#we also could’ve taken a picture of it for Lena because I love Lena and would die for her :’(

[stars-on-fyre]

Beat Disco Elysium and 1) because Kim was shot I had Cuno and he became a junior detective, 2) I’m so upset that Kim wasn’t with me for that fucking Phasmid so we could’ve had a picture of it for my best friend Lena :’( and 3) this is the best game I’ve ever played

[sunsetcarnation264]

So, uh, that DT17 finale huh?

I would've made this right after I watched the finale, but I wanted to give it a bit of time to sink in fully and made sure I thought everything through before giving my thoughts on it. Not the worst finale there is, but it definitely could've been way better in my opinion. I've heard about the finale from my friends who've seen it, which from the sounds of it I already wasn't liking it, but since I've seen the finale now, how I feel about it is now concrete and set in stone and I feel the same as before. Maybe how I feel about it is in the minority side, or maybe a majority side, I dunno but I don't care. It's not the best it could've been and I'll explain why below. If you like it, good for you I guess because everyone's tastes are different, but I personally don't and I feel like the show deserves a much better finale than this. HEAVY DUTY DISCLAIMER: Just because I'm criticizing the finale doesn't mean I don't love the series, in fact it's because I love the show that I'm giving criticism and give what I would’ve done instead, and if you're anything like me and you're hella late to the party then there'll be spoilers for the finale. If you haven't caught up on the last episode, then you're not missing much honestly, but if you don't like spoilers regardless then watch that first then come back

