#I really wanted some hurt/comfort happening between Sam and Lena

[thatonebirdwrites]

Sneak peak on a Lena Luthor, Sam Arias, and Kara Danvers fic that has grabbed me by the throat and won't let go till I finish it

(Once I finish it, I'll throw it up on AO3.)

THE EVENT

Lena realizes something is very, very wrong when she feels the heft of a gun in her hand. The fog in her mind lifts slowly as she wrestles back her consciousness. She blinks and realizes she’s in a concrete room with a desk to one side.

But far more disturbing is her brother, Lex, who has pushed himself half-up with one arm, the other hugging his abdomen. The gun she holds points at him. Blood dribbles from his mouth. He laughs, and his words swim through the fog in her brain.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it? The very people you fight to protect. Do you know their truth?” He reaches up to grab a remote and turns on the televisions that make up a wall of the bunker.

Lena breathes in sharply. Bunker?

No, no, she can’t be alone with Lex. Bad things always happen.

Panic rises like bile in her throat. Her brother is speaking again, but his words can’t penetrate the growing haze in her head. She blinks at the televisions, but it blurs into a mosaic of color and faint soundscapes.

Her thoughts spark and sizzle like a broken circuit. She hyperventilates, lightheaded, as tears sting her eyes. The gun’s weight pulls her arms down. The fact her brother is bleeding out in front of her, while laughing, alarms her.

He believes this is checkmate. It’s not. Please, let me handle this.

The thought laces through her alarm and comforts her. The confidence in her other self dismantles her rising panic. Just like the last time in Kasnia during the self-destruct sequence. Time had warped for her, the fog saturated all awareness, until she woke in the cool air, the sky studded with stars. In her hands was an air duct grate, her clothes rumpled, one heel broken, and streaks of dirt on her legs and arms.

Oh.

Her other self must have fronted like in Kaznia. What is the last things she remembers? She briefly closes her eyes.

She had been escorted by armed guards to where her brother and Lillian waited in the Presidential room at the White House. Listened in horror at her brother’s rant of his victory over aliens. Saw evidence of Supergirl’s death. The terror that grabbed her by the throat had the fog boiling through her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she could not escape the Luthors.

Then nothing. Time evaporated until she wrestled her way out of the suffocating fog.

And here she wakes in a bunker, a gun in her hand, and her brother bleeding out in front of her.

“Do you see the lies they’ve woven? How they’ve abused your trusting nature? Your broken mind?” he continues with another irritating laugh.

He seeks to manipulate us again. Trust us. Lean into our anger.

Lena takes a steadying breath. That’s right. Her anger and horror at his brutal experiments and murder of aliens. The prison couldn’t hold him, cutting off his assets also failed — all facts she has factored into her calculations.

But this exact scenario is supposed to be the last resort. Her stomach curdles, bile on her tongue. Kieran, wait, what of the other plans?

We had to end the cycle, Lena. Otherwise, he’ll never stop coming.

Stop being cryptic. What the hell happened? She needs to reassess. There must be a better solution. She can still repair this somehow. Seek the Truth. Focus.

Fine. I confronted him and injected Harun-el as we agreed. He demanded we join his genocidal crusade. We are not his tool anymore. The solidity of the decision warms her from head to toe, even as her heart shatters at the sight in front of her.

Lena clears her throat and summons what strength she has left. “You’ve abused me, Lex. You have no ground to stand on.” She tries to avoid looking at the wall of televisions, for what is surely a cleverly crafted way to destroy her yet again. Like he always does. Her lip quivers, and she blinks back the urge to cry.

“Me? Your trusting brother?” Lex laughs then coughs blood into his hand. “I’ve given you the world, Ace. Only ever been truthful. Honed your skills. Do you still not see the truth? I’ve laid it out for you this time, you stubborn fool!”

Colors leech into grey in her periphery. Her limbs feel puppeted by her other self still. A rare moment of synergy but it leaves her nauseous and her head aching in a growing migraine.

“They’ve all been lying to you,” Lex continues as he laughs and spits up more blood. “Preying on your weaknesses.”

That’s you, Lena thinks. You’ve preyed on us.

But her curiosity overwhelms her, and she can’t ignore the televisions any longer. The scenes capture her gaze, and her ears roar with the orchestra Lex has woven into the security footage he’s stolen. Half the screens are footage from when Mercy attacked L-corp.

<<.....>>

Lena turns to Kara desperately. “No, Kara, you’re safer with me.” She can feel the grey fog pulling her toward the dark maw of her psyche. She reaches out to grasp Kara’s arm, the fabric of her cashmere sweater soft and comforting. As the emergency light goes off again, she slips deeper into her mind’s tumultuous seas.

Kieran rises forward, and her body transforms. Her shoulders straighten, her limbs more agile, her stance that of a fighter. Commands issue from her voice, but Lena can no longer discern meaning.

She wraps herself in the cold of shadows.

Time hiccups and coughs. Shots echo like thunder, safety doors drop like quakes, and the clatter of heels click against metal.

Is Kara okay? She needs to know. She swims through grey fog, until she pushes into consciousness again.

An uncomfortable weight hangs on her arm. Kara stands behind her, but Mercy holds the bigger gun of the Lexosuit. Fear curdles her stomach. Of course Mercy would hack through security to reach her experimental prototypes. Lena had built a lighter suit to be used for good. Not like this.

Lena, don’t. Let me handle this. Kieran’s smug confidence scratches into her thoughts.

Kara is still here!

Lena, we don’t have time to argue. Kieran surges to the front, and Lena watches as her body moves to block Mercy’s shot. “You did not see the upgrade. The arms hold more goods now.” A hint of excitement sweeps through her voice, the onset of a fight a thrill for Kieran, while Lena nears a panic.

Please, get Kara out of here. Lena struggles to keep them moving backward. Kara is behind her still, the door to the lab just a few feet away.

I said let me handle this. Anger filters through Kieran and burns against Lena’s presence.

Lena throws open the door. “Go, Kara.” Kara stumbles backward into the hallway, and she slams the door shut. The fog sears through her mind, Kieran’s anger pushing her back.

A blast tears through the air, but Kieran blocks the shot with their shield.

Except, Lena can’t let go fully. Kieran blocks and shoots, but Lena fumbles with the footwork. Kieran’s the fencer, not her. Mercy spars not only with the gloves but with caustic words. Kieran fights Lena for control, their dodging clumsy, their shots missing.

The fight warps and fizzles in her mind; the fog screeches through Lena’s consciousness.

She fumbles. Slams against metal.

“You aren’t deserving of the Luthor name,” Mercy says, her poison like barbs that sink into Lena’s insecurities.

Heat beams destroy the door, and Supergirl blasts into the room. Mercy is slammed against the wall, Supergirl’s arm against her throat. “No, you got that backwards,” Supergirl hisses, “the Luthor name isn’t deserving of Lena.”

Warmth floods through Lena at the strength and resolve in Supergirl’s words. A massive turnaround from the worldkiller crisis.

Stay focused. Don’t let your guard down until Mercy’s off the property. Kieran releases her hold, and Lena stumbles, back in full control. Already her mind shifts into overdrive to plan the exact route to verify the security of her building and her people.

<<....>>

This is a repeat of the Mercy incident. Where Lena couldn’t let go, and both of them co-fronted. It sparks a migraine, the grey in her periphery darkening, and her nausea worsening. She hates moments like this.

Let me handle this. We have him in a checkmate. The confidence in Kieran’s analysis softens the panic that has started to freeze her limbs. We know the Truth.

If there is one thing that unites Lena’s fractured psyche, it is an overwhelming need to protect those she loves. And her own brother has nearly killed her and her friends a dozen times over.

She’s exhausted, terrified, and wants this endless game of his to stop.

Lena raises her gun and shoots the televisions one at a time. The shards explode outward and rain down on her brother.

For once, Lex shuts the fuck up. His eyes widen.

The fog burns away the rest of her awareness.

She stumbles across wet grass, her clothes wet and clinging to her body, as the heavens pour down upon her. She’s outside the bunker in a stand of aspens. The sky sparks with lightning, the greyness suffocating.

You’re safe now. We all are. It’s okay. It’ll be okay.

Lena shouldn’t dig deeper. She knows it’s not healthy. Kieran has always protected her, held the worst of the horror. It’s how they’ve survived this far.

But this was her brother. And those screens showed Kara as not human. It makes no sense with what Kara claims. How does she reconcile it all?

Kieran, what did you do?!

What was necessary. Kieran’s confidence holds a trickle of grief and pain. We must seek help now, Lena. Focus.

She feels strange, unreal, like a pantomime of herself. The urge to lie in the mud, to let the rain wash her away, nearly overwhelms her. She pushes off a trunk and stumbles forward. Her hair falls in front of her eyes, sticking to her forehead and cheeks.

The images from the televisions ripple through her thoughts. Is that the Truth?

Yes. Now focus, Lena. We must call her.

Has Kara been deceiving her this whole time? She doesn’t want to believe it.

She’s given Kara her heart, far more than she ever meant to do, and yet, those videos sync with the disjointed mess of her memories. Bits and pieces that Kieran has held for her, scattered shards unlocked like the showers above.

Wait, did you know? Shock starts to shiver through her body.

That’s not important now. Call her.

Lena stumbles and falls. Her hands push into the mud and the world crackles with thunder. It’s too loud. Too bright.

It's all so wrong; she gags and spits out bile.

She wishes Kieran would take over again, to call for her, but her protective self has faded from awareness. Fatigue throttles all of her.

Her brother is likely dead in the bunker. By her own hand. Tears mix with the rain and her fingers dig into the mud. Her senses crackle with pain. She feels herself shrinking. The hairs on her arm raise, goosebumps from the cold, her body vibrating into oblivion.

She wants to go home.

Call her now. The thought is weaker, laced with grief.

“I know. I know,” Lena says it out loud to ground herself. To stop the shrinking, to avoid the inevitable pull of a switch. She shudders and leans against the trunk of a tree.

Focus on the goal. Break it into smaller steps.

She hugs her legs to her chest with one arm. Her other hand fumbles through pockets of her suit. Too many. Suit so wet. She feels slimy, gross, slipping toward the warmth of shadows.

Her fingers grasp he phone in her inner suit jacket. There’s two numbers on speed dial: Sam and Kara.

Her fingers hesitate over the two. She bites her lip, closes her eyes, and hits the button for Sam.

(To be continued on AO3, will edit in the link or drop in comments once up.) Note, this playlist was on repeat as I wrote this piece: Shattered Playlist

Edited.

[captains-simp]

Can I get a request where Yelena's dating R and has been for a while because things are going great but Natasha (being the protective big sister she is) realllllyyyy doesn't like R and R keeps making things worse because Nat intimidates her and all bdaksnakwk😭 and she finally accepts R when she gets caught up in a mission somehow and almost dies for Yelena🥺

Nat simps: Nat doesn't like the relationship because she's jealous

Me: n-no

Nat simps: she actually loves R😃

Me: guys no-

Nat simps: but-

Me: N O

(You guys are getting a big Natasha fic after this, calm your tits🙄)

3.6k words

Warnings: graphic injury description, implied torture and murder

[ masterlist ]

Buy me a coffee ☕

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"My sister does not hate you." Yelena chuckled as she opened the car door and stepped out. You stayed put for a second, staring up at the Avenger's tower as you chewed your lower lip.

"She definitely does." You mumbled as you stepped out of the car yourself. Yelena held her hand out for you to take, marginally helping your nerves when she gave it a reassuring squeeze. She noticed your silence and tried again.

"Okay maybe she's not your biggest fan right now but she'll warm up to you. I did." The blonde winked. You bit back a smile and rolled your eyes. "The others sure as hell love you." You hummed in response, you couldn't argue with that. You got on with the other heroes like a house on fire. "And I love you." Yelena said earnestly as you stopped outside the main door for your girlfriend to plant a soft, quick, kiss on your lips.

"I love you too." You said with a smile.

"There she is." She grinned back as she stroked your cheek with her index finger. "Now come on, I'm starving."

"You ate that bag of M&Ms in the car." You laughed as Yelena led you through the building. The blonde scoffed.

"They only half fill them, y/n." She complained. "So it was half a bag." It was hard to argue with that logic. 

You made your way through to the top floor of the building, all while holding onto the expensive wine bottle you bought. Your hands were sweating so much so you held onto the bottle with both hands, not trusting your grip. The last thing you needed was to smash it on any of Tony's expensive carpets. You were met with a round of laughter when the elevator doors opened, presenting the Avengers all sat around the living area. Their eyes turned to you and Yelena with wide smiles and they all shouted hellos across the room. Wanda gave you a warm hug as Yelena high fived Bucky and you felt your nerves soften. 

"She's just finishing up." Wanda said knowingly. You wondered for a brief second if she had taken a peek into your mind but when you looked at the redhead she was smiling reassuringly at you and you realized it must have been obvious that you were anxious to see her again. Unlike Yelena, everyone else could tell you were Natasha's least favourite person. "For what it's worth she seems to be in a pretty good mood tonight." Wanda assured.

"Whose in a pretty good mood tonight?" Came the voice you had been dreading to hear. Natasha strolled into the living room with a content smile on her face but halted in her tracks once she saw you. You locked eyes for longer than you were comfortable with but you were determined not to look away. Sometimes you thought that if you asserted yourself more then maybe Natasha would at least respect you. Today wasn't the day for that because you looked away quicker than you would have hoped to. In your defence, it was really hard to maintain eye contact with the Black Widow. 

"What's she doing here?" Natasha spat. Oh. You winced as you rubbed the back of your neck, clearly the Russian wasn't aware that you were attending the dinner too. 

"I told you she was coming." Yelena said as she strolled towards her sister and gave her a bear hug. Natasha continued to glare at you from over her sister's shoulder. 

"I thought you were meant to be on a mission."

"Luckily it was over by lunch." You smiled weakly. "Meant there was still brownie left in the cafeteria." You laughed awkwardly but Natasha didn't respond. 

"If you want, I could give you the recipe for my brownies." Wanda said in an attempt to ease the overwhelming tension in the room. The Sokovian was always the best at that and you were sure it was entirely down to her calm demeanour.

"Really?" You asked hopefully as you all made your way to the dinner table. You avoided Natasha's eyes the whole time but consequently ended up taking a seat opposite her. You froze when you sat down, already under her heated gaze once again. You gulped thickly and turned to Yelena while you tried to ignore the pair of emerald eyes burning holes into the side of your head.

The rest of the dinner wasn't altogether awkward but it wasn't the most comfortable you'd ever been. Natasha didn't acknowledge you, though it was rare that she did, and you both engaged in separate conversations with the rest of the team. You had never known if there was a particular reason the redhead didn't like you. You guessed it was down to her being protective of her little sister, something you could understand given all they had been through. But you would never hurt your girlfriend, in fact you would do anything to avoid that. So it bothered you that there was nothing you could do to sway Natasha's opinion of you, because you had literally tried everything. You had been dating her sister for six months. Surely if she was going to accept you it would have happened already. 

When dinner was finished Natasha excused herself as Yelena picked up some plates and took them to the kitchen. You were hooked on a story Sam was telling when they left, both your elbows on the table as your face rested in your hands, eagerly waiting for Sam to reveal how he was able to escape a whole squadron of planes with a malfunctioning suit. As a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, you didn’t get to experience half the things the Avengers did. Sure, you had had some crazy missions and your fair share of close calls, but their stories always won. 

