and survived.”

Kara didn’t argue, but her mouth curved into a frown. Alex sighed, ignoring her, and leaned over Kara to offer Lena a sip. They were all surprised when Lena swigged like a champion, licking her lips as the alcohol rolled down her throat.

Kara watched in disbelief as Lena smirked at her and made a show of taking an extra gulp before handing the bottle to Lucy. She shot James a pleading look, thankful when he nodded and moved the night forward.

“Alright, let’s do this. I’ll spin first.”

They all watched in anticipation as the bottle spun quickly, slowing and finally stopping with the top pointing to Kara. She adjusted her glasses, her face flushing. Lena shifted beside her, and she felt warm breath on her neck.

“Kara, truth or dare?”

“Bet you a galleon she goes for truth,” Alex whispered to Maggie. The Ravenclaw shook her head before whispering back, “You’re on!” The two leaned forward as Kara deliberated.

“Kara,” Winn whined her name, and she stuttered out a response.

“Umm… I’ll go with truth.” She bit her lip, hoping James would choose to go easy on her, completely missing how Alex sniggered and pocketed a galleon from a chuckling Maggie.

“Have you ever fallen asleep in Professor Binn’s class?”

He received several groans, but Kara smiled, chuckling as the others rolled their eyes and scoffed.

“I did… once. He was talking about the history of history, and I just closed my eyes for a moment. But then I was snoring, and -” She was lost to a fit of giggles, finding the whole situation incredibly hilarious while the others just smiled and nodded along. She caught Lena’s eye, pleased to see an amused smirk on her lips.

“That was so vanilla! I’m spinning!” Winn leaned forward and clumsily spun the bottle. He grinned evilly as the next victim raised a challenging eyebrow. “Truth or dare, Danvers?”

“Dare,” Alex answered without hesitation. The others all watched in anticipation as Winn rubbed his hands together.

“Okay. I dare you to…”

                                                            ....

Kara had finally given in, clutching the bottle of firewhiskey as she anxiously awaited the next question. So far she’d been mostly successful in not being landed on, but had found it very amusing to witness the others suffering. Alex had been forced to switch shirts with Mon-El, James and Winn had shared a kiss, Maggie had used a spell to give James a Mohawk, Lucy had to kiss down Mon-El’s neck… And then came the truths. She found out far too much information about a rendezvous with Winn and his ex-girlfriend Siobhan in a second-floor bathroom, found out just how many people Mon-El had slept with, and that Maggie’s favourite class was Defence Against the Dark Arts. So far, the questions had been rather tame – except those in the battle between Alex and Winn. But now the others seemed to be upping their games, too.

“Okay, L. What’s it going to be? Truth or dare?” Maggie asked.

“Somehow, I don’t trust you with dares. Truth.”

Maggie grinned as she spoke. “Have you ever had a sex dream about Kara?”

“Ew! Sawyer, that’s my sister you’re talking about! I don’t want to hear about this!”

“Don’t be such a prude, Danvers.”

Lena gave Kara a cautious glance, trying to gauge her reaction. The Hufflepuff was beetroot red.

“Don’t be a wimp, Luthor. Just answer the question.”

Lena ignored the bait, focusing on Kara as she asked, “Kara will it make you uncomfortable if I answer?” When Kara shook her head, she nodded, turning back to face Maggie with a confident smile. “Yes, I have.”

Alex wretched and Maggie grinned triumphantly. Lena, though, didn’t pay attention to anyone but the bright red blonde sitting beside her, biting her lip as she waited for a look of disgust to appear on her face. But then Kara looked at her lips, and she had to remind herself they were in public and that they were only fake-dating; despite all that, she didn’t miss the desire in Kara’s eyes.

“I think it’s my turn now.” Mon-El’s voice broke the moment, and Lena held back a growl. She’d never wanted to kill anyone quite so much as in that moment.

He spun the bottle, and it landed on Kara. His eyebrows wiggled suggestively and Lena’s jaw clenched as she not-so-subtly moved closer to the girl, resting a hand on Kara’s knee.

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Lucy cut in, flashing Kara a stern look. “You have picked truth the last three rounds. You have to do a dare.”

Kara started to protest, but was met with expectant eyes and folded arms. Sighing, she relented. “Ugh! Fine. I guess I pick dare, then.”

“Excellent! Alright, I dare you to give your girlfriend a lap dance.”

Kara froze, gulping as Mon-El grinned in an almost predatory way.

“I don’t think-“

“What’s the problem? Unless it makes you feel uncomfortable being close with your girlfriend…?”

She could hear the clear challenge in his voice, and hated how smug he looked – as though he was waiting to see her fail. Her hands trembled, but she wouldn’t let him win. Instead, she tuned him out and focused entirely on Lena.

It was Lena who spoke first, though, her voice full of concern and empathy. “You don’t have to do this, Kara.”

“I really don’t want to see my sister giving someone a lap dance,” Alex added.

“Well, then don’t look,” came Mon-El’s retort.

Alex’s jaw dropped, but she didn’t fire back. She could see the steel determination shining in Kara’s eyes. She’d seen that look before, and knew Kara wouldn’t back down. She sighed, throwing her hands up before heading for the door. “Fine, but I’m not being traumatized.”