The first part of the finale starts off like any other DuckTales 2017 episode. It's Webby's birthday, everyone's keeping their eyes out for F.O.W.L. shit, and Webby's enjoying herself. After a bit everyone goes below Funso's and they end up in F.O.W.L.'s territory. F.O.W.L. sets everything up to be on self-destruct, so they gotta find them and stop the self-destruction. They did happen to do the latter, but the F.O.W.L. members already escaped with almost everything. Just almost. The gang end up finding May and June, who're clones and they presume they're clones of Webby. Now this is where I'm starting to not like the finale. Yeah, you can do clones as like a plot twist, but at the same time it feels a bit outta nowhere. Had they foreshadowed it in another episode or have it lead up to the whole "oh shit there's clones of a character we know and love" thing then I wouldn't have a problem, but this came outta nowhere and I kept an eye on possible foreshadowing during season 3 and the rest of season 2 post The Duck Knight Returns too so I would've picked something up. The only thing that could count as foreshadowing was when Beakley promised Webby that she won't keep anymore secrets from her and the harp was saying "fibbing fibbing fibbing", but that's just it. Part two of the finale, Gyro does tests on them to see who they might've been clones of. He tries to tell everyone what the results are but when Scrooge asks him, he said it didn't come up with anything for him to answer the question. Beakley thinks they're both dangerous and locks them up in a closet. Webby, being a naive little girl, wants to talk to them because they're essentially her 'sisters' and she wants to know them more even though Beakley straight up tells her not to interact with them. Webby disregards what Beakley says anyways and she frees them, talks to them, and tries to show them her family tree so they can figure out where May and June came from. May and June are basically like "ehhhh this is your family tree? Who tf are you related to besides Beakley?" yeah, as if extended family or found family still ain't family you jerks. In the meantime, Louie just wants to watch his Ottoman Empire finale which ends up being shitty foreshadowing for the last part of this finale. You'll see why I mentioned this later. They even see Lena and Violet on there and are like "okay but who're those" which Webby responds with how they're her best friends and guess what one of the two clones goes to do? One of them grabs scissors and tries to cut it. When she does cut it, Lena's like "aw hell no bitch" and uses magic on her. Webby being Webby, is completely upset about this because "that was my sister how could you do that" and runs off like how one of the clones ran off. Bitch you only knew her for like five seconds, just because y'all be related don't mean you automatically THIS close to each other like how you are with Lena, Violet, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and anybody else in the McDuck family. I personally believe that love, trust, and respect is what makes people family, not blood/DNA, adoption, or they were married into the family or a step sib/kid/etc. If they're a harmful dick (i.e. a bigot who's queerphobic and/or racist or if they're an abuser, murderer, etc.) then you don't gotta treat them like family or say that they're your family. But anyways we're probs getting off topic, point is that she should trust those who she's known forever instead of clones she knew for a few minutes. Everybody tries to find Webby and one of the clones that ran off. Webby bumped into Beakley as she was tryna find May or June (I think May tho, don't recall) and she tries to lie her way outta it but Beakley knows what's up lol. She says that Webby wants to see the clones, Webby goes with it, and the younger duck wants to know who her parents were. Beakley tells her who her parents were (which might've either been a lie or she was describing herself and a late significant other that we've seen in Webby's picture of her parents) and Webby accepts it. Cut to later when she catches May and June trying to steal the ancient artifacts that Scrooge and co. retrieved during the entirety of season 3. She's shocked that they're even doing this, they all fight each other, and May escaped while June got knocked out. Webby disguises herself as June while she takes her outside where F.O.W.L. awaited them with an aircraft, most importantly Bradford. We only find out Webby was disguising herself as June when everyone got on. Huey notices what's going on and he goes after them, somewhat hiding in the aircraft before everyone leaves for the F.O.W.L. hideout. Not gonna lie, that was a pretty smart plan by Webby. Considering they all look identical and Webby's good at imitation, she can actually get away with this pretty well. This I actually really like and I wouldn't change too much about this. When Huey reveals himself to the three, Webby reveals herself to him but tells him to play along so they ain't fucked over. Somewhat worked. Webby keeps making little slips here and there which makes May hella suspicious of her. They land at the hideout, Webby tries to get what info she can while Huey's taken away. Thanks to the help of Pepper (who I love btw and I think deserves the best ;____;), Webby ends up finding the document room where there's documents on May, June, and a third person with the codename of April. She watches it and oh, shit, it turns out Bentina Beakley actually snatched her ass from F.O.W.L. when she was a baby! What a shocker! She couldn't believe what she was seeing! This is actually fine to me, her possibly being a clone actually makes sense because she could've been a clone of Beakley. Plus it's also a huge reference to how Webby was created to be a combination of Daisy's nieces April, May, and June back in the original series, though I dunno how many people would catch that, especially younger fans who might not have done the research to getting all of the references and easter eggs here. When Beakley was brought in (essentially she knocked Scrooge out without hurting him, went to here alone to take care of F.O.W.L. once and for all just for Webby, but got defeated along with some of the McDucks), everyone leaves Beakley, Webby, and the Harp alone and Webby somewhat confronts Beakley about her past. Needless to say, Webby ain't excited about this and she gets captured and tied up. She's actually pretty depressed, which I mean in a way I don't blame her since she wanted to know if that shit was real or if F.O.W.L. was fabricating it. Cut to Huey being brought to Bradford. Apparently he was a fellow Woodchuck too, though he wasn't the best despite being the very first Woodchuck by his grandmother Isabella Finch, in fact he was the worst which hahaha yeah I can actually believe that. It does explain why he hates adventures and all of that shit, one of the only things I'm willing to accept from the finale. He talks about how he wants to complete the collection "for the better" because Scrooge and everyone else in the family were the only ones to have Isabella's lost journal. Huey believes this at first. He stops believing it once he ends up finding Gyro and everyone else who're locked up. In the meantime, Bradford drags Webby out to a sort of box along with May and June. She doesn't know why she's brought up here. When she gets close to the box, the papyrus appears because... She's the descendant of... Of Scrooge McDuck. Okay no, JUST NAH MAN. This is where my biggest issue in the finale lies, the fact that she's a clone/made from Scrooge's DNA and is technically his "daughter". Not everybody has to be related to Scrooge McDuck to be great, in fact doing this to her actually ruins Webby's character. Her trope is "found family," not "I'm secretly part of the family this whole time and not even I knew it" and this fucks with it so badly. This show is about family, and all different kinds of it. Being taken care of by your uncles/aunts instead of your parents but still having a good relationship, some kids don't have parents and they're gone for whatever reason, being loved and accepted by other family members, some families are awful and abusive, hell some families have two same sex/gendered parents with a kid who's def adopted and one might've been adopted or been from a previous relationship, and it's also how sometimes we find people to call family because we found them and they found us. Webby was the one to fill in the finding those to find family alongside her grandma, but I feel like they're disregarding that just to have a huge plot twist. Again aside from Beakley keeping secrets from Webby, there was no foreshadowing and it makes a previous episode from season two (Nightmare on Killmotor Hill) seem kinda creepy in hindsight since she's over here wanting to be Scrooge himself, and creepy overall due to how obsessive she was over the whole McDuck family in general. You could say it's foreshadowing this whole time, since some people might actually be like this before realizing that "oh hey I'm actually related to this person" due to someone being adopted, given to someone else to take care of, divorce and each parent keeps one of the kids and they don't meet again until way later in life, which in a way is a fair point but at the same time not everyone's gonna notice this even when they look back at the previous episodes. If you're gonna do foreshadowing and a plot twist, you have to do it where looking back everyone can notice little details, not just a certain group of people, and you gotta make sure it's good. Every plot twist has it's foreshadowings, and every good one has a good amount for people to take a guess. Every bad plot twist, however, is either forced in just to shock the viewers or has shitty foreshadowing that's either extremely little or none. I will make a comparison between this and Steven Universe (which if you're still watching or haven't touched yet but haven't gotten up to season five, please skip this part to avoid spoilers for the show) because in Steven Universe, there were PLENTY of hints and foreshadowing that Rose Quartz was actually Pink Diamond and it was even a theory too that Rose was actually Pink, alongside a theory that Pearl was actually the one to shatter Pink Diamond and not Rose which ended up being true in a way that both fits. This was a good plot twist that everyone can watch the show from start to end once again and notice every little bits of details that led up to that plot twist reveal. (End of SU spoilers) This, however, isn't a good plot twist. It's a terrible one and, again, forced in, messy, and there's not enough foreshadowing that can be used to be like "oh I kinda saw that coming" or "oh shit!" and think it's a genuinely good twist. Also the fact that Webby called Scrooge "Dad" T W I C E in the finale, it doesn't sound right, I even voiced out loud that OH EW THAT DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT WHY ARE YOU CALLING HIM DAD THIS IS GROSS STOP IT LIKE JUST CALL HIM UNCLE SCROOGE LIKE YOU'VE ALWAYS DONE- Oh and this is meant to be a throwback to that Ottoman Empire finale foreshadowing thing from earlier btw lol The last few things I can note about this is the fight between Scrooge and Bradford, where the latter reveals that he was the one to tell Della about the Spear of Selene (which pisses Scrooge off so damn BADLY and it's the other thing I can accept from the finale, it seems like Bradford to do that shit), and the fact that Donald almost died for fucking good due to Bradford pushing his ass into a machine that can erase anything and everything from existence when put in there. He did so with his minions, so he has no qualms about doing so to Scrooge's family unless he signed the papyrus as a contract. Not that it worked anyways, since "family is the greatest adventure of all" which Bradford didn't understand one bit lol But the finale? Not good, the show deserved so much better and Huey deserved way better because this was his season. What I would've done differently is mainly how Webby is a "clone" or whatever you want to call her. It makes no sense for all of her DNA to be from Scrooge McDuck, which raises way too many questions. Why not Beakley? Why not a warrior from F.O.W.L. with a mix of McDuck DNA? Why is Webby a girl while Scrooge isn't? You could argue that oh he might be a trans guy, which while I absolutely LOVE trans and nonbinary headcanons (due to the fact I'm a nonbinary woman myself), it just feels like a cheap escape goat of an excuse to explain that and Scrooge being trans because of that? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh it doesn't feel right to me. If it was a combination of him and Beakley, then okay I'd get why she's like that, but it still has the problem of her being related to the family DNA-wise. Same with the clones honestly. Now what I would do differently is make it where she's a clone of someone (def not Scrooge) and make it where she has an identity-existential crisis. Who is she really? Is she this "April" character, or if she Webby like she's always known herself as her whole life? In the end, she accepts that she's herself, Webby Vanderquack, granddaughter of Bentina Beakley and an ally of Scrooge McDuck. May and June, on the other hand, are possibly failed attempts to recreate Webby, the perfect clone, in order to get the papyrus to appear which in of itself never stated it had to be a DIRECT heir to Scrooge McDuck (it just states that it requires an heir of Scrooge McDuck) like a daughter/son or whatever. You can go back to the episode "The First Adventure" to look at the papyrus if you want, but he wrote that it was to an HEIR not a descendant. It heavily supports how they changed a shit ton of things before the last season being this year instead of idk, try to make it better because they finished voicing the lines in January this year when they started doing season three around the time we got season two. Bradford gets frustrated, wondering how it couldn't have worked because HE HAS WEBBY RIGHT HERE. What he didn't realize was that it could've been someone within the family itself, one who's considered the smart one out of the bunch that wasn't Scrooge McDuck himself, someone who's also a fellow Junior Woodchuck. And that would be Hubert Duck, in which season three is meant to be his season. When he gets close, the papyrus appears but Bradford snatches it and runs off with it so he can finish up that contract he's spent FOREVER to make and force Scrooge to write his name there. As with May and June, I dunno what I would do with them, but if I rewrite the finale at some point (which I would be doing now with my mom, who watched the finale with me because we tend to watch stuff a lot, but I can't at the moment because I have a list of stuff to make and I can't afford to make it longer than it already is along with my WIP list) I'll figure out what to do with them. Overall, the finale is a 4 out of 10 for me. Not horrible enough for it to be the worst finale ever in the history of shows/series, but it's definitely got a lot of things that bothered me too much to genuinely enjoy it without getting stuck on something for too long. Again if you like it, good for you, but personally? It should've been much better and the series deserves a proper finale. If there's no surprise movie to make it better, then I'ma just pretend this finale doesn't exist like nah bye bitch dunno you lmao Besides with how messy this finale is, I hope you guys enjoyed reading my thoughts on it and I hope you guys have a great day

[mcgrathandwives]

That's what Luthor's do? Part 2

I've been up since 6am and it's not 12.15am I'm shattered in every way😂 but here's the second part. There will be a 3rd I'm not sure about anymore after that tho.

Also the gif really do capture how I want you to picture Lena (also kinda defensively protective) and Kara😂

Word Count: 2336

----

Slowly your eyes opened to see a few dimmed lights, a redhead stood above you but you weren’t sure who they were everything was blurry. After 5 minutes you came around, shooting up, you looked around your scenery.