Once Sam dramatically finished his story with some over the top sound effects, you noticed Yelena had missed a few plates and still wasn’t back. With the dishes in your hands, you made your way to the kitchen, soon hearing the strong accent of your girlfriend. “You're being unfair.” She scolded with a hushed aggression. 

“I’m trying to protect you, Lena.” Natasha’s voice fired back. Your ears pricked up at the verb and you were unsure of whether or not to leave the plates on a near table and go or stay to hear about the apparent threat your girlfriend was facing. “She’s going to get herself killed.”

“Oh and you’ve never done something reckless?” Reckless. That was a word you had seen in your S.H.I.E.L.D assessment reports enough times to get a vague idea of who the pair were talking about. Natasha being on the opposing side proved the point more. “When will you drop this?”

“You couldn’t have just dated a normal civilian? Or at least an agent that manages to not get themselves in harm's way on the way to the paper copier.” Well that was hardly accurate. S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t use paper copiers. 

“You know maybe if you spent less time being a bitch to her and more time actually getting to know her you would understand why I love her.” Yelena said in a more disappointed tone, most of the frustration drained away from exhaustion. You wondered how long they had been talking about this. Or if they had before. Yelena always acted like there wasn’t any tension between you and her sister. Maybe she thought if she ignored it things would sort themselves out. 

There was a heavy silence over the room so with a pang of guilt, you stepped out from behind the wall with the plates still in your hands, fauxing mild surprise when you saw them both, like you didn’t even know they were still there. If they saw through your act, they didn’t say anything. “Thanks, just put them there.” The blonde smiled and pointed at the counter near her. Natasha stayed silent as she watched you from the other side of the room. It always felt like she was studying you for any sign of a weakness when she looked at you, waiting to spot something she could use to strike. 

“You need a hand?” You asked as you spied the excessive bubbles in the sink that coaxed your girlfriend’s forearms. “Before you break something.” You joked and watched as Yelena’s cheeks tinted pink as she remembered the shattered glass in the bin at home. 

“She’s capable.” Natasha interrupted with stone cold glare. 

“That’s okay, detka (babe).” Yelena mumbled and kissed your cheek. “I’m just finishing up.” She said before looking briefly at her sister. “Then we’re going.”

*

To no surprise of your own, Natasha didn’t get any friendly towards you after what you could only assume wasn’t the first discussion the sister’s had had about you. In fact it got considerably worse; not straight away though, that came a few weeks after when the pair came rushing into the cafeteria. Yelena marched in the room with her eyes set on you as the redhead followed by her side, exclaiming something wildly with her hands. 

“This is insane. Yelena!” Unfortunately for Natasha, her sister’s stubbornness fiercely rivaled her own. 

“Hey, detka.” Yelena smiled as she sat down on the seat in front of you. You gave a small wave as you finished chewing your sandwich, eyeing the pair cautiously. Natasha continued to stand with her arms crossed, mumbling under her breath in Russian. “You busy now?” 

“Not really.” You shrugged and brushed the crumbs off your hands.

“Yelena, no.”

“Zamolchi (shut up)!” The blonde fired back. “That’s great,I could really use a hand on a mission.”

“I will go with you.” Natasha insisted but Yelena shooed her away distractedly. “They know who you are, it won’t work.” She hissed.

“That’s why disguises exist!” Natasha yelled, gaining the attention of every other S.H.I.E.L.D agent in the room. 

“It won’t work.” Your girlfriend said firmly, her choice was already made and set in stone. 

“Okay.” You shrugged and immediately fell under Natasha’s most heated glare. 

“Don’t you dare.” She gritted. “There are thousands of agents in this base alone and you’re picking the single most reckless one who will get you killed.” The redhead continued but Yelena, unlike you, wasn’t fazed. 

“Great, go pack your stuff.” Yelena cheered.

“Right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t fucking move.” Your body betrayed you, keeping you glued to your seat in fear of what method, of the hundreds the widow knew, she would choose to kill you if you stood up. 

“I don’t trust anyone else to do this.” Yelena said earnestly to her sister. Natasha considered her sister carefully but still looked unconvinced when her younger sister gave a frustrated huff and took you by the hand to drag you to your feet and past her sister who surprisingly didn’t follow after you both. 

As your girlfriend led you down the halls she explained the basis of the mission, telling you how you were to set up a last minute buy with a high profile weapons smuggler. Annoyingly, that was how he worked, telling buyers the location and time of a deal at the last minute. Beneficially, he was a smug prick who only believed in carrying out deals on his own. While he would be armed, there would be no one else with him, making yours and Yelena’s job easier. Yelena was the sniper, shooting to kill. S.H.I.E.L.D had tried apprehending the guy alive but it always ended in casualties and they were finally done with going easy. 

You considered it all when you were changing into the outfit Yelena had given you, planning what exactly you could say to the dealer to get him to the specific part of the warehouse that Yelena could shoot at. You were buttoning up your white blouse when the door swung open and Natasha stepped through. “You sure you can handle this?” She asked right off the bat. 

“I’ve been through my training just like everyone else here, Natasha. I know you don’t think I’m capable but I’ve been on my fair share of missions and I know protocol and-”

“Just keep her safe.” The Russian said. You blinked and opened your mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words.

“I don’t care if Baros comes out of there in a body bag or in a limo.” You blinked again and continued with your shirt as you decided to just listen to Natasha. “But if one hair on Yelena’s head is harmed I will make you live to regret it for the remainder of your long and very painful days.” She said darkly and you could only nod dumbly. Natasha studied you for a long moment before turning around to head out of the room far less dramatically as she had entered. 

“She trusts me for a reason.” You couldn’t help but call out as the redhead opened the door. She glanced at you for a second and left as she called over her shoulder to you. 

“I don’t.”

*

“Do you want to get take out tonight? I was thinking that new Chinese place around the corner.” Yelena spoke clearly but she might as well have been thinking aloud because you couldn’t respond. She knew that of course. She knew that you speaking would ruin your cover if Baros had cameras set up around you. “So that’s a yes on the Chinese?” She continued. Okay she was definitely doing it because she knew you couldn’t respond. “Detka there’s no need for you to insist on paying. I owe you one right now.” You bit back a smile until the warehouse doors opened and Baros stepped through, watching you eagerly. 

“So nice of you to join me.” You deadpanned. You couldn’t help it. The guy literally chose the time and he was still half an hour late.

“Yes, my apologies.” Baros said in a very unapologetic tone. “Something came up.” He muttered as he placed a large box on the table and unlocked it with an 8 digit code although you were sure there was a lot more to it than that. Not that you cared about his weapons right now. “Now I hear I have something you’re interested in.” 

With that, the sale began. At first you thought you were in luck. Baros made a habit of strolling around the room as he explained various weapons that you pretended to be interested in, but he never went to the spot Yelena could shoot. It became irritating very quickly. You walked around too in an attempt to lead him to wear you needed him but he always backed off at the last second. You heard Yelena groan into the earpiece a few times too. 

“Is there anything here that’s of interest to you? Or are you more concerned with listening to whoever’s on the other end of that earpiece?” Your eyes snapped to Baros as he watched you curiously. “Where is she?” He asked coldly. Your earpiece wasn’t meant to be visible and the thought that Baros had found a way to get around S.H.I.E.L.D’s technology concerned you greatly. 

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, I’m here alone.” You swallowed thickly. Baros gave a throaty laugh in response, some primal hunting impulse starting up. 

“I’ve killed every S.H.I.E.L.D agent that has come after me, you and your friend will be no different. Now where is she?”

You wanted to charge at Baros. To knock him to the ground and wrap your hands tightly around his throat and squeeze long and tight enough to make him regret ever threatening your girlfriend. Except you couldn’t move. It wasn’t a fear induced freeze up like you had gotten from Natasha’s glares a few times. There was a much larger and more dangerous obstacle that stopped you moving. Something toxic. Baros gave another manic laugh as he watched that realisation dawn on you. But really, what was panicking you most was that Yelena had been silent for a long time. 

“You see, Agent l/n, while you were trying your hardest to get me to play your game, I was beating you at my own. I’ve grown immune to the toxin that’s been circulating the room since your arrival.” You trembled as you dropped to your knees and fell onto your side, only able to watch and listen. “And what your friend sees is a mere projection of us continuing business, audio included of course, so she won’t be coming to get you anytime soon.” You exhaled as heavily as you could in relief at the knowledge that Yelena was safe.

“Now where were we?” Baros asked as he knelt down besides you and lifted your head up, placing the flat of a blade against your cheek. “Oh yes, you were just about to tell me about the other one.”

“Go...to...hell.” You grimace, every word spoken feeling like one of the hardest things you had ever done. 

“I’m sure you’ll feel as though you’re there very shortly.” He muttered as the knife very slowly started to dig into your skin.

*

You had no idea how long you were with Baros, how long since he had first started slicing your skin, how long your bones had been broken or even how long since you had first started to cough up blood, most of it staying in your mouth because of your weak diaphragm. You had exceeded your limit long ago, only using your energy to make the occasional snarky comment that made the next attack harsher. You couldn’t seem to stop yourself. It made you feel like you had some control, as did the fact that you never said a word about Yelena.

A gargled scream was ripped from you when Baros pressed the burning hot knife against your latest stab wound, cauterising it to stop you bleeding out and keep you alive for as long as he needed you. A sickening smile crept onto his lips as he watched your eyes fill with tears once again and leant back once he was done. Much to your long awaited relief, that smile was wiped from his face when a spray of red erupted in front of you, shortly followed by Baros dropping to the ground next to you, dead on the spot he had accidentally stood in. 

You didn’t trust your relief, you didn’t trust yourself not to be hallucinated after the endless hours of torture, even when a heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D team flooded into the room. A few gathered around you, asking questions you couldn’t quite understand as bright white lights filled your vision. Then you were being lifted into the air, not aware of the fabric of the stretcher beneath you until the back of your hand dropped onto it. You managed a small trace of a smile before you passed out. 

*

There was an arm draped across your stomach when you woke up. It was the first thing you felt, a fact that you were extremely grateful for. You blinked frantically a few times before you turned to look at your girlfriend sleeping by your side on the hospital bed. You smiled at the sight of her peaceful form and tucked some stray hairs behind her ear softly, careful not to wake her. You were glad you cherished that moment of peace and relief, because it wasn’t long before you had more company.

You took your hand away from Yelena’s face when Natasha walked in, settling to keep it by your side, although there was nothing you could do about the arm that was squished between yours and your girlfriend’s body. “I tried my best-” you started but Natasha shook her head. 

“You...you did great, y/n.” You smiled sheepishly, sure there were some drugs in your system. “No one could have done any better.” She said as her eyes flickered to the cuts on your face. “So thank you.”

“It was no trouble at all.” You shrugged. Natasha rolled her eyes but smiled faintly, something you never thought you would see directed at you. “I’d never let anything happen to her.” You said honestly. The redhead nodded as she looked at her sister.

“I know that now. I was just scared, I can’t loose her again and you have to admit you’re not the most reliable person on the planet.” You blushed and looked away. “But I trust you now and I’m sorry I doubted you.” She apologised sincerely.

“No harm, no foul.” You joked again, truly not knowing how you were meant to act around the Russian now that you were finally in her good books.

“Don’t make me regret this.” Natasha warned with a smirk. You chuckled lightly and watched as she made to leave. “You should get some rest.” She advised and you nodded but frowned when she was nearly out the door.

“How’d she know?” You asked, making Natasha turn back to you with a quirk of her brow. “That something wasn’t right.” The redhead smiled and shook her head.

“You hadn’t made a smart ass comment in ten minutes.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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[thornedrose44]

Prompt: “I can’t do this. Just leave me alone.”

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"Goodnight, Kara." Lena said from across the room when she finally managed to catch Kara's eye.

It was the first time they had made eye contact since Kara had welcomed her inside at the start of the night. Kara startled at the sudden sight of Lena, waving farewell as she stepped quietly towards the door, but made no move to follow after her and when the door swung quietly shut behind her Lena knew things would never be the same.

It was Kara's birthday party (her Earth birthday party to those that happened to be in the know, which to Lena's un-surprise was a rather considerable group all things considered). Kara had invited her, further proof of the strength of their newly reaffirmed friendship. Lena had been grateful for the invite, appreciating it as the sign that they were back on the right track, and accepted it without hesitation.

She had then proceeded to spend hours upon hours thinking of the perfect gift for Kara, excitement and anticipation building in her stomach.

It would be her first proper night out in months after being thrown back into her role as CEO and dealing with all the negative press following Lex’s downfall and upcoming conviction. Her working hours had reached an excess that she had never achieved before. The blowback onto her in the form of hatred for the Luthors was even greater than last time as well, despite her crucial role in taking Lex down. She was still deemed guilty by association especially since she had been working closely with Lex for a long time before revelations about his villainy became apparent.

The news were critiquing her every move, slandering her every chance they got and rallying the masses to a fervour - she was now facing at least one assassination attempt every week.

Regardless of all that, Lena had one salvation, one light of hope that she clung onto. Her friendship with Kara. It was growing again. They were spending time together. Relearning one another or learning about each for the first time in Lena's case. The conversation was finally less stilted and the trust was back.

But there was still something missing, something stopping them from returning to exactly where they were before.

Lena, as the months ticked by, realised that they were no longer as physically close as they once were. Hugs were rare. Gentle touches of the hands were swiftly snatched back to prevent lingering. Even extended eye contact was fleeting.

Lena at first thought the problem was that she had hurt Kara so badly that the woman who sometimes communicated solely through physical affection no longer wanted to be touched by Lena. That broke something in Lena. That Kara, even though she was trying to be kind, friendly and forgiving to Lena, was not comfortable with any sort of physical contact between them, drove Lena into a drunken stupor of college-level proportions.

Once the alcohol was out of her system and she had suitably recovered from her hangover, Lena had allowed the scientist within her to take over.

No more assumptions.

She would gather evidence, make an hypothesis and work towards a solution.

If she wanted Kara back in her life properly - cuddles on the sofa and lengthy hugs a necessity of that - Lena would put the effort in.

So she observed… and what she observed was this…

Pink cheeks and bashful expressions whenever their gazes met.

A thick swallow and faltering breath whenever their hands brushed.

Deep sighs and fingers digging fleetingly into her back as if on the edge of pulling her closer whenever they embraced.

Dark eyes and teeth biting into a bottom lip whenever Lena stretched or moved her hair away from her neck.

Attraction, affection and interest .

Lena didn’t believe the results of her evidence; she re-ran the tests over and over again trying to work out if she had just interacted with Kara on an odd day, if she just happened to be thinking about something (someone) else at the same time but… it kept happening over and over again.

If it had been anyone else, Lena wouldn’t have doubted what she was seeing but… but.. This was Kara.

Kara, who she had been in love with since she had walked into her office with her cousin.

Kara, who had never picked up on or reacted to her flirts.

Kara, who had broken her heart with lies.

Kara, who meant so much to her.

Kara, who she had only just gotten back.

Was it worth the risk?

Fear had blinded her, of that she had no doubt, but was it keeping her safe from the hurtful truth of Kara not wanting to touch her anymore or from the potential happiness that Kara returned her feelings but was too sweet or shy to put herself in a position that would make Lena uncomfortable.