Kara stood up as soon as she was gone, puffing out her chest as the others moved back to watch. She heard Winn whisper a “holy shit”, but she was staring at Lena – and only Lena.

“Are you sure?” Lena asked.

Kara nodded, removing her glasses and tousling her hair before stalking over. There was a moment of silence, and then someone started humming a beat for her. And then Kara had nothing left to lose. She threw a confident glare Mon-El’s way, and then straddled Lena, facing her as she started moving her hips in slow circles. She was shaky at first, and could feel how tense Lena was beneath her. But then she heard a slow intake of breath, and something inside her snapped. Lena’s hands stayed firmly at her sides, but Kara let her own wander, every time looking up to make sure Lena was okay. She ran her lips slowly down Lena’s neck and then Lena grasped her as Kara ran a hand through her own hair and pressed closer. Lena’s hands gripped her waist, and Kara cupped her chin as their lips met.

This kiss was so different from the others; it was everything. Kara stopped moving, only ducking her head to recapture Lena’s lips and press her back against the chair. Lena bit her lip and Kara parted hers in response. It was only when she felt Lena moan against her that she remembered where they were and practically flew back.

Everyone looked pretty much shell-shocked and Mon-El looked rather pissed off that his plan hadn’t worked. Lena’s hair was messy and Kara’s shirt had ridden up her back. The only sound in the room was the sound of their panting. Kara stood up somewhat shakily, her fists trembling as she glared at Mon-El. Brushing past him, she stalked out.

Lena found Kara curled up in the stairwell. It had been a while since the dance, and as soon as Alex had found out how upset Kara was, all hell had broken loose. Mon-El was practically hexed out of the shack, and Alex had told Lena to go find Kara. But she hadn’t had to look far. Here the girl was, sitting in the stairwell and hugging her knees to her chest as she slumped against the banister.

"Hey."

Kara didn't respond, but she shifted slightly so Lena could sit beside her. The tension was thick between them as Lena took a seat.

"Alex kicked him out. You can come back whenever you're ready."

Still, Kara said nothing.

Lena felt even worse. She could see how badly Kara was feeling, and she wanted more than anything to take her pain away. “Kara, would you please look at me? I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“How can I be okay? After what I did in there, I– we-”

“Let’s just forget it ever happened, alright? Bore-El was wrong, and he shouldn’t have made you feel like you had to do that. You didn’t actually like it, that’s fine. I get it, Kara. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not! Damn it, Lena! I did like it. Alright? I liked it – I mean, I really, really liked it. And I messed everything up. I’m such an idiot.” Kara covered her face with her hands and mumbled incoherent words that sounded like repetitions of “I’m sorry” and “such an idiot”.

“You’re not an idiot, Kara.”

Kara just grumbled into her hands.

Sighing, Lena tugged at the girl’s wrists, moving her hands away from her face. Tucking a strand of blonde hair behind Kara’s ear, she said, “It’s okay if you liked it.”

“Is it? Because I’m so scared, Lena. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t lose me. I promise you, Kara, I’m not going anywhere. No matter what idiot douchebags try. Alright?” She leaned in and their lips met. The kiss was so soft and brief, but Lena could feel Kara trembling against her. When she pulled back, Kara gave her a wide-eyed look and she felt as though there was something unspoken there.

“Lena, I-“

“No. It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. Just take my hand and let’s go back in there and have some fun.”

Kara nodded. When they’d both stood up, she leaned in, placing a soft kiss to Lena’s cheek. She wiped her eyes, and then headed back to the room with the confidence Lena knew and loved.

                                                         ....

They were the last two to fall asleep. Everyone had gotten into their pyjamas an hour earlier, and one by one they had all dozed off. Lucy was lying flopped against James, who was sprawled out on one of the couches. Winn was snoring on the floor while Maggie and Alex dozed in their respective sleeping bags. Kara could see Lena was still awake, so she crawled over and lay down beside her.

Lena turned to face her, and neither knew who made the first move; but then they were kissing, so gentle yet passionate. Kara pressed into Lena, and bit back a moan when Lena tugged at her hair. Lena’s hands caressed her back while Kara traced the skin along Lena’s forearm.

“Kara.”

Her name was whispered like a song against her own lips, and Kara didn’t want to stop so she leaned in again. Lena smiled into the kiss. Their tender touches softened and then they ever so slowly pulled apart, both of their lips perfectly swollen and their eyes glazed over as they stared at one another. Neither wanted to break the spell. So instead, Lena rolled onto her side, shuffling back so she was curled in Kara’s arms, and pulled the spare sleeping bag over them.

It was uncomfortable on the cold floor, and Kara knew her neck would be sore in the morning. But Lena was warm, and Kara didn’t want to stop holding her; so she moved closer, dropping her head to place a feather-light kiss on Lena’s exposed shoulder. She didn’t allow herself the opportunity to overthink it, and let her eyes close as Lena linked their fingers.

They lay peacefully, their breathing evening out. As Kara started drifting off, the last thing she heard was Lena’s voice whisper something into the dark. And then she fell into a soft slumber, the words playing like a melody in her head as sleep took over.

“I liked it, too.”