Your eyes landed on the green dress wrapped around your sister “Le-Lena! Lena get up!” Panic washed over you. You had never seen Lena like this, a bit of you wanted to joke about how she’s finally getting that sleep but another part of you was scared she wouldn’t wake up.

“She was thrown against the desk pretty hard Y/n.” Alex came in dressed in an all black tight uniform and a clipboard in her hands. “Al? Where are we?” An older man came in also dressed in all black.

“Welcome to the DEO Miss Luthor. I’m director Henshaw, you already know agent Danvers. Your sister will wake up between now and the next 15 minutes. We will need both of your help to end this madness and then we’ll have to take you both in for questioning. But in the meantime, I’m going to need you to let Agent Danvers look you over and your sister.” As quick as he came in he left.

Lena woke up just as Alex was checking your blood pressure. Her reaction was similar to your, jumping up and searching for you, “Y/n?!”

“Lee! It’s okay. I’m here are you okay? Alex, can I get up now?” The redhead nodded, refusing to say a word. You made your way over to Lena wrapping her in your arms, she held you tightly, refusing to let go.

“Lena you need to let Alex check you over. We’re in the DEO and we could get arrested I’m not really sure- not that I’m holding your breath but they need our help.” Lena followed what you were saying, she looked groggy but nodded to say she understood. It took Alex 10 minutes to check Lena over, Supergirl stood anxiously at the side waiting to talk to you. “They’re all good Supergirl.”

She signaled for the both of you to follow her, “The director wants us in the meeting room. He wants to question you two.” Grabbing your sister’s hand you followed your girlfriend. Before either of you could sit you were bombarded with questions.

There aren’t many things in life that scare you other than losing your sister, Sam or Kara, heights and disappointing Lena. But the look on Supergirl's face was making you shake.

Everyone wanted answers but you couldn’t answer them all- frustration was growing over everyone until Supergirl asked the one question you knew would cause a rift in your relationship. “How did you capture Reign?”

Sitting up straight, your grasp on Lena’s hand tightened. “We didn’t capture her, she came willingly! In order to contain Reign, we used Kryptonite. For Sam, we didn’t do anything other than try to make her feel as safe and comfortable as possible.” Supergirl’s face was a hard at the mention of Kryptonite.

“You used what? Y/n how could you even think that doing this would’ve been perfectly fine? Lena how? Why? Sam was your friend I know- she was practically family, but doing something like that with complete carelessness to human regard! What would you have done if Reign got to attack you?” The blonde was pacing back and forth, venting her frustration.

“Just hold on a second Supergirl! You know fine well we’d do anything to protect the people we love! If it meant using Kryptonite to save Sam from Reign then that was what we’d use! It gave us time to find a lead to fix Sam!” You watched the both of them argue closely and that’s when you saw it.

That same frown Kara has when she’s just had an argument with Alex.

Shock shot across your face, catching Alex’s attention, she brushed it off and continued to watch the Super argue with your sister.

“You found a lead into fixing her and you didn’t tell me? Why would either of you keep that from me?”

Before anyone could speak again you started to chuckle.

“We didn’t tell anyone because we wanted to be sure that what we found would save Sam. If we told you or called anyone from the government then she’d be used as a science experiment, Ruby would’ve lost her Mom! We didn’t choose to hide it because we wanted to. We had to be sure! You know what it’s like having to be sure about things don’t you Supergirl?” Tears started to fill your eyes whilst your voice shook. Lena noticed the signs of your voice cracking, “None of you don’t get to stand there lecturing us for not telling anyone when you Supergirl have your own little secret!” Worry flooded the faces of the director, Alex, and Kara herself. Lena lifted her eyebrow in confusion, she had no idea what you were talking about or where you were leading this rant.

“So Kara when are you going to step down off your Kryptonian high horse? You’ve got some nerve to freak out over us keeping a secret when you’ve been parading around in your little red cape and skirt!”

Kara knew you’d find out who she was but she didn’t expect it so soon. Lena, however, was a mix of emotions, her best friend is Supergirl.

Her sister is dating Supergirl.

The nerdy Danvers sister who has been dating her sister for nearly half a year is Supergirl. Her head was spinning, Alex was the first to speak up. “When did you work it out?” You couldn’t look at the Danvers sisters the same, there was a part of you wanting to forgive them but right now you were just too angry- how dare either of them go off on a rant about keeping secrets when they hid who Kara was.

“Does it matter? You’ve made it clear none of you trust us enough to tell us. So why bother? It is what it is.” You couldn’t help but let a few tears fall the reality of it hitting you- your girlfriend is Supergirl.

Lena’s overprotective instincts kicked in, pulling you into her arms hiding you from the eyes in the room. Kara wasn’t sure what to do, looking at Alex she sighed.

Lena wanted to be mad she really did, she wanted to hate Kara for hurting you but she couldn’t she understood why she hid it.

“Kar-Super-Kara could you just give us a few minutes please?” Nodding, the sight of you crying broke her heart- Kara never wanted to cause you any pain but here she was being hypocritical, she knew what she did was wrong but she didn’t want to put you or Lena in any more danger.

The room cleared instantly leaving you sobbing in Lena’s arms, it had been two years since she was last in this position and she wasn’t up for forgiving Kara for making you this upset. If there’s one thing all Luthor’s have in common it’s holding a grudge

--------.

Winn called everyone down to the main desk explaining that he had a hit on the Worldkillers- they were in Metropolis. Lena had explained that you had taken Ruby there but after Reign threatening to kill her Lena had already had her on a plane back here we just had to pick her up from the Luthor landing strip. Alex had assembled a team to collect her.

“I’m going too she’ll need someone to comfort her. Lee you stay here and help the team work out their next attack.” Reluctantly she agreed with you. Coming back to meet Alex you had changed into a DEO outfit, your sister was sporting a similar one, she made your way over to her, placing your hand on her shoulder. “Come back home Y/n, or I swear to god I’ll kick your ass. Please stay safe.” Smiling you pulled her into a hug. Grabbing an earpiece from Winn the team left.

You sat beside Alex, the ride was quiet, nearing awkward. The only interaction you had was agreeing whenever Alex went over the plan with the team. “If it’s any help she wanted to tell you. She didn’t because she wanted to keep you both safe.” Turning to the agent you shared a small smile, “It’s not the point. The point is all of you had a massive secret and yet you grilled us for wanting to keep Sam and Ruby safe. It’s a bit too hypocritical Al.” Alex’s only response was nodding. You pulled up to the tarmac, just as the plane was landing, grabbing Ruby you started to make your way back to the DEO- the ride was short and quick.

------

At the DEO, however, all that could be heard was shouting, Lena and Kara, to be exact. “YOU STILL COULD’VE TOLD HER KARA!” Lena stood strong, just like she does in the boardroom, Kara was walking closer to her as she got louder, “I HAD TO KEEP YOU SAFE!” The older Luthor let out a laugh, “IF YOU HAD WANTED TO KEEP HER SAFE DANVERS SHE WOULDN’T’VE BEEN CRYING IN MY GODDAMN ARMS!” By this point they were in each other's faces, Mon-El and Imra quickly jumped between them both, “Ladies, I understand where you’re both coming from but you need to discuss this either before or after they get back.”, He looked over at Imra asking for help, “Miss Luthor why don’t you come with me and we can talk- it’ll give you both a chance to cool down.” The Super and the Luthor shared a look, “I swear to god Kara you better hope she forgives you for this! Or so help me god I’ll find some way of kicking your ass for hurting my baby sister!” Mon-El dragged Kara away, whilst Lena and Imra walked up to the balcony.