Lena decided to take a chance - just this once because even if she was wrong about Kara not feeling the same, she had to believe that Kara was incapable of being cruel to her if she misread it. They promised each other honesty and Lena intended to show it.

It was why she needed to buy the perfect present, something that hinted that Kara’s feelings (if Lena was right) were returned. And just a week before the party, she knew exactly what the perfect present would be.

She wrapped it personally (normally Jess would wrap any gifts she had to send out), wanting to go the extra mile. It wasn’t perfectly done, a bit messy in places and the sellotape was excessive but she had done it herself which she knew Kara would appreciate more than professional gift wrapping.

Lena, however, realised that she had made a mistake the second she arrived at Kara's.

Knew she had misread… everything …

Because Kara… Kara couldn't stand to be near her for longer than it took to say hello, accept the present and then disappear off.

Lena hadn’t expected to be with Kara for all of the party; it was Kara's party and loads of her friends were in attendance, all of whom wanted to spend it with Kara. Who wouldn't?

It's just… Lena…

Lena didn't have anyone else.

It was made abundantly clear to Lena within the first thirty seconds that she was not welcome. Alex gave her a gruff nod from across the room before turning her back to her - she still didn't trust her and Lena had prioritised winning Kara back over the last few months above everything else. Brainy and Nia smiled at her but they were deep in conversation with CatCo employees all of whom were practically snarling at Lena (clearly not Luthor fans). James was here as well and dear God did he give her such a blazing look of hatred Lena was surprised she didn't burst into flames under its ferocity. (They hadn’t dated in this rewritten universe, much to Lena’s pleasure, though his original dislike for her was clearly a mainstay of every universe).

So… Lena grabbed a drink and stood in the corner as Kara moved seamlessly between her various groups of friends and colleagues, never once sparing Lena even a glance. The majority of her movements were accompanied by William Dey, who repeatedly tried to sling an arm around Kara's shoulder - the only joy Lena got from the evening was watching Kara repeatedly squirm out from under his touch.

She held out for two hours, sipping three beers and glancing intermittently at her phone as she stayed in her corner, hoping that Kara would come over for just five minutes.

Five minutes with Kara wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

Five mere minutes with Kara would have made the whole night worth it, made the glares and malevolent whispers sent her way worth it.

It was at the two hour mark that Lena accepted the truth.

Kara wasn't going to come over to talk to her.

Kara hadn't been pulling away from her due to a sudden realisation of feelings and attraction.

Kara hadn't expected her to accept the invite. Hadn't wanted her to accept.

Kara was ashamed of her, that was why she pulled away, why she didn't acknowledge her.

Lena couldn't really blame her but that didn't mean she had to stay and take it. So gathering what was left of her dignity, she shuffled towards the door, caught Kara's eye, waved and slipped outside… though, not before retrieving the present she had brought for Kara… it would have revealed far too much and Lena didn't need to deal with that on top of everything else.

Lena returned to her office for no other reason that she still had some good liquor stored there - Kara had encouraged her a couple of months ago to cut back on her drinking and she couldn’t deny the baby blue puppy dog eyes. She staggered into her office, chucking the present she had spent hours creating onto the sofa - she would buy Kara some random meaningless gift like a nice scarf or jumper tomorrow instead - and poured herself a full tumbler before flipping open her laptop and getting to work. She lost herself in designs and business plans as she made her way through the bottle.

She used to sit and brood when she drank but Sam had made her promise she wouldn’t do that anymore, hazel eyes filled with concern at where Lena’s mind wandered when unoccupied and fuelled by alcohol. Whilst Lena was in a pretty bleak space, she refused to hurt her last (and only) friend by breaking the one promise she had made to her.

It must have been two am when Lena heard a familiar thud from the balcony followed by a gentle knock that could only belong to one person.

“Kara, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Lena called out, not bothering to lift her gaze away from her laptop screen - she wasn't sure whether the sight of Kara would evoke tears or fury and she wished to give Kara neither.

“Hey… I just wanted… I was…" Kara stammered out; Lena didn't need to see her to know that she was fidgeting with the edge of her cape as she tiptoed nervously closer. "You know… flying around and saw the light on and figured I would check in on you, see how you were doing…”

“I’m fine. Just working.” Lena replied brusquely taking a sip of her whiskey.

“And drinking…” Kara muttered, her tone more worried than disapproving but Lena took offense regardless.

“Yes. It’s a Saturday night, cut me some slack.” Lena snapped back, defiantly swallowing what was left in her glass before slamming it down onto her desk.

The loud clack as it connected with the surface was followed by a heavy, almost suffocating silence.

“You left early.” Kara whispered into the unnatural stillness, shattering the fraudulent focus Lena had on her computer screen with those three words. Kara didn't sound confused or upset, just painfully neutral as if to emotionally step back from the situation so that she could garner some emotional truth from the CEO instead.

Well, Lena was done with that, done with giving more of herself than Kara wanted so she took a deep, calming breath and allowed her painstakingly crafted mask to slip into place.

“I wasn’t the first to leave.” Lena pointed out calmly, finally turning to look at Kara, certain she could keep her voice and face blank. It was then that she saw how… small Kara looked, which was never a word Lena would have used to describe Kara in full Supergirl regalia in the entire time she had known her. Kara looked defeated and lost, a tremble to her lip and very being that she tried to hide behind a shy smile.

“Well… I didn’t get a chance to talk to you…” Kara replied, ducking her head meekly as she admitted. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Lena pursed her lips at that, “I was there for over two hours, Kara. You could have come over whenever you wanted. It wasn’t like I was occupied.”

“Yeah… what was that about?” Kara laughed, rubbing the back of her neck, trying far too hard to make her tone light as if even the idea of Lena being without company was an entirely absurd concept.

The high-pitch to Kara's laugh and the unfamiliar tension around her eyes revealed to Lena that Kara knew exactly why Lena had been standing all alone that evening.

“I’m a Luthor, Kara." Lena replied sharply, not interested in trying to smooth over the harsh truths like Kara was always so keen to do when it suited her. "No one wanted me there and they all made that very clear.”

“I wanted you there.” Kara replied so soft and earnest that Lena nearly believed her.

“I highly doubt that.” Lena scoffed derisively.

“I did.” Kara insisted, eyes desperate and pleading.

Lena merely shook her head, turning back to face her computer, “If you say so…”

“Lena, I-”

“Kara… I can’t…” Lena muttered, her voice cracking in the exact way she didn’t want it to. “I can’t do this. Just leave me alone.” Lena requested, hating how it verged on begging.

“What?” Kara murmured in shock.

“I can’t just… pretend that I’m not hurt or upset.” Lena confessed, fingers curling into fists on her desk, eyes slamming shut to lock in the tears. “I just need… time to get over it and accept what we are. So until then… please just leave me alone.”

“I hurt you.” Kara repeated, her voice broken and raw .

“Kara, I didn’t…” Lena shook her head angrily, she didn’t want to do this, didn’t want to inflict herself on Kara who had tried so hard to be her friend. “It's your birthday, Kara.” Lena sighed sadly, “You get to spend it anyway you like with whomever you like.”

“I wanted to spend it with you.” Kara breathed, and Lena could hear the sharp inhales between each word that revealed that Kara was crying.

“Kara, you don’t need to…” Lena assured, with a wave of her hand, eyes focused on her lap, “let’s just leave it, okay?”

“No…” Kara gasped, and suddenly Lena felt a trembling hand connect with her own tightly curled fists, “wait… what did you mean ‘get over it’ and ‘accept what we are’?”

Lena sucked in a sharp breath at the question, biting down harshly on her bottom lip.

“Lena?” Kara pressed.

“Fuck it, fine.” Lena snapped, yanking her hands away from Kara’s infinitely soft touch and shoving herself out of her chair before storming away from Kara, desperate for space. “I thought you liked me.”

“I do-” Kara began, taking a tentative step after her.

“No, Kara.” Lena yelled, spinning back to face Kara, with a twisted snarl of total self-loathing. “Liked me.” Lena stressed, before throwing her hands up into the air as it all just boiled out of her, “God, I sound like a teenager. I thought you liked me. I thought you were touching me less because you were attracted to me. But then… I go to your party and you don’t… it was like you were ashamed of me, I sat in that fucking corner for two hours as everyone wished - out loud, I should say - that I would go. I sat in that fucking corner in the hope that you would speak to me for five minutes. For just five minutes. Because that… that would have made it all worth it. But you could barely look at me. And I realised you didn’t - don’t - like me… you’re ashamed of me, but you’re too kind to abandon me. Too noble and generous but even you have your limits. Of course, you didn’t want to spend your birthday talking to me. Of course you didn’t.”

Lena wanted to punch a wall, wanted to down the rest of her whiskey, wanted to do literally anything than be here in this moment watching the horror-struck expression on Kara’s face grow and grow with every word, watch Kara’s body tremble and shake with each harsh sweeping gesture.

“Lena, no… you…” Kara sobbed, striding towards her with fingers twitching at her sides, “you have got the complete wrong end of the stick. Actually, you’re right but also really wrong. And…” Kara swiped aggressively at the tears rolling down her cheeks as she approached Lena, stopping when the raven-haired woman flinched at their sudden closeness. “I screwed up but-”

“No. You don’t need to do this.” Lena cut in, holding a hand up to stop Kara, wanting Kara to know that her guilt was unnecessary and that she could finally be free of Lena.

“Lena, I’m so-”

“You don’t need to apologise.” Lena insisted, taking a deep breath to rein back in her swirl of her emotions. She could do this. She could let Kara go. “You were trying to be kind but you shouldn’t… god, if I make you that miserable, that uncomfortable, you shouldn’t have to force yourself to interact with me.”

“LENA!” Kara bellowed, stamping her foot to the ground and lifting her chin to reveal a determined expression.

Lena blinked in shock at the sudden volume and intensity; falling obediently quiet.

Kara placed her hands on her hips, took a deep breath, looked Lena straight in the eye with earnest, beseeching blue and declared, “I want to kiss you right now because that would be the big sweeping action that would prove to you that I mean what I’m about to say next but… you’ve been drinking… heavily from the looks of things.” Kara shot a displeased pout at the nearly empty bottle of whiskey as if it was all the bottle’s fault for Lena’s current state of inebriation and not the youngest Luthor’s unhealthy coping mechanisms. Kara turned back to face a stunned Lena, with a fond smile, “And I really want our first kiss to be one you remember and one you can fully consent to. So, you’re just going to have to believe me… please, please believe me when I say… I’m in love with you and I fucked up massively tonight. Really, really fucked up.”

“You never swear.” Lena murmured quietly, and it probably wasn’t what she should have been focusing on but her brain was currently stuck like a record scratch unable to fully comprehend what Kara had just told her; and the swear was just the cherry on top of an entire sundae of confusing and out-of-the-blue revelations.

“Which shows how much I believe that I fucked up.” Kara replied with a helpless shrug.

“But-”

“You were the only person I wanted to spend my birthday with.” Kara confessed, “Well, Alex at some point as well. But you mostly. Alex planned the party and I couldn’t…” Kara huffed out a frustrated breath and rolled her eyes, “she did this whole thing and I didn’t want to turn around and say I didn’t want it. That all I really wanted was a quiet night watching films with you because…” Kara sighed, “because then she’d know… To make it more bearable I invited you but there were so many other people, and I will be honest… I don’t even like half of them. Alex, just invited everyone I was friends on facebook with which is not a good barometer of friendship.”

Lena cleared her throat, none of it making sense, “Then why-”

“Did I ignore you?” Kara guessed with a painful wince.

“Yeah…” Lena muttered, wrapping her arms protectively around herself.

“Because… because I knew, or at least I thought I knew, that you hadn’t noticed how I felt about you.” Kara explained inching just that little bit closer towards Lena, attempting to bring them within touching distance of one another. “And I knew it was only a miracle that you hadn’t until now because…” Kara smiled a lopsided, rueful and self-deprecating smile, “Lena, I am not subtle. Not at all. And I knew… I knew if I interacted with you at the party… everyone else would be able to tell in an instant how I felt.”

Lena exhaled slow and deep, arms tightening their hold around herself, “And you didn’t want them knowing you liked me?”

“Love. Not like.” Kara corrected, patient yet firm, “Love. And no, I didn’t.”

Lena nodded once in understanding, letting out a hollow laugh, “I get it. I wouldn’t want anyone to know I loved me either.”

“Lena… no… no… you…” Kara rushed to explain, finally stepping close enough to reach out and place her hands gently on Lena’s curled biceps. Lena couldn’t help how she instinctively shifted closer, wanting to increase contact with Kara after being denied it for so long. “I didn’t want anyone knowing before you.” Kara admitted.

And that… that snapped something back into place for Lena.

Made the doubts screaming inside her head quieten down just enough to think… maybe…

Because… it was being last that had broken them the first time. Being the only one not to know and now…

“I didn’t want Stacy, who used to cheat off me in exams in college to know how I felt about you before you did.” Kara said, thumbs moving back and forth against the bare skin of Lena’s arms causing a swathe of goosebumps to rise like a wave in the wake of Kara’s every touch. “They didn’t deserve that. They didn’t deserve…” Kara’s jaw clenched, eyes darkening as she studied Lena’s face, “I was trying to protect you from them. They said horrible things about you and you should know, the minute after you left, I kicked everyone who so much as looked at you funny out. It was just me, Nia, Brainy and Kelly left… Alex, as well, but we had a rather heated argument before she was allowed to stay.” Kara bowed her head in shame, “I should have kicked them all out immediately but-”

“Then they would have known.” Lena finished for her.

“I had this whole thing planned.” Kara breathed out, her hands gradually shifting away from Lena’s arms around to her back, surrounding Lena in a loose hold, Kara’s eyes flickering over Lena’s face and body rapidly searching for even the slightest sign that Lena was uncomfortable with their contact. “Once everyone left, I had set-up the roof with lights and cushions and… I was going to tell you how I felt. I just had to make it through the birthday party from hell and I was trying so hard to keep to the plan. To not spoil it. To keep it a secret so that it could just be ours but... I…” Kara’s eyes slid shut and she inhaled a shuddering breath filled with pain. “I hurt you. And there is nothing I can say to make you forgive me, but I do… I do love you so much. And I will never, ever be ashamed of you.” Kara blinked her eyes back open and leaned forward to place a kiss on Lena’s forehead. “I just wanted it to be ours and not theirs. I didn’t want to share. You’re the only thing in my life that… I didn’t want to share.”

“Open your present.” Lena demanded, stepping out of Kara’s loving embrace.

“Lena-” Kara whimpered, pained at the sudden loss of closeness.

“Open your present, Kara.” Lena repeated, jerking her chin towards the sofa where the roughly wrapped present lay.

“I… okay…” Kara replied, watching Lena closely as she tried to make sense of Lena’s clear request. Kara walked cautiously over to the couch, picking up the gift with gentle hands. “Did you wrap it yourself?” Kara asked, her entire expression brightening as she stared down at the crooked, over sellotaped wrapping.

Lena harrumphed at the question, pursing her lips.

“You did, didn’t you?” Kara teased.

“The present isn’t the piss poor wrapping.” Lena replied with an exaggerated roll of her eyes that had the corners of Kara’s lips quirking even further upwards.

“Lena Luthor wrapped my present herself…", Kara whistled in awe, blue eyes twinkling with true delight for the first time that day, "what better gift is there?”

“Open it and you might find one.” Lena said, heart leaping into her throat as Kara’s deft fingers found a line of wrapping paper she could tuck them under.

The sound of paper ripping was deafening in the stillness; all Lena could do was watch and wait.

The paper fell away leaving behind a small black box, Kara shot Lena a hesitant look and it wasn’t until Lena nodded for her to continue that Kara clicked it open.

There was a pause.

A heavy, endless pause in which Lena couldn’t bring herself to even breathe.

“What is-” Kara began before cutting off immediately as she lifted up the beautiful bracelet made of nth metal and inscribed with ‘stronger together’ in Lena’s own cursive handwriting in both english and kryptonian.

The bracelet shined under the lights in Lena’s office, but in Lena’s opinion, Kara’s eyes shined impossibly brighter.  

“You’re in love with me.” Kara whispered, seeing the present for everything Lena had hoped it would convey.

“Yes.” Lena confirmed because there was no hiding it now.

With trembling fingers Kara clasped the bracelet onto her wrist, long fingers tracing the words delicately inscribed with no small amount of wonder. Finally, she turned around and stared at Lena with so much sheer love that the youngest Luthor felt overwhelmed and like her heart might burst right out of her chest in its desire to be in Kara’s possession

Clearing her throat and clasping her hands behind her back, Lena gathered her courage and asked, “If I promise you I’ll remember it and that I am fully consenting… will you kiss me now?”

Kara was in front of her in the literal blink of the eye, hands reaching out to cup Lena’s cheeks as Lena’s hands moved to rest on Kara’s hips gently encouraging their bodies closer with a light tug.

“There is nothing I want more.” Kara assured with the widest grin that Lena had ever seen and couldn’t help but return.

Their first kiss could barely count as a kiss.

Their smiles were too wide to allow for it, but Lena wouldn’t change it even slightly. They pressed their smiles against one another, teeth knocking together and noses brushing.

It may not have been a successful kiss but it was tender and filled with so much joy that Lena wouldn’t describe it as anything less than perfect.  

Their second kiss was an actual kiss, lips slotting together, tongues seeking each other out and teeth tugging whimpers and moans from one another in an endless cycle.

Their second kiss turned into a third, a fourth, a fifth.

They kissed until the sun rose.

Kissed until their lips ached and any remaining doubts Lena may have had were pushed back into the shadows by the light of Kara’s smile and blue eyes.

[oreoambitions]

46 for agentreign please

Anon I'm sorry this took me a thousand years, but here you go. This gets wildly NSFW after the cut. Enjoy!

/// The first time it happens, Alex figures it's a fluke.

There are, after all, extenuating circumstances. She's not sure how many glasses of wine she's had because every time she turns around Sam has topped her off again, and maybe she should stop indulging but the wine is good and the company is better and this is the first day off off she's had for so long that it's hard not to let go a little. Kara's been keeping the showtunes coming all afternoon, a little louder than her old bluetooth speaker can really handle but it doesn't matter because Spotify is really just an excuse for Kara and Sam to sing at the top of their lungs. Alex is not participating, but she is appreciating. Appreciating because it's nice to see her sister laugh and smile like maybe things are getting better and maybe things are going to be okay. And also appreciating because, well, Sam. It's hard not to appreciate anything and everything Sam.

The activity of the afternoon is ostensibly the production of baked goods for a fundraiser related to Ruby's soccer team. Alex says 'ostensibly' because the reality is that it's been more than three hours and they haven't gotten the first batch of cookies into the oven yet. There's flour all over the floor, and she's pretty sure Kara got butter stuck to ceiling before Sam took the mixer away, but sometimes that's just the cost of a slightly raucous afternoon well spent, isn't it? And they'll have it all done in time anyway. In fact, Sam is just now finishing up the first batch of cookie dough in the confiscated kitchen aid when Alex, perhaps inebriated or perhaps just feeling emboldened by the domestic comfort of the whole affair, lunges for the beater.

This, it turns out, is either a mistake or the best decision she's ever made in her life. Her hand does contact the beater. She does come within a few seconds of pure raw cookie dough bliss. But Sam is faster, and in a flash Alex finds herself pinned between the counter and Sam's hips, one wrist wrapped up in Sam's fingers, the beater now soundly out of reach in Sam's other hand.

"Mine," Sam growls, but her eyes have dropped to Alex's mouth and for one disorienting moment Alex thinks she might be about to kiss her, thinks maybe the word 'mine' has nothing to do with the beater at all, that maybe they've crossed into some alternate dimension where there's a future for her and Sam that doesn't involve a lot of politely smiling and politely never mentioning one another's romantic entanglements or the absence thereof.

And the thing is, Alex thinks to herself, contemplating the heat of Sam's gaze and the fact that she literally cannot move beneath Sam's hips, this is... attractive. This is very attractive, in an immediate and throbbing sort of way that would be frankly embarrassing approximately half a glass of wine earlier in the afternoon. But that can't be right, because Alex doesn't like to be pushed around. Alex is the one who does the pushing. Isn't she? Sam's grip tightens around her wrist and Alex's lips part of their own accord and-

"Oh for heaven's sake," Kara says, snatching the beater out of Sam's hand. "It's mine, because you two are both being ridiculous." She rolls her eyes. "I hate being the only adult in the room."

It was a fluke. That's what Alex thinks to herself later that night when she wakes with a start from a just-dozing-off dream featuring the immovable nature of Sam's hips. They were drinking and it was a long afternoon and everyone was a little wound up and a little giddy and Alex has been single for a long time. That's it. That's all it was. That's all it has to be.

///

It's harder to write it off as a fluke the second time, but she manages.

James is in town and so it's game night. Not their monthly game night as scheduled, but an extra at-the-last-second game night, and Alex is on call. Which is fine. She can count on her fingers the number of times she's had to handle something in the middle of the night while on call for the DEO, and she's not particularly worried. But it's a problem because she can't be drinking, which means she's sober when Sam corners her in the kitchen.

It's been a long night. Not in a bad way. Just in the sense that things have been a little more risque than usual, what with Nia falling over herself trying to make it clear to Brainy that she'd like to sleep with him without actually making it clear, and Lena shooting those long smoldering looks at a characteristically oblivious Kara, and then there's Sam. Alex can't stop looking at Sam in that shirt where it sits a little too tight across the shoulders, can't stop tracing the line of that necklace to the place where it disappears just below her collar, can't stop following the meaningless movement of her fingers as she absently fiddles with a beer that wouldn't have an effect on her even if she drank the whole case. She wonders idly if it's for the aesthetic or if Sam just likes the taste of a craft IPA.

The trouble is that every time Alex catches herself looking at Sam, she also catches Sam looking at her. And so, upon dragging her eyes up once more from Sam's fingers to find Sam staring back at her, eyes dark and expression unreadable, Alex decides it's time for a drink after all. One beer won't hurt, even if the world decides to consider coming to an abrupt conclusion in the next hour or so and it turns out to be her responsibility. It's just that her mouth is suddenly dry, and the room is suddenly too loud, and she needs something to roll between her fingers the way Sam is rolling that IPA back and forth and back and forth and- Yeah. Just one beer will be fine.

She slips into the kitchen while Nia is yelling about how they should all do a TikTok together. It's quieter here, and a cool breeze through the window over the sink raises goosebumps across her arms. She pops the fridge open, pulls a beer at random, leans up against the counter. Maybe she doesn't want a drink after all. Maybe she just needs a minute.

"Aren't you on call, Ms. Danvers?"

Sam. Alex pouts. "What are you, the party police?"

Sam steps up close, takes the beer from Alex without so much as looking at it. "Aren't you the alien invader police?"

That's a dumb line and it doesn't remotely reflect Alex's actual job description, but she laughs anyway. "It's just one beer. Like 4%. I can handle it."

"I know," Sam murmurs.

Alex thinks she's forgotten how to breathe. Sam's eyes are on her mouth and those hips are pressing into her again and when Sam slips one arm around her waist and one hand into her hair a sound comes out of her that might have been a whimper. There's an inevitability to the way Sam leans in, to the way Alex's lips part as Sam tilts her head back with a firm tug. There's a moment of hesitation, a lingering, an opportunity to say no. Instead, Alex whispers, "Please."

Sam obliges. She kisses her slow, languid almost, holds her firm against the counter as she licks into her mouth and Alex is thinking that maybe she's going to come right here just letting Sam kiss her like this when Sam presses a thigh between her legs and she gasps, grinds down hard without meaning to.

Sam chuckles into her mouth, drags one hand around to her throat, traces feather light kisses along her jaw, tugs on her earlobe with her teeth. "Good girl," she whispers.

Alex isn't sure if it's the heat of Sam's breath, or the praise, or the way she's been casually immobilized, but she shudders, and Sam chuckles again, lips against her ear, and that only makes it worse.

"Fuck," Sam says. "If I had my strap with me I'd rail you right here."

Alex is pretty sure that would kill her. She's pretty sure just the thought of it is going to kill her. Just the pad of Sam's thumb dragging across her throat as she kisses her again, just the roll of those hips, that thigh pressing hard into her, that deep ache coiling tighter as Sam pulls back just far enough to meet her eyes and-

"Hey, Nia wants- Oh!" Lena stops short just inside the kitchen door. "I'll just." She plucks a bottle of wine from the counter. "Take this and tell her that you've uhm. That you're busy."

"We'll be right there," Sam says. She straightens Alex's shirt with a tug and a smirk. "Wouldn't want to miss the TikTok dance."

"Nope," Alex chokes out. "Wouldn't want to miss that."

It's a fluke. Alex takes a long shower when she gets home, and she takes care of the lingering ache that's now outlived not one but two TikTok dances, and she thinks about texting Sam. She falls asleep with her phone in her hand and if she has dreams about a tall, handsome, strong woman railing her against a kitchen counter, well. That happens sometimes. Could happen to anyone. Doesn't mean anything except that Alex has been single for probably too long . She downloads Hinge in the morning and considers explicitly mentioning in her bio that she's the one who wears the strap.

///

The Hinge profile lasts about three days. Alex scrolls through a ridiculous number of women, all of whom are... fine, before she comes to the conclusion that the problem is that none of them are Sam. She's sitting on this stupid app pedaling her stupid profile and all she wants is the woman whose attention prompted her to download a dating app in the first place. And she can't want Sam because it would never work. They're fundamentally incompatible. This bedroom ain't big enough for two tops. It's not going to happen.

But the words if I had my strap with me I'd rail you right here are as stuck in Alex's head as that Lady Gaga song Brainy won't stop playing over the speakers at the DEO. She can't stop thinking about it. Picturing it, even. Dreaming about it when her mind should be anywhere else, on anything else. And she'd just avoid Sam, just look the other way until her hormones sort themselves out, except that Sam is virtually impossible to avoid.

Kara doesn't make it any easier when she calls on Friday night to ask her about a movie night at Sam's apartment.

"Ruby's on a school trip, so it'll be just the four of us," Kara says over the phone. "I'll bring snacks, and we can order whatever you want for dinner. Please? Lena's never seen Star Wars; we have to do something."

Alex doesn't know how to say no. No, I won't come to what feels suspiciously like a double date movie night at Sam's apartment, because Sam's strap is at Sam's apartment, and I'm not sure that she isn't going to try to fuck me on the bathroom floor, and furthermore, I'm not sure that I don't want her to. Instead she says, "Any Star Wars? That's a crime. Which movie are we starting with?"

It's probably a safe bet anyway. Kara and Lena will be there the whole time; Alex and Sam will never be alone. All Alex has to do is make sure that she leaves when everyone else does and they can avoid the awkwardness altogether, and no that is definitely not anticipation she's feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she certainly does not spend an extra half an hour in bed on Saturday morning keeping herself busy with the thought of offering to stay and help clean up, of finding herself pinned against the refrigerator door while Sam takes her from behind. That absolutely does not happen because that would be ridiculous, undignified, untoplike behavior.

Alex is certainly feeling ridiculous, undignified, and untoplike standing outside Sam's door that evening, anxiously smoothing out her shirt with one hand, a case of that IPA from game night in the other. She's arrived a carefully calculated fifteen minutes late just to be absolutely sure Kara and Lena will get here first, but she didn't spot Kara's car outside, and so she isn't particularly surprised when Sam opens the door with a warm smile and welcomes her into an empty apartment.

"Kara and Lena?" she asks as Sam takes the proffered beer.

"Lena got held up at the office," Sam replies, already disappearing into the kitchen. "They're running late. An hour or so. Told them we'd wait. Do you prefer an IPA or a lager? I don't have any stouts in the fridge right now. Might be a decent sour in here somewhere."

Alex lingers in the entryway, that not-anticipation feeling thrumming through her veins. She could follow Sam to the kitchen. Kitchens do seem to be their Thing. But Sam returns with two lagers, her question unanswered, and nods her head towards the living room.

Well, now they're alone together after all and Alex is feeling awkward. She settles onto one end of the couch and tries not to read into it when Sam deposits the lagers on the coffee table and settles in next to her, legs folded under her, almost too close, instead of occupying the perfectly good cushion on the other end.

"Sam," Alex tries. They should talk about this. "We should talk about this."

"Hmm." A hint of a smirk flickers across soft lips before Sam schools her expression. "Talk about what, exactly?"

If Alex had bothered to rehearse this conversation in her mind, she still wouldn't have imagined it going this way. Her eyes drop to Sam's mouth and then she struggles to look elsewhere. The records on the shelf under the window. The blank television screen.

"I-" she starts, but the words don't want to come out. The lager on the coffee table. She doesn't reach for it. "I can't stop thinking about game night," she forces out, and then she looks back up at Sam to gauge her reaction.

Sam is smirking openly now, a hint of laughter in her eyes. She reaches out to tangle long fingers in the hair at Alex's nape, the same grip she used to pull her into a kiss just last week, and Alex's arousal is embarrassingly immediate. "Really?" Sam asks. "Game night, huh? You want to know what I can't stop thinking about?"

It's Alex's gaze that drops first, to Sam's mouth again, and this time she can't look away. "What?"

"Tonight," Sam replies, close enough that Alex's eyes flutter closed, close enough that she can almost feel Sam's answer on her lips. There's probably a coy response for this somewhere in the lesbian handbook but Alex is reaching and coming up empty. She presses a soft kiss to Sam's mouth instead and feels that anticipation - there's no denying now that it's anticipation - thrum again when Sam's tongue immediately presses into her, hot and demanding.

"What's so special about tonight," Alex mumbles as Sam kisses along her jaw to her neck.

"Mmm." Sam nips hard against Alex's pulse point, smiles into her skin when she gasps. "Well, that depends."

"On what?"

"Take your shirt off."

Alex hesitates. That isn't remotely the answer to her question, but now Sam is sucking on her neck and her capacity for rational thought is rapidly diminishing. She fumbles with the first shirt button, fingers trembling, and then the second. Three undone is enough for Sam to pull the offending garment over her head. The sports bra follows, and then Sam is tugging on Alex's hips to reposition her so that she's lying back on the couch, and Alex suddenly understands what everyone finds so attractive about kryptonians, because it's effortless the way Sam moves her. She has about a half second to be transfixed by the abs peeking out from under Sam's own blouse before Sam is kissing down her collarbone and over her breast, chuckling when Alex's hips jerk underneath her.