“I know she meant well I just hate that it hurt Y/n more than anything. She’s been through enough and this is- this is ridiculous!” Imra offered a sympathetic smile, “I’m so sorry- Lena Luthor.” Extending her hand to the stranger, Imra, in turn, did the same, “Imra Ardeen. I’m Mon-El’s wife and if it helps I’d be just as annoyed as you are miss Luthor, I’m very protective of my family.” Returning Imra’s smile they fell into a conversation about you and Kara.

You walked into the DEO with Ruby’s hand in yours and Alex by your side. You had decided on the way back that you’d talk to Kara- just to stay on the same page until you could really talk about everything. “Y/n is Lena here?” Searching for your sister you found her messing around with some kind of gadget and what appeared to be Winn and another brunette once Ruby spotted her she was off. “Al, can you take me to Kara? ”

“Sure thing.” Smiling you watched Ruby rush to your sister. You turned on your feet following Alex.

-----

In the training room, it was a completely different atmosphere. Kara was throwing anything she could find around, “How can Lena not see I kept this a secret for the right reasons? How can neither of them see how in the wrong they are?” Mon-El sat and nodded, just watching the Kryptonian in awe, “Kara. Your reason was for protection and so was theirs. You’re both technically in the wrong for not sharing that information.” Throwing another slab of concrete Kara sighed, “They have Kryptonite- how do we know they won’t use it on me like their brother did to Kal? How can I trust them again?” Mon-El cast a glance over to the door, Kara followed, finding Alex with the door open and you standing there. You couldn’t believe what you just heard. “Fuck you, Kara!”

She chased you down the hall toward the main center. “Will you just stop?!”, “Kara I’m seriously not in the mood!”. Using her superspeed she got in front of you. “I didn’t mean it like that.”, a crowd started to form around you both, the agents ready to pull their guns out just in case. “How else did you mean it, Kara? You’re worried Lena or I are going to use the Kryptonite on you just like Lex did to Superman. How else could you mean that any other way? You can’t trust us. You can’t trust me your own fucking girlfriend! How else could mean that?”, she tried to grab your wrist but you pulled back, “Y/n please.”, “Fuck you, Kara, I’m done. I’m taking Ruby somewhere safe far the fuck away from this shit show, one of you can come by once this is over.” You started to walk away when Kara called out “Are we done?”, you shook your head but you didn’t look back too afraid you’d start crying in front of the DEO agents again. Lena and Ruby watched from the lab, as you neared them Ruby ran into your arms and Lena offered a small smile, pulling you into her arms. The only words you shared were, “You were right Lee.”

Alex set you up with a gun to take as a just in case and three armed agents to accompany you and Ruby. Lena would’ve joined you but she was asked by Henshaw to stay, offer as much advice as she could. “Promise you’ll stay safe- the both of you.” Ruby nodded, hugging Lena one last time before turning to Alex. Kara tried to talk to you but you avoided her, “I’ll call if I need anything I promise.” With your last goodbyes, you were escorted out of the building.

Lena watched you leave before she turned to Kara, “The conversation from earlier is far from over, you’re lucky you’re an alien and that she loves you. You’ve crossed a line this time Kara. You’ll be luckier to make it back on my good side.” Grabbing the tablet Winn gave her Lena left Kara there looking defeated.  

[deathtrapnest]

The Fatal Flaw

fandom: Supergirl (2015), Supergirl comics, Superman comics, Smallville pairing/warnings: Lena Luthor x Kara Danvers ( Supercorp ), Clark Kent x Lex Luthor ( Clex ) 

summary: Kara Danvers attends a prestigious university where she feels she doesn't fit in until a chance encounter with a fellow student, Lena Luthor, changes her life irrevocably leading them both spiraling into a dark and complex web of self discovery, lies, secrets, and murder.

Loosely inspired by Donna Tart's "The Secret History"

also on AO3 (i love comments!) 

Looking back she would wonder where it started, where it ended, what was the ‘middle’, where had things gone wrong. Tracing back through lines like constellations, connecting moments like star bursts that stung bright and vibrant in her memory.

 Had it been at the school, had it started with something as banal as signing paper work? She could remember how big it had seemed once, tall ivy coated stone buildings that seemed to touch the sky, because she’d had no perception of ‘sky’ then. The air, though, that she could remember accurately- in the midst of the turn over between summer and fall, balmy but with the scent of nature’s decay like an edge. She remembered the way everyone had seemed so beautiful and unapproachable then, so invincible. The hug of Calvin Klein on trim, athletic, bodies, the click of Louboutins on freshman girls- wearing their most expensive heels to class as a show of dominance on their first week. They all had long eyelashes, and french nails, and not a wrinkle to be seen on their clothes. Kara was equal parts terrified of them and in awe of them. Boys in boat shoes spinning down the campus roads well over the speed limit in shiny convertibles- glib smile full of blindingly white teeth, bronze hair fluttering in the wind, Ray Ban sunglasses. A dangerous animal.

 Back then they’d all seemed so rich and powerful, not fragile and breakable the way Kara saw them now. She thought she’d never be able to touch them. What a stupid thing to worry about.

 Maybe it had started before she’d arrived. The memories of that didn’t stand out in such stark relief. Banal worry. Reassurances from her sister (“Just because they’re rich doesn’t mean all of them are snobby. And there will be lots of other scholarship students like you. You can’t let things like this intimidate you. I know you kick ass, we all do, your grades clearly know it, the college’s ‘you got in’ letter knows it, so- now the only person who needs to know it is you.” a kiss on the forehead “You’ll be great. And if anyone gives you trouble, you know Clark will just kick their ass.”). The heady mix of anxiety and excitement. Wondering what to do with her hands and ending up doing too much- chewing down her nails, smoothing her palms over her clothes, fiddling with her hair, adjusting her glasses. Smiling too wide for her ID photo.

 She could only go back so far on her own. Her earliest memories were awash with confusion. An adopted child. A sister who didn’t share her blood but who she shared everything else that mattered with. An older cousin, handsome and kind and self assured- her only known blood relative. He’d been adopted by another family but he’d always been a part of her life, even if kept at a distance. He’d visit her. Ask how she was, ruffle her hair, as if he were a brother. Always there had been something reticent in him that she should have noticed, but she was just a child. A concern that edged beyond normal. Piecing blue eyes that always scanned over her, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

 Other times, she visited him. A long and bumpy bus ride to a farm that she thought of as a second home. Warm apple pie with a scoop of vanilla icecream melting on top, the smell of hay, the tassles on top of corn stalks swaying in the wind that seemed to go on for miles, as endless as a wave across the ocean’s surface. Clark’s hand- huge and warm and strong- placed between her shoulder blades guiding her as she tried not to get her feet imbedded in the mud as they walked through the fields to pet her favorite cow. Lying in the grass with shoulders touching, looking up at a sky that seemed so vibrant and endless that it could only be a painted picture or a blanket, layed carefully over their town, enveloping it from all sides. “You know you can tell me anything, right? Anything at all. I’m your family. Even if… even if it’s something that scares you.” But there had been nothing to tell back then. She was a normal girl. A normal girl who felt embarassed sometimes when she laughed because she thought it looked ‘geeky’, who pushed green vegetables to the other side of her plate, who had a slight astigmatism even.