"You know," Sam says, "I was expecting more of a fight out of Alex But-I'm-A-Top Danvers."

Alex opens her mouth to let out a retort but Sam's tongue is working a circle around her nipple and rational thought is once again threatening to fail. "Is that what you want?" She manages, struggling to sit up. "You want a fight?"

"No." Sam pushes her back again, pins her arms over her head with one hand, brushes the fingers of the other across her ribs, frowns. "No, I like you better like this."

Alex flushes and has to remind herself not to squirm, not to look away as Sam studies her in silence, drops kisses across her shoulders, traces the lines of her hip and the inside of her thigh. And then Sam reaches under the couch for a box, the implications of which are momentarily as immobilizing as the hand still holding Alex's wrists down, because Sam planned for this, planned far enough in advance to stash supplies where they might be convenient.

Alex swallows hard when Sam's pants exit the scenario, and Sam's eyes flicker over her face as she opens the box.

"How do you feel about being strapped on the couch?" she asks.

It's such a blunt question that Alex flushes again. "Uhm. Okay?"

Sam stops with her harness halfway out. "Just okay? I'm gonna need a clear yes or-"

"Yes. God. Yes please," Alex says, flushing an even darker shade. She's going to let... this... happen, but she's not going to beg. Christ. Consent granted; please let's move on before things get awkward. Sam chuckles a little at her discomfort and presses a kiss to her brow.

"Okay. But if you want me to stop you just say the word."

Alex nods, not trusting herself to speak, eyeing Sam's fingers where they're tightening the harness. And then all at once she blurts out, "Kara and Lena could be here at any moment," which she hadn't realized might be a concern until it came out of her mouth but now she can't stop thinking about it, and how embarrassing that would be, and Kara can see through walls for heaven's sake, and-

Sam chuckles. "Baby," she says, sliding herself between Alex's legs, "You're not going to last long enough to be worried about that."

Sam is embarrassingly, excruciatingly not wrong. By the time the strap is working into her Alex is pretty sure she's wound tighter than she's ever been, and she'd crack some kind of joke about how it's clearly been too long since she's had anyone inside of her but this is really not the time. Sam is pressing inexorably deeper and it's all she can do to hold her breath because otherwise she's going to come altogether undone before they've even gotten started.

Sam gives her a moment when she's all inside, waits for Alex to exhale, waits for her nod before she starts to rock her hips, and the drag of the strap is so intense that Alex loses her breath and her self control in the same instant with a groan that only deepens Sam's smirk. Alex is kind of wishing Sam would give her back the use of her hands, but that's not in the cards. She squirms instead, hips bucking of their own accord, head thrown back hard against the cushion of the couch.

"Thought about this every night," Sam murmurs, and Alex thinks she'll say since game night but she says, "Since the day I met you," which is almost as mindblowing as the pleasure somehow, incredibly, continuing to build between Alex's hips. "Thought about how good you'd be under me."

Alex shivers at that and then comes, bucking hard into Sam to take as much of the strap as she can, half aware of Sam whispering something in her ear that might have been what a good girl you are if Alex had been cognizant enough to comprehend it. She comes back down to soft kisses across her face, and when Sam lets go of her wrists she wraps her arms around her and tries to remember how to breathe, how to pull all the pieces of herself back together, how to be a competent and capable, dignified and toplike partner.

Alex runs a hand absently through Sam's hair and hums. "Do you want me to return the favor?" she asks. She doesn't have a strap with her but, well, it's not like that was ever the best trick up her sleeve anyway. She opens her mouth to make a quip about how a good top is always prepared but Sam reaches out and casually tips an untouched lager onto her discarded shirt.

Alex splutters.

"Too late," Sam says brightly. "You'll have to ask me after dinner. Lena and Kara are here."

"Lena and Kara are what-"

And there's the knock at the door. The door not ten paces from where Alex is lying in a state of naked disarray on the couch where they are supposed to be watching Star Wars. There is a moment of absolute stillness before Alex begins to scramble for her clothes.

"Bedroom is the second door on the left," Sam says, sneaking in a last kiss while Alex reaches for the underpants peeking out from under the coffee table. "Clean shirts in closet. Do pick something nice; I've been dying to see you in my clothes."

Alex scurries down the hall in her socks quietly cursing and thanking every star in the sky. It's going to be a long night. If she's lucky.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Yay prompt party!! (: Post S5, Lena goes to visit Sam (more like Sam persuades her to visit them after one phone call detailing all the horrible things that have happened, and by persuade I mean threaten) in Metropolis, and at Sam's front door is immediately engulfed in the biggest, warmest hug EVER. Sam convinces her to leave NC, even if just for a while, to heal herself. She stays with them, they've missed each other, and even Ruby can see those fond gazes!! Reigncorp endgame!! Ruby ships it!!

It starts with a smile, and then the warmest hug Lena can ever remember receiving-- Kara's included. The multitude of bodies helps: Ruby somehow slots perfectly into an embrace of three, her arms just as bracing as her mother's.

Lena doesn't know if Sam heard something in her voice that last phone call they'd shared. It had been a routine check in that had somehow ended in an invite to visit. Perhaps it had been the readiness with which Lena accepted that gave Sam cause to worry, and resulted in the length of their welcoming hug.

"I've missed you," Ruby mutters into Lena's ribs.

Or maybe she simply had people who missed her when she was gone.

---

The evening ends with a dark television screen with Ruby asleep in her lap on one side, and Sam's fingers tangled with hers on the other. Lena lingers in a comfortable place between sleeping and waking, feeling floaty yet aware of the gentle fingers combing through her hair.

"What happened?" Sam asks, so softly Lena almost misses it.

The flash of hurt that follows zaps Lena out of her weightless euphoria and slams her back into a body filled with anguish.

"Shit." Of course Sam notices the change. Lena's not as good at pretending as she used to be. "I'm sorry..."

"It's fine. Well-- it's not." It feels good to confess it, even if it's not to the one she wants to say it to. Her world is only just tumbling back on its axis, but Lena feels relief to give voice to the truth of what she hid from Kara.

Maybe it would have hurt Kara more if she'd withheld her forgiveness rather than--

No. She doesn't want to hurt anyone. Not anymore.

"You know you can talk to me, right?"

Lena closes her eyes. "No. I can't."

Not about this. Not when her own failures-- failures of morality and her very identity-- stab deeper than any of Kara's secrets, any of her rebuffs. She couldn't stand for Sam to know the truth of her.

Silence envelops them in the dark, as warm and soft as a blanket. Shame gnaws at Lena; she doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to have warmth and love when she had been so willing to--

"Stop it."

Blinking, Lena turns towards Sam. "Stop what?"

Sam gazes back at her. "You know what."

Lena doesn't know if Sam is entirely certain what's going through her brain, or if she's just reacting to the tension that's creeped back into her shoulders and spine. Either way, the scold is effective enough and no less true for not knowing. Lena knows.

"Yeah."

"Why don't you stay?"

"Sam..."

"I'm not talking forever," Sam says, hunching to set her chin on Lena's shoulder. "Just a few weeks to R&R. You know you can stay with us as long as you like."

Lena hesitates.

"If you think I can't handle your workload for a few weeks then I have some big news for you about what happened the year you went off to play media mogul, missy."

What little resolve Lena has cracks. Her back relaxes, and she lets her head rest against her friend's.

"Okay. I'll stay."

---

Lena's vacation comes with pancakes and a squeal from Ruby. School's out for summer vacation, so while Sam picks up the slack at LuthorCorp (even the very name grates on Lena's nerves, like part of herself erodes away with every logo and ad she sees), Lena loses herself in the city with Ruby. Musicals and museums and festivals mark their days, even a hike that leaves Lena embarrassingly winded and yet more invigorated than even the strictest of yoga classes.

She only turns her cell off when Kara starts texting her: first one here, another there, but soon ratcheting up to notes that read like a diary.

It goes from tentative check-ins, to news, to notes that feel like Kara's emotions are bubbling up and out through her fingers.

It should feel weird texting you like this so soon, reads one. But this is the most normal I've felt in a long time.

Kara might feel normal, but Lena feels foreign. So she turns her phone off entirely and refocuses on Ruby, and on Sam when her friend returns home from a long day at work. She helps Ruby with a thousand piece puzzle, and piece that clicks into place grounds her to reality in a way nothing has since the anti-matter wave hit, as though each one pulls a molecule back into place.

Sam gathers more of those molecules together, and molds them into a shape resembling a Lena that Lena recognizes, an echo of who she used to be... when the world was a known entity of empirical fact and the only questions she had turned her gaze outward.

With Sam, she feels not quite whole, but close to it.

With Sam, she can forget she ever stumbled at all.

---

It all ends with an evening spent in the backyard, grilling burgers and hot dogs to pair with pedestrian potato chips and something called ambrosia salad that is neither salad nor ambrosia. The watermelon agrees better with Lena: she munches it as Ruby chows down on the ambrosia, happily taking Lena's portion off her hands.

They eat in relative quiet, none of them really feeling the need to break it. The sun is warm but not too hot on Lena's skin, and it lulls her back to that in between place of nearly dozing.

"You should stay forever."

Lena pries her eyes open, and finds Ruby gazing at her solemnly.

"Rubes..."

"You can't pretend you're not happy here!" Ruby exclaims, voice lifting. "And mom wants you to stay too! Right, mom?"

Expecting Sam to be the voice of reason, Lena is surprised to see her friend give an equivocating shrug.

"I certainly wouldn't object," Sam admits. Her voice is low, and her gaze glimmers with deeper meaning.

It reminds Lena of those early days when they first met, before the company pulled them from each other's orbits.

Lena sighs. "I have responsibilities in National City."

"But you can do those here!"

"No, I can't. There's--"

Finally, Lena feels the burden of knowing Kara's secret. Not just in the risk it carries, but the responsibility it brings. Now that she knows, she can never walk away. Walking away from Supergirl means walking away from hope, from help, from compassion... all the things Lena needs to rebuild in herself.

"I've been trusted with a very special project in National City. I'll be starting as soon as I get back tomorrow."

Ruby senses her battle lost with gracious defeat. Her shoulders slump, but she doesn't issue the blame or angry recourse Lena expects.

"But I could certainly make more time to come visit."

Brightening, Ruby grins. "Yeah?"

Lena smiles. "Yeah."

---

The night ends with Sam's tangling with hers before Lena can go back inside.

"Did you mean it?"

"About visiting? 'Course."

"Ruby has an honors class camping trip next month," Sam informs her. Her fingers gently close on Lena's. "It's been a while since we had time for... just the two of us."

Lena knows Sam doesn't mean girls' night. She means skin on skin and quiet moments like the one they shared Lena's first night here. She means... love.

Slowly, firmly, Lena pulls Sam closer.

She leans in and tilts her head just so to place a simple kiss on Sam's lips.

"Thank you. For everything."

[mybeautifulbeautifuleternal]

i couldn’t utter it, i couldn’t whisper it (my love for you was silent); i

Chapter One - But do we really have to?

rating: its a gen fic for The Umbrella Academy

words:6.7k

chapter:1/10

warnings: nothing atypical for the umbrella academy

AO3

a/n: I blame @sam-writes​ for pretty much all of this!

Summary: In one world, the young teenager hid when she abruptly found herself pregnant and she gave birth in secret, left the baby on a random doorstep, and never looked back. Unfortunately, this isn’t that world. In this world, Reginald Hargreeves finds her and takes her baby. It doesn’t end well.

The young women gasped in pain. Her stomach hurt so much. She didn’t know what was happening and her new husband wasn’t around to help her. She started bleeding and her stomach ballooned outward. She lay back on the bed, her stomach bulging out in a massive dome, while the blood continued to seep out of her. She could do nothing but cry as she felt the urge to push.

Hours later, with an outraged and confused husband in tow, she looked up from her new daughter when she heard the knocking on the door. She had a bad feeling about it.

Only 30 minutes later, the eccentric man left with her daughter. She had just sold her daughter away.

She started to cry again.

*

Charlie sighed as she locked her doors. Another good day on the books. She was glad that Mr. Johnston had stopped by again - she always liked to hear from her regulars and she was glad his mother was doing better from her hip surgery. She had had a small group of young teenagers - Sam, Lena, Jonathan, Rachel, and Georgie - come through today and grab some fruit and camp out in her side room to work on their homework. She had wandered through occasionally offering help but receiving it more often than not. She could now say she knew what the mitochondria was and that apparently it was the powerhouse of the cell. Cause apparently that was a thing.

Thanks, dad for all that stellar education you gave us.

She continued her walk through the downstairs, absentmindedly picking up Knickknack - a stray that she’s pretty sure she can’t actually classify as a stray anymore - to check up on her plants. She was encouraging them to grow bigger, to grow stronger, removing the death within them, giving them nutrients. This was truly the best part of her day. To sink herself into the Green, the living, the growth. To let herself feel the Life thrumming through the plants, through them even deeper into the Earth, and the people, and the animals.

For all the grief that these powers had given her - a father that never loved her, siblings who now hated her, missions that almost destroyed her - she couldn’t bring herself to ever hate them, not the powers, not the Green, themselves.

Not with all the good they gave her, the good she could give to other people because of them.

As she was working, the TV caught her eye. She dropped her watering can.

Billionaire Reginald Hargreeves Dead.

She couldn’t breathe. Was it actually possible that he was dead? She moved closer to the TV, reading the subtitles. She couldn’t contain her grin if she tried - which she didn’t.

Ding dong - the wicked witch was dead.

Charlie was walking. Whenever she had to come in this direction, she walked. She didn’t want to give those men any more power over her than she already had.

Now that Allison and Luther were back in New York, she knew that the funeral was going to happen today. None of them were all that comfortable staying in close quarters for all that long. They’d get the funeral done as quickly as they could so they'd be able to disperse across the country again. She’d say they only see each other for funerals and weddings but Allison was the only one married - to her knowledge anyway - and none of them had been invited to her wedding. So they really only saw each other for funerals, apparently.

And as much as she didn’t want to be back in that house, among siblings that hated her, she did want to see Mom and Pogo again.

Also, she felt if she didn’t go, then she’d always wonder if the bastard was actually dead.

She slowed down when she saw that she was getting closer to the academy. She really didn’t want to get there too early and have to deal with the entire family for longer than she had too. Not anymore.

All too soon, however, she made her way home.

bleh. Too nice of a thought to have for that place.

She crept into the house and made her way into the upstairs library’s balcony. She planned to stay there until the last possible second and they could get the whole farce over with.

Laying in the upstairs library, Charlie had a front-row seat to the comings of her siblings. She had gotten here early (too early honestly) and planted herself in a dark corner then just didn’t move. At all. She had spent her teenage years learning the best way to go unnoticed amongst a group of people that spent their life in the spot life or had the utmost wish to do so. Her? She had no wish for more cameras, more attention, than what was needed.

Luther was the first. He had come down the main stairs soon after she had arrived so Charlie guessed that he was actually staying here and had arrived before she had. Diego stomped in just before lunch and immediately made his way to the kitchen (and Mom, based on what she could smell coming from the kitchen) so she had 3 guesses to what he would spend the day doing but she only needed 1 of them. Allison swanned in just after lunch and she was seen up and down the hallways. Klaus pranced in and went off on a scavenger hunt, so Charlie guessed he was looking for something to pawn for his next hit. Vanya had crept in the middle of the afternoon and Charlie could see that had set off some sparks. Allison seemed to like her presence well enough but Charlie didn’t need her hearing to know that Diego went for the soft spots when they actually interacted.