 She’d always felt like the sky was part of her. The hours she’d spent connecting the dots of stars, finding shapes and creatures in the forms of the clouds, breathing in so deep it felt like it could all be sucked into her lungs. But she’d never realized back then how the sky was closer to her beginning than any quiet, loving, household or any mud between her toes, or even the brush of her sister’s hair against her cheek. Most people take the setting of their beginning for granted. Surely she couldn’t have been expected to guess that where it started wasn’t even on earth.

 Or… the story could start with blood. Sticky warmth flooding over her, inescapable and nauseating. So much more vividly colored and slippery than she ever could’ve imagined. It could start with the scream she didn’t know was coming from her own mouth and the hand that went over her lips to stifle it. But no, for argument’s sake, Kara thought- that must be the middle.

 Because when everything that had truly mattered began was love at first sight. That was the beginning of the story Kara would’ve wanted to tell. With love. Occuring like a big bang. All in one moment, how everything could become new and fresh. And how her chest had never felt that light and that stricken simultaneously.

 The first time she saw her was in profile- a sleek curtain of dark hair, a slash of dark lipstick on a pale face. The gentle curve of her shoulder, the line of her nose… She turned her head, stunning green eyes, her lips quirked up slightly at the edges- not quite a smile, and her eyes flicked over Kara, her eyelashes dark and stark against her cheek. Kara was never the same again.

 She could’ve been cut from marble. Sharp jaw and cheekbones, an elegant long neck, the full lips. She carried herself with a self assuredness that was foreign to Kara herself. One hand rested on the stone ledge of a stained glass window, the other held a tumbler of scotch loosely. She was all alone, even amidst the sea of people talking and drinking and shouting on the stairwell. But the expression on her face told Kara that it was of little consequence to her. A common occurrence, maybe even a preference. She was a creature from a Greek tragedy. The heroine.

 Kara couldn’t remember how long she’d been holding her breath but when she finally inhaled it felt like it had been ages and ages. To her horror the girl was sauntering over to her, the same half smile perfectly at home on her lips.

“You look set adrift.” She said. But her voice was kind. She met Kara’s eyes with a gaze that didn’t waver.

 “Am I that obvious?” Kara huffed a laugh, smoothing her palms down the sides of her skirt in an attempt to smooth some imagined wrinkle. “Uh- I don’t really. This isn’t-. My cousin is here, somewhere, and I don’t really-“ she began babbling.

 “So this isn’t really your ‘scene’ you mean?” She asked, leaning one shoulder against the wall, her half smile developing into a genuine smirk now, the glass of scotch still precariously dangling from slender fingertips.

 “Oh, well-“ Kara took a deep breath to make room for a new set of ramblings. “I just, I don’t really know any- and I mean, in high school I was never like the-“ she stopped herself. She could be cool Kara. Somewhere deep down some version of herself like that existed. She forced herself to press her lips together and just nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, this isn’t really my scene.”

 The other girl’s eyes were glittering with private amusement. They seemed to reflect all the little lights in the room. “Well, then we’re kindred spirits.” she said.

 Someone in a toga a few feet away let out some sort of war cry and the surrounding throng began chanting “chug, chug, chug”.

 The dark haired girl smile again, shaking her head and leaned forward, brushing her fingertips against Kara’s wrist. “C’mon” she said and with no knowledge of where she was being taken, Kara followed.

 The party was in a dorm that was a converted castle. All the walls were stone, the ceilings cathedralized and hanging with ornate chandeliers, every window was stained glass and the floors all mahogany. The dark haired girl walked through it with complete ease, navigating them between turned over kegs, throngs of party goers, and puddles of spilled drinks. Until finally they got to a large wooden door which she opened with a brass key from her pocket. Kara thought, rather hysterically, that it felt like a fairy tale adventure but with more puking and togas. The other girl ushered her in after and shut the door. It was a secondary lounge, though apparently one shut off to the public as it was empty. The overhead lights were off but the entire opposite wall was made up of ceiling to floor tudor style arched windows and moonlight filtered through them onto the floor in the colors and patterns of the stained glass- purple and red and blue like walking into a kaleidoscope.

 “It’s beautiful in here.” Kara whispered.

 “It’s a good place to catch your breath. You sort of looked like you needed it.” the girl chuckled, placing her scotch down on a side table and sliding into a leather couch. She moved with impossible grace. Kara perched on the other side of the couch, folding her hands awkwardly in her lap.

 “I did.” Kara said, once again feeling like she was actually breathing for the first time in days and days. Maybe the oxygen was just effecting her differently now. Everything seemed vivid and fuzzy at the same time, she wondered if it was possible to become drunk second hand. “So you uh… live here? This dorm?” Kara asked, waving one hand around to gesture to the space.

 “Yes.” she said. She propped her arm up on the edge of the couch and leaned her head to one side slightly, almost like a tic, her eyes lingering over Kara as if she were the most interesting thing in the world. Kara didn’t know what her eyes were doing. She didn’t want to know. Her gaze flickered all over the girl spasmodically, not sure what to take in first, not wanting to stay anywhere for too long.

 “I’ve always wanted to see what it looked like inside of here.” Kara explained. “It always looks so beautiful from the outside. All those gothic archways and stone balconies. My cousin’s uh- dating someone who lives here so he comes here all the time but I’ve never been inside until tonight.”

 “Oh?” the girl’s lips quirked up, a strangely familiar expression on the face of such an otherwise otherwordly being- gossip lust. “And who is your cousin? I may have seen him about.”

 Embarassment immediately flooded over Kara at having said too much. She’d tried so hard to avoid living in her older cousins’s shadow at school but it was a difficult task to accomplish.

 “Oh, he’s-“ she began stumbling over her words as she tried to think of a way to avoid the topic but the other girl interrupted her, seeing her distress.

 “I’m sorry, I’ve taken you away. Should we go back into the fray to look for him? I’m sure I can help you find him, if you like. This is my brother’s party-”

 Kara was still stuttering excuses when the words finally registered in her brain. They looked at each other and as Kara’s astonishment registered on her own face, she saw the embarassment she’d just been experiencing fill the other girl’s.

 “This… your brother…” Kara took a deep breath. “Oh my god.”

 Of course she had a secret key to secret rooms and held herself with such grace. Their name was on a plaque to the dorm. Luthor Mansion.

 “You’re Lex’s sister.” Kara confirmed out loud.

 The girl winced awkwardly, biting down on her lip. She gave a sort of half shrug.

 “No, no,” Kara started, putting her hands up as if in a gesture of comfort. “I just mean- you’re going to laugh.”

 The other’s eyebrow lifted skeptically.

 “My cousin’s Clark Kent.”

 And she did laugh. A musical, lovely, sound, Kara noted.

 “Your uh… Your brother’s dating my cousin.” Kara lamely announced the obvious as the other girl continued laughing.

 “Oh, how serendipitous. It’s so strange that I don’t know your face by now. My apologies. I’m Lena.” the directness of her gaze when she offered her hand, smile fresh off of her laughter showing all bright teeth, made Kara’s heart palpitate. She shook the hand, feeling awkward in the formalness of the gesture.

 “Kara Danvers.” she offered in return, with a small nod.

 It felt strange to know that they were in some ways a sort of extended family. It only pushed the lingering sense that their meeting was fated. Kara felt that deeply, in a way that warmed her bones.

 Since coming to the college, Kara had spent some time with Clark- being shown around and having lunch to ‘catch up’ but he had his own established friend groups, his own agenda, and he always seemed like he was running in from or rushing out toward somewhere that she could not follow. And she’d only caught glimpses of his enegmatic boyfriend- the slender, bald, aristocrat who was so notorious on campus. And never had they been formally introduced.

 “I know your cousin, in that case.” Lena went on, smiling more openly now. “My brother and I are both actually quite private people deep down if you can believe that. He doesn’t have many close friends and even fewer of them he would deem a good enough influence to dare introducing me to. So I was actually quite pleased to make Clark’s aquaintance. He’s certainly a rarity- in more ways than just that, I mean. He’s very…” she tapped her finger against her lips once, thoughtfully.

 “Handsome?” Kara attempted to finish for her dryly.

 Lena looked up in surprise and laughed incredulously. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

 Kara shook her head. “Sorry. Just- ever since I’ve come here, everyone knows me as ‘Oh- isn’t your cousin the one who looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model?’ It’s exhausting.”

 Lena smirked, her eyes glancing over Kara once before she said with significance- “He’s really not my type, actually.”

 “Oh.” Kara breathed.

 “I was going to say that he’s mysterious.” Lena finished her thought from before, taking another sip from her drink.

 The word made the hair on the back of Kara’s neck stand up. Yes, Clark was mysterious, wasn’t he? But it was rare that she heard other people describe him that way. Usually it was- ‘Clark is so kind’, ‘Clark is so wholesome’, ‘Clark is such a lovely young man’. It felt like a betrayal to think anything else of him. Especially when he was her only blood. But while he may have been kind and lovely, he was something else too. And Kara had never been able to put her finger on what that something else was.

 “Yeah.” she agreed quietly.

 “Are the two of you close?”

 Summers with her toes squished in the mud of the Kent farm driveway. Rubbing corn silk against her cheek as Pa told her it looked just like her hair. The heat from Clark’s back even through his flannel shirt as he gave her piggyback rides around the barn.

 “Sort of.” she said distantly. She blinked and forced a smile. “What about you and your brother?”

 Lena seemed to suppress a scoff. “I suppose he’s a bit infamous on campus. He has a bad habit of making enemies, I think he’s always been like that. But Lex has always been very good to me. He’s only my half brother, you know. I was adopted into his family when he was already living away at boarding school. All the same, we’ve always got along.” she gave a teasing smirk. “So I guess we’re ‘sort of’ close as well.” she said, repeating Kara’s words.

 “It’s a bit of pressure, huh?” Kara finally levelled, wincing. “I mean part of the appeal of coming to school here was that I wanted the comfort of having someone I knew already to be able to show me around, introduce me to people. But really, I think it can be a handicap. You don’t get to go in fresh. People already have this unavoidable idea about you.”

 Lena shrugged. “Why not just treat it as a challenge? And there’s no such thing as unavoidable.”

 Kara laughed incredulously. “Isn’t there?”

   Lena seemed to ponder this deeply and finally said, “Well, maybe there is. But sometimes unavoidable things are what makes life interesting. I suppose if everything were avoidable I’m afraid I might do nothing at all.”

 Kara nodded her head slowly. “That’s fair.”

 “Take this party for example. I live in this dorm… but I could leave if I really wanted to… And there are worse hardships than free booze and a little loud music on a Saturday night.”

 Almost on cue someone outside accidentally body slammed the door, making it shake on its hinges, followed up by the sound of muffled raucous laughter.

 The dark haired girl smiled. “To be quite honest I find them rather charming. I don’t think I’ve ever let loose like that. I envy the experience.”

 And then the way she’d first seen her on the stairwell seemed to make perfect sense. The gentle smile on her face as she stood all alone, staring out at the sea of grinding sweaty party goers.

 “Living vicariously through toga parties?” Kara offered.

“Something like that.”

“You’re an observer.”

“And you’re an odd one out.”

 Kara blinked. Lena quirked an eyebrow, as if waiting and hoping for an outraged response.

 “When I saw you.” she continued, “You stuck out like a sore thumb.”

 Kara forced a huff of laughter and said with a note of bitterness “Well. Nervous scholarship student at one of the most expensive universities in the country. It will happen.”

 Lena laughed and shook her head. “No, not at all. It wasn’t that.” she made a humming noise at the back of her throat as she mulled over a way to verbalize her thoughts, picking up her tumbler and rubbing her thumb along the rim of it. “You were… You kept looking around the room and doing little-“ she moved one of her hands in an impression of nervous, abortive, hand gestures, that were all too familiar to Kara as being her own. “It was like that part of your body was all nerves but. Your face.” she nodded almost resolutely. “Somehow all that didn’t match the expression on your face. Everyone else at this party is scared but they’re just better at pretending. You didn’t seem like you were pretending. But you didn’t seem scared either. Not like they are. Something about…” she smiled, meeting Kara’s gaze, “Your eyes I suppose. Gives off a sense of courage.”

 Courage. Not a word Kara would automatically associate with herself. Yet when she thinks back on bullies she’s held facedown in the dirt until they apologized, of pursing her lips and keeping her chin steady under the scrutiny of her adopted parents when they thought she wasn’t watching them the first few months- before they really knew her, of jumping off the highest point of the Kent’s barn for the thrill of it when she was 12 and the hysterical laughter that bubbled up out of her as ma and pa kent frantically checked her for broken bones and scolded her…. she could see it.

 But the word seemed as surreal as the rest of the night. Her wild fairytale fantasy shifted and took new shapes- her as the chivalrous knight, full of COURAGE, the dark haired woman the mysterious princess in her tower, shrouded in moonlight, looking at Kara with too perceptive eyes over her shoulder. And then who was to be the dragon…?

 Kara nodded slowly. “Okay. Alright. Courage, huh? I can accept that compliment.”

 “Yes. Courage, I think, is different than bravery.” Lena continued. “Bravery, in my mind, suggests that one is facing something to be feared at that very moment. Courage is the innate capacity to rise to the occasion to face fears bravely as they come.” she smiled at her own words. “If that makes sense.”

 Kara re-assessed the girl before her. Re-assesd. Foolish. She’d been assessing her and re-assessing her since the moment she laid eyes on her. Unable to look away. But she tilted her head once more to look at her again. Lena was relaxed in a way that Kara could never be. Or at least she was faking relaxation better than Kara ever could. Her body fell as fluidly as a piece of fabric over the leather couch, effortlessly louche. The moonlight seemed drawn to her skin. In the moment of silence between them she was unperturbed. Like they were old friends, and a space without conversation was of no consequence.

 It was nearly too intimate. There was something abnormal about the night. Like it was already a memory, even as it occurred. As if it was just a start of an orbit, events and words occuring on a predestined trajectory- to what? She didn’t know. But the weight of them seemed evident.

 “Is there something I should be afraid of?” Kara asked.

 Lena’s eyes turned to her, slowly. Green as emeralds but almost bestial in the way they luminated and maintained color even when the rest of her face was washed out in moonlight, anemically pale even down to her lips. Which parted. Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked down abruptly.

 Whatever ease had existed, that strange familiarity that had been holding them together in the room since they’d first spoken to each other, turned cold all of a sudden. And Kara shivered, rubbing one hand over her arm idley.