Luckily her hiding spot was good and she didn’t actually have to interact with any of them yet. She wondered how long it would take them to notice. She wondered if they would. Or if they would even care.

She finally moved from her hidden corner and laid out on a couch so as to announce her presence whenever her siblings deigned to come back to the library.

She made sure she stayed away from the area where she was injured. She wasn’t going to test fate. She also made sure that she could see all the seats in the area well enough. Most of her charade counted on her being able to read lips and guess what was happening.

As she settled down on her chosen chaise, she watched as Vanya wandered in from the atrium. Vanya glanced at her but then proceeded to ignore her as she? apparently searched out and found her book. As Pogo made his way into the room and engaged Vanya in a conversation - one centered on the book and dad’s indifference - Charlie switched her attention to Five’s weird-ass portrait.

Which was just hilarious because like hell Reggie actually cared about any of his child soldiers. Charlie always thought that he had placed that portrait (and eventually, Ben’s statue) to remind them of the ‘failures’ of the family. She didn’t believe for a second that Reggie had actually brought himself to care about any of them let alone the one he couldn’t control or the one he couldn’t stand.

“16 years, 4 months, and 14 days.”

So the subject was Five? She wasn’t really surprised - before he disappeared, Five and Vanya were almost always in each other's pockets. Her siblings had really paired off when they were young - One and Three, Two and Mom, Four and Six, and Five and Seven. She had floated between the pairs whenever she wanted really - she was well-liked between all her siblings. She always thought it was because it was hard to hate the person who kept you fed when Dad was being a dick. Charlie had tried to actually connect with any of her siblings, to form better closer relationships between them - more than what they had actually wanted to have, apparently. And when Five did disappear, she tried to be there for Vanya. She joined her during their scheduled free time, she taught herself some musical terms so she could talk to her about her violin lessons, she reached her hand out again and again. But Vanya didn’t seem all that interested in reaching back. And while she kept trying, Vanya seemed less interested as time went on.

And then her book, Extra-Ordinary, came out and apparently Vanya thought Charlie had been mocking her the entire time. She couldn’t see that Charlie, allegedly the popular sibling, was just trying to be her sister. No - Charlie was just making fun of her for missing her best friend.

*

“Where’s the cash, dad?”

Allison was jerked from her memories of standing here 17 years ago, wanting her dad to finally just acknowledge them for even something as little as a goodnight, by Klaus. She strode over to the ridiculous deck that dominated the room and peered at Klaus pawing through Dad’s drawers.

“Where’s the cash?”

“Klaus? What are you doing in here?”

“Oh! Allison! Wow, is that you?”

Allison could only smile as she looked at Klaus. He was, as always, one of a kind. She knew that he was only trying to get cash for his addiction but she was still charmed by him.

“Hey, come here. Long time. Too long. Hey, I was hoping to see you, actually, because I wanted to get your autograph. Add it to my collection!”

Despite the fact Klaus was mocking dad and the fact that he was dead, Allison was still smiling. She was just glad that she decided to come home. With everything that was happening with Patrick and Claire, she hadn’t been sure it was the right decision but she was enjoying herself. And with everything that was happening in LA, she knew that she wanted to reach out to her family. She wanted to be close to Luther again, her best friend, like when they were kids. She wanted her brothers - the entirety of them, Diego in his weird leather BDSM gear and Klaus with his unique fashion sense and drug habits. She really wanted her sisters back as well. Loving, caring Charlie and sweet, gentle Vanya. Charlie who had tried so hard to love all her siblings. Vanya who just wanted to be seen and known by them. Allison wished she could go back in time to fix things but she couldn't. She was determined to start now, however. It might be 30 years late but she was going to make positive relationships with her siblings if she had to kill them. And really, based on previous experience, she would have too.

“Get out of his chair.”

Allison stiffened slightly as she heard Luther speak from the doorway. This was going to be the first time she saw him since she left at 18. When she turned to look at him, she was surprised to see him. He was so much larger than he was 10 years ago, almost grotesquely so. But he was still very much her best friend.

As Klaus babbled in a panic at being caught, Allison looked Luther over. He was still the towering figure she remembered but his muscles had grown and bulged in weird spots. He also appeared to have ditched the all-black mission uniforms and even those awful Academy uniforms that dad had made them wear all the time. Instead, he was bundled up in a, frankly, ugly turtleneck, a large overcoat, and fingerless gloves. She wondered if this was normal from before the 4 years spent on the moon or if this was something that had happened because of the moon mission.

Klaus dropped his treasures and made his retreat, and Allison had to laugh. She was really glad she was home.

*

Luther was frustrated but not surprised. Of course, Klaus was trying to steal from Dad. Even on the day of his funeral. Pair that with Diego disregarding his thoughts on why Dad was dead - someone took his monocle and it really meant nothing to anyone outside the family, of course that implied something - and he was tired of dealing with his brothers already. It had been less than an hour - which was on point for them, honestly.

“So, Klaus is still Klaus, in case you were wondering.”

“You know, after all these years, I find it strangely comforting.”

“Did you see Diego?”

“With his stupid outfit?”

“Oh, I know. Do you think he wears that thing in the bathroom?”

“Like in the shower?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, Absolutely!”

As Allison laughed, Luther looked down. He was always happy when he could make her find joy. And it had been too long since they had seen each other in person. He had gone to see each of her movies, she was amazing, but they hadn’t talked since she left a decade ago. And Luther had missed his best friend.

“I-is Charlie here? Have you seen her yet?”

Luther paused in his thoughts about how to keep the conversation going to look up at her.

“Charlie? Why do you want to talk to her? You do remember what she did, right?”

“She did nothing but support our other sister. We snapped and snarled at Charlie because we were angry with Vanya but she wasn’t there for us to do so. Charlie has, since the very beginning, been nothing but kind and loving towards all of us. She wanted nothing more than for us to actually be a family. Instead, we shot her down time and time again.”

“That book was completely awful to all of us!! And she didn’t care!”

“She cared! She cared about what was happening with Vanya that she felt like she had to write that stupid thing! And regardless of all of that - Charlie is still our sister and I want to see her!”

Luther took a deep breath. He had forgotten that, despite the fact that Allison was his best friend, she was still his sibling and that included the ability to completely infuriate him in only a couple of words.

“I haven’t seen her yet. And I didn’t think you’d come.”

“Me either.”

*

The one main downside to the spot she chose was that she couldn’t see the door. On the other hand, with her laying down - people didn’t see her so they generally didn’t try to talk to her before coming in.

Diego was the first in the room. As he came around her couch, he spotted her from the corner of his eye and his hand went automatically to his BDSM gear and the multitude of knives he kept there. It took more than a second for him to release them. Charlie raised a very judgmental eyebrow in his direction. She knew he was still thinking of using one of those things - but against her instead. She dared him to try. He flicked a look up and over her shoulder where she knew the giant ferns, trees, and vines that were placed against the inside wall were growing and moving in the nonexistent wind. He was surrounded by Green things.

Who would be faster?

He scoffed, released his hand, rolled his eyes, and dropped into his chair by the fireplace.

Good. At least with him choosing to ignore her, this wouldn’t progress into a fight like their family meetings usually did.

Vanya was the next into the room and the tension racketed up again.

Klaus was the third into the room and, other than a flippant wave of his Hello hand, ignored them to survey Dad’s very extensive liquor collection. He was kind enough to bring her a whiskey when she peered over at him. Thank God - she would definitely need the alcohol later. And she was glad to see that he was still wearing her keys around his neck. She wasn’t sure if he had ever used them but she was glad that he had kept them, nevertheless.

Allison and Luther finished up the collection, and while it looked like Allison wanted to talk to her, Luther walked her over the seat across from Diego. He took the seat across from Vanya. His sitting down seemed like a call for the official meeting to start. He was always so dramatic.

Despite Luther apparently calling to order the meeting, nobody actually said anything for a solid couple of minutes. They were all just sitting around, pointedly not looking at one another.

“Um...I guess we should probably get this started. So I figured we could have a sort of memorial service in the courtyard at sundown. Say a few words, just at Dad’s favorite spot.”

Of course, it was Luther, the golden boy, who knew that dad had a favorite spot. Nobody else was close enough to that human icebox to know that kind of information.

“Dad had a favorite spot?”

“You know, under the oak tree. We used to sit there all the time. None of you ever did that?”

The rest of us just sort of pursed their lips and avoided looking at Luther. While it sort of wasn’t his fault that Dad was a dick and favored him over them, it still stung something awful to be reminded of that fact.

Fucking Dad

Thankfully Klaus, with his usual spectacular timing, interrupted Luther.

“Will there be refreshments? Tea? Scones? Cucumber sandwiches are always a hit.”

He looked around hopefully. Charlie decided to help him and grew some fruits and nuts near him, making a big cucumber near his seat - kinda mockingly.

He almost flinched away before he shot her a delighted look and picked up a peach.

“Danke Schwester!”

She gave him a thumbs up and turned back to Luther cause she just knew that he was going to have some sort of fit about something that just happened.

“What? No. And put that out. Dad didn’t allow smoking in here. And get rid of the fruit. You know that Dad didn’t allow that sort of thing outside of training.”

She flipped him off and Klaus very pointedly turned around.

“Is that my skirt?” Allison cut off whatever response might have come when she questioned Klaus’ newest fashion choice.

“What? Oh, yeah, this. I found it in your room. It’s a little dated, I know, but very breathy on the bits. ”

Luther proved his place as Number One Ass within the next couple of minutes.

“Listen up. Still, some important things that we need to discuss, all right?”

“Like what?”

“Like the way he died.”

“And here we go.”

“I don’t understand. I thought they said it was a heart attack?”

“Yeah, according to the coroner.”

“Well, wouldn’t they know?”

“Theoretically.”

“Theoretically?”

Charlie had a bad feeling about where this conversation was going.

“I’m just saying, at the very least, something happened. The last time that I talked to Dad, he sounded strange.”

Yeah, her bad feeling about this conversation was correct. She had an idea about where he was going to go with all this lead. By the looks on her siblings’ faces, only really Diego knew where Luther was going with this. Everyone else just looked surprised.

She started to mostly ignore what they were saying. She knew that Luther was implying that one of them had killed Dad because Luther couldn’t rationalize the fact that Dad was, supposedly, human as well. That Dad could die from something just as common as a heart attack, instead of a portal to hell opening up to take him back.

“Look, I know you don’t like to do it, but I need you to talk to Dad.”

Everyone looked at Luther in disbelief. They all knew that Klaus was high as fuck. And even if he wasn’t, there was no way he would ever want to summon that monster here.

After Klaus soundly shot down the theory of summoning Dad from his brunch with Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler, Luther was finally ready to move on to why he suspected them of offing the old bastard.

“Then there’s the issue of the missing monocle.”

“Who gives a shit about a stupid monocle?”

“Exactly. It’s worthless. So whoever took it, I think it was personal. Someone close to him. Someone with a grudge.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Oh, isn’t it obvious, Klaus? He thinks one of us killed Dad.”

And with that, the silence fell. Or so she assumed. The looks on everyone’s faces though. She knew that none of them were extremely sad that he had died, but to have Luther accuse them of killing him? That hurt.

“You do?”

“How could you think that?”

“Great job, Luther. Way to lead.”

And with that, she was up from the couch and headed out of the room. She didn’t really feel like staying near him. For him to think, after everything that he had done, that she would kill Dad?

She knew that she shouldn’t have come here today.

*

As she was walking out to the courtyard, she thought of the first mission they went on. The Capital West bank - 17 years ago. Robbers had taken hostages and were threatening them. Sir had taken them there to deal with the problem. Number Three and her had entered first, Three so she could Rumor someone and her so she could have time to spread some seeds and Grow some plants to have a base to start off from.

As she and Three started wreaking havoc, One dropped in from the glass section of the roof and started throwing some of the robbers around. Two came in from the front and started his work with the knives. Soon she was using her Growth to help shield the hostages while Two, Three, and Four were mocking and messing with the guards near the front desk. Five dropped in with his signature sass and took down those guys.

One was finished with his targets and was searching for some more people. He found them in the vault and she knew it was Six’s turn. He never liked any of the work but he especially hated having to release the Horrors when they could be a target. This isolation of robbers was just the kind of thing Sir would insist on Six handling.

They finished with the robbers in the main room and she and Two released the hostages while One and Four prompted Six to finish off the people in the vault. She hoped he hurried. She was growing weary and needed some sun and sugar to regain her energy.

After Six exited the room, she went to help him wash off the blood and to make him look more presentable. Sir was going to come down and give a speech, introducing them to the world and he wouldn’t be pleased with them if the first look at Six the world had was him covered in blood.

After the seven of them gathered on the front steps, Sir joined them from wherever he was when they were completing the mission. He had them lined up in front of the cameras and reporters while he gave his prepared speech and answered some of their questions.

“Our world is changing. Has changed. There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted seven such children. I give you the inaugural class of the Umbrella Academy.”

*

Minutes after she sat down outside, she could feel vibrations coming from the plants closest to Luther’s room. She sat up and concentrated some more. Luther had the biggest vinyl collection in the family, and whenever Dad had to leave he’d place something on the machine and let the music play throughout the entire mansion. And it seems like he was going to continue the tradition. She wondered what was actually playing now. She’d place money on it be I Think We’re Alone Now. He usually started with that one as a signal.

She stood up from her seat and started to sway around the courtyard. She may not be able to hear the music but that song was imprinted on her very being. It was one of the best things from their childhoods - freedom, as much as they were granted back then.

Just as she was getting into the groove, everything went suddenly dark and ominous. Lightning flashed and she could feel the thunder boom.

She quickly went from being semi-carefree Charlie to serious, trained Number Eight. She placed herself up against one of the walls and sunk herself into the Green. A blue portal was opening up above her and she was determined to stop whatever it was here in the courtyard before it could gain ground towards the Academy.

Her jewelry, few as it was, pulled in the direction of the portal - but most of her free attention was dragged towards the door where Number Two was exiting. She made her way towards him by routine memory. She was always near the back of the Academy - where she could see everyone and could also protect their backs. Over a decade later and it was still the position she was going to take.

Seven, One, and Three were on Two’s tail when she finally slid up to them. They quickly set up in their positions. One and Two in front, where they had the most space to move and could make up the physical wall that Three used before she could figure out who to actually Rumor. Seven was pushed into a spot so they could protect her as well. Eight stayed back a couple of steps so she’d have space to Grow. Four, who was running from the house, broke through the ranks with a fire exti-- a fire extinguisher?!? Why? Which he then used on the portal to no effect. When it very obviously didn’t work, he threw it into the portal.

When Eight glanced towards the portal, she saw a man. He was old and grey and she had never seen him before in her life but still. Her heart gave a particularly hard thump and she could swear she knew him. As she continued to watch him, she saw that he was screaming. And that he was getting younger? As the waves of blue were flashing over his face, he went from the original old man back through the ages, flashing back into a young teenager. After his final transformation, he fell face-first onto the ground - as he hit the ground the portal disappeared.

But before he hit, Eight could have sworn…

*

Fucking fuck. That goddamn hurt.