 “Maybe.” Lena answered under her breath.

 If you’re ever unsure of yourself… you can tell me. If something strange happens. Even if you’re scared- Kara closed her eyes. She’d spent her whole life asking that question, never allowing herself to vocalize it: what is there to be afraid of?

 But why did Lena react that way? Maybe that was natural too. ‘Luthor blood is poison’ that’s what people said. Lionel Luthor was as cold blooded a businessman as they come and implicated in a number of crimes he’d gotten away with. The newspapers never went long without there being a mention of the Luthor name. Kara had known them before she’d started attending the same school as them. Before her cousin had started dating the heir apparent.

 She’d seen pictures of them. The father, middle aged but still dashing, a charisma that carried itself even through still photographs. She’d seen the mother’s cruel, tight lipped, mouth, in the background. Not a hair out of place, a neutral expression like a mask, but eyes that showed fierceness. Their son- who the media had taken turns purpoting as a sickly freak, a child prodigy, a bad boy, a reckless party animal, a young genius, in line to be the greatest new entrepeneur of the century, depending on the month, in cycles, depending on whether Lex had most recently created a new theorem on astrophysics or crashed his porsche into the side of a Metropolis night club…. And what of Lena?

 Kara had never seen a photo of Lena before that she could remember. Though she’d heard the name. It had been rather a scandal when an illegitimate daughter had been brought to light and then accepted into the family. It had confirmed to the wider public, as if any confirmation was necessary, that Lionel was a snake and now he was a casanova to boot. That had been what the focus was on. Lionel and Lillian. Never Lena. Maybe that was on purpose- a merciful thing.

It floated into Kara’s memory that she did remember reading once about Lena when the scandal had first hit. In the midst of an article trying to paint Lionel as a benevolent father figure for taking her in, it mentioned ‘Lena Luthor, the child in question, is a bright, straight A student’.

 Hardly a description of character. It was about as much information as one gets about the people featured in mathematics word problems. ‘Lena Luthor is a bright, straight A student and she has 4 pieces of cake she wants to divide among her friends-’

 Kara wondered, if she hadn’t figured it out earlier when Lena had said it was her brother’s party… would she have ever introduced herself by name? When? How long would she wait into the conversation? Long enough for Kara to form her own opinions? Long enough that it would feel like a deception?

 Because for better or for worse, it did raise questions for Kara. Not the type that it may have for other people, she was sure. Kara had no judgement. What she did have was a wealth of curiosity. What did it feel like?

 Kara had once cried all night when she was a child after being at elementary school for several months. When her sister had asked what had been wrong she’d answered ‘everyone thinks we’re sisters because we have the same last name. But we’re not REALLY sisters, are we? We didn’t come from the same place. And now I’m lying to everyone. But I don’t want anyone to find out.’ and her sister had dutifully wiped the tears and snot from her face and said with seriousness ‘of COURSE we’re real sisters.’

 And like so many conversations that had started in tears, that was the end of it. Kara wondered often if she was a child who was too easily comforted. Or had had a sister who was too shrewd and convincing. How many times had she let something be pushed aside, allowed herself to be soothed, instead of delving into it deeper?

 She’d been scared that night, crying, not because of insecurity about her place in the family but in how others would see her and how they would react to knowing she lived with people who were not HER people… The question that would seem to logically arise would be: if they aren’t your parents, then what happened to the real ones? Are they dead? Or were you not good enough for them? Did they love you more than the parents you have now?

 The Danvers tucked Kara into bed all through her childhood. Laid kisses on her forehead. Packed her lunch for school with the things she liked. Sang Happy Birthday to her. Hugged her so hard it left her sore.

 But even amidst all that, there was always the thought. Was this the be all end all of parental love? Kara imagined her birth parents… and thought, ‘is there any way they could have loved me more? If they’d been here?’ The thought was horrifying in its selfishness. And had to be repressed.

 But Lena knew. Lena had grown up with a birth mother only to lose her and be thrust into a cold, poisonous, anemic family. Where lack of love may not have even been the primary concern as much as need for survival was. Kara thought of the calculated, handsome, family photos printed in the magazines of the Luthors. And imagined that being adopted by those people would be no less than being dropped into a pit of snakes.

 But here Lena was, a Luthor too. Even in blood. A distinction that while Kara knew only the barest threads of, she also knew could be the most mystifying social link a person can have. Clark was in many ways so strange to her- she was sure she’d never understand him. And yet she was like him. In ways she was still struggling to comprehend. She looked at him like a carnival mirror. You’re me, but you’re not me. Where am I in you? Where are you in me? Where are our parents? What happened to us? What are you? What am I … becoming?

 Lena had to do that too. She had to look at a father who was universally both reviled and admired. A tactician but a tyrant. A charming monster. A modern king but bankrupt of morals. ‘Lionel Luthor Absorbs Family Run Businesses By Day, Wears Armani And Smiles At The Camera At Charity Balls By Night’, every headline seemed to sourly redact the implied ending of ‘The Utter Bastard…’.

 That was her blood. Her past, her creation, her future.

 Or her brother- only slightly more ambiguous, at least from the media’s perspective. Seen first as a creature of pity- freakish for his lack of hair, afflicted by some unknown illness possibly, maybe even a cause of public sympathy for Lionel- his retribution for years of wickedness. Then he’d been the prodigy- child mensa, ’12 year old Luthor heir beats chess grand master’, small photos in publications of a smug adolescent looking blasé about his victories. Following had been the inevitable breakdowns. It had become public knowledge that he’d been kicked out of several elite private schools- not for his academic performance, which continued to be outstanding- but for bad behavior, anti social tendencies. By the time he was 17 he was already a regular figure in the gossip pages and the press surrounding him was mostly negative. Following in the footsteps of his father. Or maybe even worse than his father. A precocious young sociopath but with no self restraint- getting arrested, overdosing, crashing cars, rehab. Headlines read ‘Young Luthor Sets Bar For Teenage Rebellion’. And that was Lena’s blood brother. Who she’d never known until it was too late to really know someone as a brother. How much of him was in her? Did Lena look at Lex and see a carnival mirror reflection? And was she pleased with what she saw? Or revolted?

 Luthor blood was poison. Kara’s blood was… a mystery. Unknown substance.

 Two ticking time bombs, in a dark empty room.

 “I don’t know anything about you.” Kara said.

 “We’ve only just met, there’s still time.” Lena made light, but her smile had stopped reaching her eyes.

 “No, I meant… I’ve always heard about Lex, and your parents, in the paper and such.” Kara continued boldly. Her hands didn’t twitch, her eyes remained level. Somehow in Lena’s presence she felt stripped of some façade she hadn’t really known was a façade. And a stillness replaced it.

 She studied Lena’s face for a change of expression. The dark haired girl smiled, utterly calm and unperturbed.

 “Yes.” she agreed.

 Kara huffed out a laugh. “I don’t think I even knew you went to this school.”

 “I keep to myself.”

 She kept Kara’s gaze and for some reason, it felt like they were sparring, though the conversation seemed innocent enough. But if they were sparring then Lena was the one who submitted first, as she sighed and picked up her tumbler, swishing it once and peering into its contents without taking a drink.

 “I’m studying bio-engineering and computer science.” she offered without prompting.

 “You’re smart.” Kara deduced, stating it as a fact, not as a compliment.

 “I am.” Lena returned, once again stating it as a fact and not a brag. Though her lips did quirk up at the corners when she added, “When I was 11 I started being able to beat my brother at chess. He was already in high school then, and had bested a grand master.”

 She leaned her head on her hand. “I was sent to an all girls boarding school. Awful affair. They made us wear pleated skirts everyday. I caused a bit of trouble there but it was hard to out do Lex on that front. I think my minor offenses of skipping class, returning library books too late, and sneaking vodka back to the dorm all seemed rather wholesome comparatively. They never made the papers and I was glad of that.”

 “Do you not want to be seen by the media?”

 “Not until it’s on my terms. For something I’ve earned.”

 The comfort in their silence had returned. Kara leaned her neck on the back of the leather couch, delighting in the way it pushed against her spine. Her foot was falling asleep tucked under her leg. It had been some time since they’d heard anyone chanting ‘chug!’ from the other side of the door.

 “You’re a bit like a reporter yourself.” Lena commented. “Is it strange to feel like I’m being interviewed or is this how normal relationships become instigated?”

 Kara grinned. “What’s normal?”

 “Nothing tonight, it seems.”

 Kara turned her head back to look at her, the angle different now that her neck was bent back. Still impossibly lovely. Still unreadable and straight forward in a way that left Kara feeling in her core a twisted mixture of curiosity and satiation. She wanted to know her, and yet even as she was, she liked her none the less. The image that her mind held. The enigma. Was its own reward.

 “Yeah. The air feels different.” Kara whispered. She turned her head toward the window. “The sky looks different.”

 The other girl chuckled. “So you feel that too?”

 Kara glanced back at her, wide eyed. “It’s not just me, is it?”

 “Well the two of us are in this room together, aren’t we?”

 Kara thought about it. The noise outside the door had died down considerably but she could hear voices and clattering, muffled behind the huge oak frame as if the party were occuring miles away. For all she knew the room could be suspended in space. And the window’s view of the velvet blanket of the night sky with stars so bright they seemed closer than anything real, was no assurance of their position on the ground.

 Kara sat up on her haunches and leaned over the back of the couch, until her face was closer to the window. It was a whimsical compulsion. She wasn’t sure why she followed through on it. But experimentally she took of her reading glasses, perching them in her hair.

 At first she squinted, the familiar effect of having the world go into a blur of shapes and colors like it had been painted with harsh brushstrokes, settling in. But then… to her amazement, it began to change. And the more she blinked and squinted, things began to come into focus. As if she were wearing glasses again. No- even more clear than she’d ever been able to see with her glasses.

 God, suddenly every star felt like she could reach out and touch its warmth. Everything in the universe was burning for her.

 “This is…”

 “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

 Kara forced her gaze away to look back at Lena who was smiling serenely at her and wondered what kind of spell she’d been under. If she was experiencing what she was experiencing, everything so transformed, or if Kara was going mad.

 “Are you seeing this?” she asked with a hint of apprehension.

 Lena quirked an eyebrow at her. “The stars?”

 Kara looked around the room, shaking her head slightly. “No… everything.”

 And not just seeing. Hearing. She blinked and could hear a slosh of beer in a cup outside like a crash of an ocean wave. Could hear the bed strings creak on the third floor under a pair of one-night lovers. “Terry…” the girl whimpered against his neck. He groaned in response. She could smell sweat from all sides, the perfume daintily applied to Lena’s collarbone- floral but with a spicy kick- perfectly elegant, she could smell the sharp, musky, scent of polished mahogany as if her face was pressed up against the floor.

 Then Lena touched her hand gently. And she was staring at her with full lips parted. Kara swore she could feel the gentle inhale, exhale, as if it was being breathed against her neck. The bat of her eyelashes as if they were running up her thigh.

  “Kara…” her voice was filled with concern now. “Are you… sorry, but I have to ask this… are you on something right now? Are you drunk?”

 Kara stared at her wide eyed. “I’ve never even smoked pot before.” she mumbled vaguely.

Which made Lena laugh. Kara put her glasses back on and blinked several times. She was surprised to find that things became blurry again when she put them on, as if she’d just taken them OFF instead. So she nervously removed them once more and tucked them into her pocket and began rubbing her hands up and down her thighs as if for warmth.

 “Uh- just. Air. I think I need some air maybe? I don’t really… I swear I haven’t had ANYTHING to drink tonight, it’s just.” she shook her head. “I don’t know. I feel a little-“

 “Overstimulated?” Lena finished for her.

 “You too?” Kara gasped.

 Lena’s lips curved up into another gorgeous smirk, which Kara was beginning to understand as her trademark. “No. I’m fine.” she stood up, graceful and fluid, her dress flowing around her, and offered Kara her hand. “I’ll be your rock.”

 Kara’s body felt heavy as she let Lena pull her up, and then she was holding hands with her again, being led again. It felt like déjà vu from when they’d entered the room. And foresight at the same time. Like this was something that had happened a million times before and would happen a million times again. Kara’s chest ached so painfully she wanted to double over.

 The veranda was made of stone and garnished with sculptures of Greek heroes and scholars. It looked like they’d been with the college for some time, or installed from someplace else, as they were as chipped and faded as real ancient art. Lena looked at home among them, sauntering elegeantly between their bodies and trailing her fingers over their shoulders. As if this were her party now, in the quiet moonlight, and these guests her familiar friends. Kara tried to stay close to her. She had a feeling that if anywhere was haunted, this mansion was.

 “The stars are bright tonight.” Lena admitted, wide smile on her face.

 “I’ve never seen them like this.” Kara agreed.

 “Can you see at all?” Lena’s voice had a hint of an edge in it, playful but still dangerous, and Kara wondered what it would be like to be her enemy for a fleeting moment.

 “What?”

 Lena waved one slender finger around the area of her own eyes. “I noticed you took your glassess off.”

 “Oh.” Kara said, having no plausible explanation to offer. Because really, why was she able to see perfectly, better than ever, in this moment when a few hours ago if she’d taken them off she’d have been stumbling into the Greek statues and apologizing profusely.

 Lena shrugged, as if she didn’t want to push the matter, didn’t care enough. But she sidled up next to Kara so their shoulders brushed together. And pointed to the sky. Kara followed her finger, staring at the cluster of stars which had become so beautifully bright now that they were nearly blinding.

 “There’s Andromeda.” the whisper against her ear caught Kara off guard and she jumped which made Lena snicker, self satisfied.

 “And Cassiopeia” Kara raised her own hand to point. Lena raised an eyebrow at her approvingly. Kara smiled back smugly.

She trailed her fingers up Lena’s arms until her hand was over hers and guided her to point to another cluster. “And Perseus.”

 “You know your astronomy. Color me impressed.”

 Kara dropped their arms but let her hand linger over the other girl’s wrist. She could smell her perfume again. So vividly it was like a cloak wrapped around her, something tangible that she could bury her face against.

 “Do you think there’s anything up there?” Lena’s voice was so soft it barely left her lips but Kara heard it. Kara thought she might be able to hear anything.

 “In Space?”

 “Just forget about it.” Lena’s laugh was lilting, soft as a breeze. “I’m in a silly mood tonight. I wonder what’s come over us.”

 Kara looked back out at the sky. A helicopter or plane was a blinking red light in the far flung distance. It looked like it might collide with the stars around it. She wished it safe travels. And then pressed her lips against Lena’s.