Five was hoping that he had actually made it because he really didn’t want to have to do that sort of jump again. Nor did he want to attempt that sort of landing again.

As he slowly stood up from where he slammed face-first into the ground, Five took stock of where he was. And while he didn’t necessarily recognize them, he was reassured when one of them said,

“Does anyone else see little Number Five or is that just me?”

Then the actual words the other man uttered registered and he looked down.

“Shit.”

*

Well, Eight supposed there were weirder things than their 13-year-old brother, who disappeared 17 years ago, popping up on the first day they were all together again from a glowing blue portal in the sky.

She couldn’t think of anything weirder currently but she was sure they existed.

After they collected themselves from his reappearance, they all moved towards the kitchen, slowly trailing after Five.

She was sitting with her back to the door - half an eye on her older siblings, half an eye on her little brother, and trying to calm herself down from the absolute adrenaline rush the last 10 minutes had been.

“The 24th.”

“Of what?”

“March.”

“Good.”

“So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?”

Of course, it was Luther who started the aggressive questioning, like he didn’t remember what an absolute little shit Five was. He was going to take this line of questioning really well.  

And there they went, the tallest brother squaring up against the shortest brother.

Despite only catching half of the conversation, she was doing her best to follow along. They were arguing - like usual - about what had happened to Five when he left. She had the hardest time tracking what Five was saying with his tendency to Jump from place to place instead of using his legs.

“- jumping through time is a toss of the dice. Nice dress.”

“Oh, well, danke!”

“Wait, how did you get back?”

“In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time”

“That makes no sense.”

“Well, it would if you were smarter.”

She had to roll her eyes. Even 17 years later and apparently some time travel, and he was still a colossal ass. Then again, her siblings made it super easy.

“How long were you there?”

“45 years. Give or take.”

Well. Holy shit. 45 years…he was 58? Well, he was always an old man in a young body.

“Delores?”

“Guess I missed the funeral.”

“How’d you know about that?”

“What part of future do you not understand? Heart failure, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“Hmm. Nice to see nothing's changed.”

And with that glowing review, Five left the room. She wasn’t too surprised. He never really had the temperament to stay long in voluntary family gatherings - especially when the extra-thick duo were really living it up to their title.

When Allison turned back towards the table, she assumed that Five really had left and she shifted to better face the rest of them to keep them in her sights. They were all trading looks.

“Well…”

“That was interesting.”

Idiots.

*

After that disaster of a full family meeting, she retreated back outside to hide amongst the Green. She most definitely didn’t want to deal with any more people bullshit than she had too and they still had to do the actual funeral. She decided that some meditating was in order and she had made it very clear years ago that to interrupt her meditating time was at their own peril. Of course, that only stopped the lower numbers but the first 4 learned quickly, for the most part.

Too soon really, the rest of her siblings and Mom joined her outside near Ben’s god-awful statue. The weather seemed to mirror the general situation with a rainstorm finally breaking. She moved to stand near Mom to share her umbrella but slowed when Diego’s hands got real close his stupid leather harness.

Instead, she felt Allison come up beside her to share her umbrella with her. She tensed slightly with the close contact but soon relaxed when she realized it was harmless. She moved a little bit closer to her and relaxed as much as she could.

Huh. She still wore the perfume Charlie got her for their 17th birthday. That was…nice.

“Did something happen?”

All of them turned to Mom when she asked that. Charlie felt a pit form in the bottom of her stomach. Mom shouldn’t sound like that and she definitely shouldn’t be questioning what was happening

“Oh. yes, of course.”

Charlie really hated that look on Mom’s face. She never wanted to be the reason why it was put there and she found some more hate for Dad, because of it.

“Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. She just needs to rest. You know, recharge.”

Pogo finally joined them outside and it signaled the start of this shebang.

“Whenever you’re ready, dear boy.”

With a look around at them, Luther took Dad’s urn and upended it...where it piled up on top of the wet ground. Gross.

“Probably would have been better with some wind.”

She only raised an eyebrow at him.

“Does anyone wish to speak?”

She aimed the flattest look she knew how to at Pogo but stayed where she was. Does anyone wish to speak? Of course, she did but could she? Hardly. And none of her siblings offered.

“Very well. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt. He was my master...and my friend and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy--”

“He was a monster. He was a bad person and a worse father. The world’s better off without him.”

“Diego.”

“My name is Number Two. You know why? Because our father couldn’t be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mom do it.”

“Would anyone like something to eat?”

“No, it’s ok, Mom.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Look, you wanna pay your respects? Go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man he was.”

“You should stop talking now. I'm warning you.”

And here we go, One vs Two funeral style. She was worried they weren’t going to follow their script. And of course, Diego was the one to actually start the fight. She pulled Allison back to give them some more room to try to bash each other’s heads in. She’d place money on Diego, he’d always been jealous of Luther and could fight at a distance. Luther, despite everything about him, didn’t really like fighting against the family.

“And there goes Ben’s statue.”

Ben’s statue hit the ground with a thud that she could feel and she and Allison turned to go back inside. She had had enough of this crap. They were only in the kitchen when Luther ran past them. Vanya was close behind him. As her siblings streamed past her, she went to the cabinets. Mom always kept some cookies at hand in case any of them needed a case of pick me ups. She didn’t really know when else they would need them. And there they were - chocolate chocolate chip. She plated them and grabbed some milk and glasses. As she sat down at the table, she was surprised by the familiarity of it. They always had their assigned seats and she had just taken her normal spot.

*

“Nietzsche once said, ‘Man is as a rope stretched between the animal and the superhuman. A rope of the abyss. It is a dangerous crossing, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.’”

After dad finished his quote, Seven blew the whistle and the rest of them started their run up the stairs. She was slower than the rest but she was reaching for the Green on the top floor. As soon as she got a good grip on it, she pulled it towards herself and used it to pull herself up. As she was rapidly going up, she saw the tell-tale sign of Five’s Teleporting.

“That’s not fair, Five and Eight are cheating!”

“They adapted.”

*

She felt bad for her siblings, but she was loving the feel of the tattoo gun. It was a very soothing feeling. But she could see her siblings were hurt from their tattoos or were scared for their turns. She wished that they could like it more or that they didn’t have to get one.

*

After she sat down with her cookies and milk, Diego led Mom past them - probably towards her charging station. He barely glanced at her and she told him - using her face alone - to fuck right off. She was almost ready to fight him.

Klaus flounced in and sat at the head of the table. He grabbed a couple of cookies from her plate and then drank her milk. She just frowned at him prompting him to flap his Hello hand. With a roll of her eyes, she just refilled their glass. Soon afterward, Five came in and started going through all the cabinets.

“Where’s Vanya?”

“Oh, she’s gone.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah.”

“An entire square block. 42 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, but no, not a single drop of coffee. And you can shut up.”

He pointed at her and her raised eyebrow. She only shrugged and made a point to use her eyes to point out the fact he was 13 again.

He just rolled his eyes back at her.

“Dad hated caffeine.”

“Well, he hated children, too, and he had plenty of us.”

She really hated to admit that Klaus was right.

“I’m taking the car.”

“Where are you going?”

Both she and Five turned to stare incredulously at Klaus. He was just talking about not having any coffee. Where else was he going to go?

“To get a decent cup of coffee.”

“Do you even know how to drive?”

“I know how to do everything.”

He made another face back at her, cause like hell he knew how to do everything.

The arrogant ass. And then he was gone.

“But then again, I also just kinda want to see what happens.”

“All right, I guess I’ll you guys in, what, ten years? When Pogo dies? You, hopefully, longer still. Or never.”

Diego made his way into the room talking and pointed at her at the end of his sentence. She flipped him off and leaned back in her chair.

“Not if you die first.”

“Yeah, love you too, sis.”

“Good luck on your next film. Hope it turns out better than your marriage, huh?”

She kicked at his ankles for that asshole comment. He flinched back from her and went for his harness. She steadied herself and narrowed her eyes. But then Allison left back into the house and Diego and Klaus went out towards the back door.

She just leaned back in her and closed her eyes. She was so fucking tired of being in this stupid house. She finally decided to just leave. There was nothing, well almost nothing, left for her in this place.  

She stood up and washed her dishes, then went to find Mom. She didn’t want to leave before she said hi and bye to her.

As she was walking through the main lobby, she saw Mom’s shadow on the upper levels. As she reached the top of the stairs, she looked around and saw Mom sitting at her charging station. She made her way over to her and sat down next to her.

She held onto Mom’s hand and they sat together staring at her paintings. This, this right here, the calm evenings with Mom, were her favorite parts of this house. She studied Mom’s paintings. She did have some pretty ones. But she knew Mom’s favorite was the portrait of the young lady in the black dress. She sat with Mom until her eyes started to flash blue, signaling her recharging.

She stood up, gave Mom a kiss on her forehead, and left the house.

*

She arrived home and she could finally relax. Once she was in through the front door, she locked it and slid to the floor. That was...exhausting. She sincerely wished her siblings long lives so she didn’t have to see them again, soon. Knickknack climbed up into her lap. She started to comb her fingers through their fur. She really should take her to get checked out soon, cause she was pretty sure she’d been adopted by this grey cat.

She heaved a sigh and stood up sometime later. She felt like she’d feel better if she completed her evening routine. She grabbed the watering hose, tucked Knickknack up on her shoulder, and started her circle around the store. The Green and Growing would help settle her down. Maybe some actual supper and then a rosewater and lavender bath before she went to bed.

When Knickkack rubbed her head against her chin, she took that as an agreement that it was a good plan.

Hopefully, things were going to go back to normal in the next couple of days.

Next Chapter

[ahtohallan-calling]

chapter 15 of don’t read the last page is here!

masterpost

[kristanna / m / multichap / modern au with actress!anna and vetstudent!kristoff]

"I just want to go back to sleep," she said; really she wanted to go back to this summer, when she had so hated the long stretches of empty days and taken for granted the seemingly endless hours they had spent together laughing and talking and kissing each other senseless and never once imagining how hard it was going to be.

"Then sleep, baby," Kristoff murmured, and by the way his arms tightened around her she knew he wanted the same.

chapter 15: new year

"Why is anyone calling me at eight in the morning on New Year's?"

She burrowed deeper under the blankets, squeezing her eyes shut and willing the whole damn world to just shut up. She hadn’t thought she’d had much to drink last night, but her head ached, and her mouth was fuzzy, and they had never made it to the shower so now she was pretty sure there was lipstick and mascara smeared all over her face, but more importantly this was their day, and she didn’t want anything to ruin it.

"It's not just anyone, baby, that's Sam's ringtone," Kristoff said, his voice still rough with sleep, as he gently rubbed a circle between her shoulder blades.

She ignored it anyway. Anything definitely included overeager calls from her agent who was still somewhat giddy at her newfound fame. Instead she focused her attention on Kristoff’s bare chest, pressing little kisses to it and smiling faintly when she felt his heartbeat accelerate beneath her touch.

Eventually, the phone went silent, but she didn't even have time to sigh in relief before it started ringing again. Kristoff pulled away from her just enough to get the phone and set it on the bed, accepting the call. "Hey, Sam. You're on speaker."

"Hey, kid. And hey to Anna, too. I'm sorry to call this early, wish I wasn't up, either."

"Just tell me what it is, Sam," Anna said, reluctantly turning over so her voice wouldn't be muffled against Kristoff's skin. "So we can all get it over with and get back to bed."

"Good news or bad news?"

"Good first."

"You've gained a thousand new Twitter followers in the last...uh...half hour? And everyone's excited to see you really can sing."

For a moment she was confused; how were those connected, and why did he need to tell her right now?

And then it hit her.

"Oh, god, Sam," she said, her voice already shaking. "But Hans said…"

"Someone didn't listen. They filmed the two of you singing 'Auld Lang Syne'. And, uh...people already noticed you guys matched each other. And the confetti. And came to...conclusions."

Kristoff stiffened beside her. "Can't you get it taken down?" he asked.

"Three different sources leaked it. And it's been reported on already. It happened so fast-- Lena found out half an hour after the first tweet, and by then I was already fielding interview requests for you. By the time we got all the official sources to delete it…"

"A bunch of random people will have already saved it," Anna said, her voice tight. "So it's here to stay."

Sam sighed. "This is on me and Lena, kiddo. Should've been more on top of this, shouldn't have encouraged you so much to go. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Anna said, her vision quickly growing blurry.

"How do you want to handle this?"

"I don't know, Sam."

"I know it's hard, but the sooner we--"

"I said I don't know," she snapped.

For a moment there was only silence. When Sam spoke again, his voice was soft. "I'm sorry, Anna. Let me talk to Lena. We'll come up with a couple of options. You call me later when you're ready, okay?"

She didn't respond. After a moment, Kristoff cleared his throat. "She says okay. Thanks, Sam."

He hung up the phone and tossed it across the room, where it landed in the laundry basket. "Hole in one," Anna said weakly, and burst into tears.

He didn't speak; he just put his arms around her as she sobbed into her hands, holding her close against his chest. "One fucking day," she choked out. "I wanted one fucking day to just be us again."

"I know," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"I don't know what to do. Like, where to even start, I--"

She trailed off, too confused and overwhelmed to begin to put it all into words. Instead she turned over in Kristoff's embrace to tuck her chin over his shoulder, inhaling the familiar warm scent of him, and fought to hold back a fresh wave of tears.

"I just want to go back to sleep," she said; really she wanted to go back to this summer, when she had so hated the long stretches of empty days and taken for granted the seemingly endless hours they had spent together laughing and talking and kissing each other senseless and never once imagining how hard it was going to be.

"Then sleep, baby," Kristoff murmured, and by the way his arms tightened around her she knew he wanted the same.

---

She hadn’t meant to actually fall asleep, had intended to lay there all morning with him, letting herself be comforted even though they both already knew the fallout from this would hurt him, too. But suddenly she was blinking awake, her head pounding and her mouth dry, as Kristoff carefully wriggled out from beneath her; somehow he had ended up on his back with her curled around and over his side, her head pillowed on his chest.

“Kris?”

“Go back to sleep,” he said softly as he slid out of bed. “I’ll be right back.”

“No, my head hurts,” she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes as she followed him. “I wanna drink some water.”

“Okay. I’m gonna take a shower.”

For a moment she felt nothing but contentment as she watched him stretch, the muscles in his back rippling with the movement, and amble out of the room and down the hall wearing nothing but low-slung sweatpants. She considered following after him and surprising him in the shower-- she really did want to get all the hairspray out, and there was room for both of them, and he surely wouldn’t mind, and then she remembered the morning’s phone call and felt a cold wave of dread wash over her, tears already pricking at the back of her eyes.

How many more times had the video been shared? How many more people had seen it and wondered if she and Hans were dating? How many people had already been calling Lena asking for a comment on her relationship status?

Now she didn’t feel like crying; she felt like throwing up. What had she gotten Kristoff into? She didn’t particularly care about what people thought about her, so long as they still liked her, but he hadn’t asked for any of this, had never done anything but support her, and now he was faced with either becoming a public figure or watching the whole world believe she was with someone else. And he started clinicals next week, and she was going to be insanely busy as they rushed to get as much done as possible before going to Russia, and already they had both been so stressed and--

“Pull yourself together, Anna,” she muttered under her breath, pinching her arm to force herself back into the present moment. “Throwing a pity party won’t fix it.”

She retrieved her discarded phone from the hamper and shot off a quick text to Sam, asking if they could do a conference Skype call in half an hour. And Kristoff will be in on it if he wants, she added in a followup message. He’s part of this too.

Sure, came the reply only a couple of minutes later. Lena and I think we have some ideas worked out. And of course, no problem.

“Kris?” she called, padding down the hall and slipping into the bathroom. “We’re gonna do a video conference at ten-thirty. I told Sam you’ll be there. If you want to, I mean.”

He pulled aside the shower curtain, shampoo still in his hair. “Of course.”

He said it so easily, without any hesitation, that she couldn’t help but kiss him. He grinned when she pulled away and asked, “Care to join me?”

“We’ll be late for the call then.”

“So we’ll just kiss. And you can make sure I don’t have any more lipstick on my back.”

“Well. When you put it that way…”

They were only five minutes late, both of them still rosy-cheeked and damp as they set the laptop on the kitchen table and crowded next to each other. Anna was still grinning when the dial tone began, but the moment she saw Sam and Lena’s somber expressions her smile swirled away as if it had been swept down the drain with the bubbles.

“Sam and I have been talking all morning. We’ve put together three options,” Lena said without preamble. “Option one, you come out and tell people about your relationship with Kristoff. Option two, you say nothing and hope that people forget about this. Which they won’t unless someone else does something juicier, but it is an option. And option three...we lean into this. Drop some hints that you and Westergaard actually are dating. I can get in touch with his people, see if they want to set up an arrangement, the whole shebang.”

Anna felt her cheeks grow hot. “Why would I ever do that?”

“You’ve gained ten thousand followers between Twitter and Instagram just this morning, while most of the world is still in bed hungover. He’s a huge star, and doing that would raise your profile and the movie’s. It’d be a huge boost to your career, and it wouldn’t have to be forever.”

Anna pressed her lips into a thin line, not trusting herself to speak. Sam, looking torn himself, said, “It’s up to you, kiddo. But we can make lemons outta lemonade.”

“I’m not going to cheat on my boyfriend.”

“It’s not cheating,” Lena cut in, “it’s acting. Same as you kissing him onscreen.”

“It’s different, it’s--”

“I think she should do it,” Kristoff said suddenly. 

For the second time that morning, Anna thought she was going to be sick. She didn’t dare to look at him; instead she kept her gaze just above the top part of the screen, focusing intently on the cactus they had bought last week to keep in the living room. “Because I know you want a pet someday,” he had told her, “but we gotta make sure we’re responsible enough for one, and I figured that’s a good place to start, and yes, before you ask, we can name it.”

Sam was saying something, but she couldn’t hear him over the roaring in her ears. Kris responded, and from the corner of her eye, she saw him nod. “Okay, then,” Lena said, “Anna, I can call his team tonight if you--”

“No!” Anna said, horrified that any of them were even considering it. “I’m not-- Jesus fucking Christ, I could never just-- just do that…”

“Hang on,” Kristoff said, turning off their video and audio and muting the computer before reaching over to clasp her hands. “Anna, baby…”

His eyes were too soft, too full of love; that made it worse, somehow, that he thought this was the right way to love her. “I don’t ever want to hold back your career. We’ll still know the truth, right? That’s what’s important.”

She shook her head fiercely. “No. I-- no. It just feels wrong, Kris. I hate keeping us secret, but I’d hate just blatantly lying about it even more. And I don’t want to boost my career like this, with something just...made-up. And-- fuck, when you weren’t there I realized you and Honey were right, and I...god. I don’t care if that’s the best option. I don’t want to take it.”

He squeezed her hands. “Okay.”

“Okay?” “Yeah. Do you...do you want to go public then?”

“Do you?”

His voice was unsure. “I...can, if you want me to. I’ll just...you know, warn the clinic I’m working with in case of--”

“No. Nope. Don’t say anything else.”

“Anna--”

It was her turn to squeeze his hands. “Be one hundred percent honest with me right now, Kristoff. This isn’t just about me. What do you want?”

She held his gaze, watched as a sadness crept into his eyes and knew that he was going to break her heart and put it back together in one fell swoop. “You. Even if I have to share you with the world. Whatever that means, whatever I have to do, I just...I want to share a life with you, Anna. My whole life, actually, if we can swing it. And maybe someday I’ll be able to be what you need and be able to be in the spotlight with you and--”

“Kris, baby, I--” 

She was starting to tear up again. “You’re already what I need. And I-- I want the same thing, even if you’re never ready to go public. And I love you so much, and I’m so sorry that any of this is even on the table.”

He leaned forward to press his forehead against hers. They both drew in a deep breath that escaped in huffs of laughter when they realized what they had done. “Love you back,” he murmured, giving her a soft kiss. “Should we, uh, turn our video back on and finish the call?”

“If we have to.”

Lena was tapping her fingers impatiently; she stopped, looking embarrassed when the call resumed. “Did we come to a decision?”

Kristoff looked over at Anna; she nodded firmly. “Yes. We’re taking option two.”

“Are you sure? This is an opportunity to--”

“Get a new publicist? Interesting suggestion.”

Lena’s mouth snapped shut. Kristoff and Sam both shot her a surprised glance; she was never harsh like this. Well, she thought, times are changing in more ways than one.

“Alright, then,” Sam said at last. “Whatever you want, kiddo. Guess we’ll just...wait and see.”

[maidenxfmight]

hurricane (pt 1)

Tagging: @luthorforgood, @ofalexdanvers, @master-of-magnetism, & Supergirl When: July 31st, 2020 Where: L-Corp What: Erik confronts Lena about their deal, sets his plans in motion, and reveals something even Alex wasn’t aware of. Warnings: Violence, pregnancy mention Word Count: 7,870

Lena didn't know who to trust, but she couldn't do it on her own. Hours. She was missing hours of time, and she wasn't sure how much was a result of the fear pandemic that had attacked the city and what had been reality. Lena had the knowledge to run the tests herself, but if the results came back with anything less than a clean bill of health... a childish part of Lena didn't want to be alone. So, she'd called Alex and asked her to assist in an MRI, conducted in the same lab that Alex and Sam had once used. The MRI that couldn't show what Reign was doing to Sam. Lena tried not to think about what would happen if they couldn't find anything this time as well.

"Thank you, Alex," she said shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before tugging the sleeves of her sweater down past her thumbs. "I -- I wasn't sure who else to call. Please, don't tell Kara about this. I don't want her to worry." Lena had done enough to trouble her best friend already. There was no need to worry Kara about 'what ifs'.

Alex hadn't expected Lena to call her and ask for her help to do an MRI on the other woman, she'd agreed to help though, despite the whole incident with Kryptonite. Lena was Kara's friend and Kara had said she'd handle it so for now Alex was going to stay out of it, as much as she could stay out of anything involving the people she cared about at least. She had some issues staying out of things when people she cared about, especially her sister, was involved.

When she actually saw Lena in person she could tell she was worried and Alex was glad she'd agreed to help her, hopefully she could help ease her worries. "Don't mention it" she told her with a small smile. "And I won't tell her, I'll leave that decision up to you."

Lena nodded her thanks, letting out an almost audible sigh of relief. After the fear pandemic that had attacked the city, she didn’t want to add anything else to Kara’s problems. Not until she knew that there actually was a problem.

“Thank you,” she said again. Alex didn’t owe her any favors, but she’d still come to Lena’s aid. The Danvers sisters were really something else. “I’m sure I don’t have to explain what might happened if any of my board were to find out about this.”

Alex: Oh, she was sure the board would have a field day if they found out about this and she understood that Lena didn't want anyone, especially her board, to know about it. "Well, no one is going to find out from me at least" Alex promised, she had no intention of telling anyone and she was good at keeping secrets, she also kept her promises.

ERIK: He'd given her a few weeks to get started on finding away around the detection device. Granted, yes, the most recent one had been marred by the plague of fear that had settled over the city--but that wasn't Erik's problem. It was her device, she should know its loopholes.

At any rate, this wasn't about Lena. Not really. This was about Supergirl--he'd thought long and hard about whether to go through with this, but ultimately, there had been two deciding factors.

She wasn't human--but she wasn't mutant, either. He had a loyalty first and foremost to his own people. As for the second... she agreed with him. She did. She just lacked the will to go through with it. He would be doing her a favor. He would.

His entrance this time didn't require murder--he simply levitated up to the  balcony where Supergirl entered L-Corp, knowing that Lena would undoubtedly get an alert. He didn't bother to disable the camera--smiled at it, in fact. She wouldn't refuse to let him in. Not given what the alternative was.

LENA: A buzz from her watch pulled her attention away from Alex and she frowned. An alert from L-Corp’s automated security system. A landing on what Lena sometimes thought of as ‘Supergirl’s balcony’ (only to herself). She pulled out her phone to view the live feed and froze at the sight.

“Director Danvers, we’re going to have to reschedule,” Lena said, her voice trembling imperceptibly as her face went white. “I have a pressing matter I need to attend to.”

ALEX: It wasn't hard to see that whatever alert Lena had gotten scared her, it was clear from her voice and written all over her face. Alex frowned when Lena told her they'd have to reschedule, if something hat warranted this reaction from the other woman there was no way she was leaving her alone. "Lena, what's wrong? Whatever you saw clearly scared you and I'm not leaving."

LENA: Curse the Danvers penchant for stubbornness and a knack for knowing when something was wrong. “Erik Lensherr has decided to pay another visit to L-Corp, and if I don’t entertain his arrival then who knows how many people he might kill. I am not going to let him kill another one of my employees.” Her walk was missing it’s characteristic click of high heels in the comfortable flats that she currently wore and the soft sweater did nothing to help build her confidence as she stalked toward the elevator that would lead to the top floor.

ALEX: Magneto, one of the most wanted people, the man who'd stolen kryptonite last time he was here and could have killed Lena, and she wanted Alex to leave? Not a chance. "Then let me help you" she said, not waiting for an answer as she followed Lena to the elevator, even if Lena didn't want her help, Alex was not leaving. "Besides, you'll have a better chance with me there" she told her as the Green Lantern power ring on her finger became visible as she changed to Green Lantern.

ERIK: He supposed it would be too much to expect to simply be buzzed in, so he waited only a few moments before mentally shrugging--he would need to make a scene to get the police, and more importantly Supergirl--out to the scene.  No harm in starting early.  Erik wrapped his powers around a portion of the sign several stories above his head and dragged a chunk of the metal down.  He pushed it a few meters away from the side of the building as he stepped neatly out of its trajectory before clenching his fist, bringing the metal slamming through the door and its frame in a shower of splinters and glass.  He felt the electric pulse of a silent alarm shoot off immediately.  He didn't stop it. He stepped across the threshold into the office, glancing around thoughtfully until he heard the elevator ding at his back.  Two sets of footsteps, and Erik turned on a heel to face them, raising a bemused brow as his gaze swept over Luthor's costumed companion.  "The ring has changed hands, I see," he noted--he wasn't over-familiar with the Green Lantern, but he knew as much as most people did, at least.

No doubt she thought having a Lantern there would help.  Whether that was true remained to be seen.  Aside from that cursory acknowledgement, Erik didn't bother with the new woman, instead turning his gaze on Lena.  "I trust you have something for me, Miss Luthor."

LENA: Another argument formed on her lips and died at the sight of the ring on Alex's hand. She was familiar with power rings. Her brother had done his research into them, but the rarity of the rings had tempered his obsession with the possibility of that endless power. Lanterns spent more of their time off-world than anything. A ring with that kind of power might be enough to stand up against Magneto.

The shattering of glass greeted them as the elevator reached her office. Instinctively, she stepped between Alex and Erik. "And I trust that you are aware of recent events that might have prevented my work." Her jaw clenched in irritation, and beneath that irritation -- fear. Fear of the look she might see on Alex's face if she turned around right now.

ALEX: She was glad Lena didn't argue more with her when she revealed the ring, though she was sure she'd say something about Alex being a Green Lantern later, if they survived this encounter with Magneto. She was still new to being a Lantern but she had fortunately spent time training and figuring out how to use the ring.

Once they reached Lena's office Alex looked around at all the shattered glass "you should consider not having this many windows" she commented as Lena stepped between her and Magneto, causing her to roll her eyes. Standing in front of the one with the power ring, logical. From their words it seemed the other scientist had made some kind of deal with the mutant, she decided to not comment on that for now though as she quickly placed herself between Lena and Magneto. "Just stay behind me."

ERIK: He didn't know who this new woman was, but one sentence out of her mouth already had Erik fighting back an amused grin. She was right, of course: but obnoxious amounts of windows was a New York thing and a billionaire thing. Stark Tower was much the same way.

The protective movements of both women for each other would've been sweet if it wasn't utterly useless. Erik didn't need a direct line to someone to hurt them. But he deigned not to comment on that, instead waving a hand vaguely in their direction--or more accurately, the direction of the elevator. The cable snapped behind the doors, sending the car plummeting to the bottom. Any police would have to use the stairs. That'd add a good ten minutes at least to their chatting time. He'd need every minute of it--even now, he could hear sirens starting to make their way to L-Corp. Good. Supergirl would no doubt follow shortly.

"I did notice, as a matter of fact." Had taken a step he once swore he'd never take and locked a collar around his own neck until the spell lifted so he couldn't hurt his family after the incident with Alex.

Don't think about that.

Focus. "That being said, my visit was several weeks ago and that incident was a matter of days. You invented the device I need you to counter, and I had rather thought that with your very life on the line, you might put a little pep in your step. I see you've been more focused on upgrading security--for all the good it did you."

The doorknob sloughed off the door in a shimmering mass of airborne metal, and Erik smiled icily at Lena over the Lantern's shoulder. "I did have such hopes." The metal solidified into a book-sized projectile in the space of a moment, and hurled itself at Lena's ribs.

LENA: If the air wasn’t thick with tension and a fear that Lena was loathe to admit, then she might have scoffed at Alex’s remark about her windows. The view was half of the draw to her putting her office on this floor; if she was going to spend most of her hours here, then she was determined to enjoy it. “Director Danvers, don’t call Supergirl,” she muttered urgently. Lena knew that the director of the DEO was a friend of Supergirl’s but she didn’t know how much information they shared. “He has kryptonite.”

Lena had managed to get herself into this mess, and she’d be damned if she let the Kryptonian get hurt because of her inept security and prejudices set against her. Like she’d told the Super, she cared.

I did notice. Beneath the words was something dark — almost sinister — and she shuddered at them, taking the slightest step back. Metal hurtled toward her, but instead of feeling the all too familiar crack of breaking bones, a green glow surrounded them.

ALEX: She knew Magneto was in possession of kryptonite, Kara had told her after finding out from Lena, she didn't say anything though, just nodded. She wasn't going to call her sister when Magneto had one of the few things that could hurt and kill her. Hopefully they could manage without Supergirl for this one, either way she wasn't going to risk her sister's life by calling her.

The metal went flying towards Lena and Alex reacted, ring glowing as she constructed a green forcefield around them before the projectile could hit Lena. "I don't know what kind of deal she made with you but I'm certain she'll hold up her end if you give her more time."

ERIK: The metal stopped far too short, running up against an invisible wall, and Erik's eyes cut briefly to the ring where it glowed on the woman--on Danvers'--finger. Director Danvers, apparently. Director of what? He let the metal brick melt once more, pressing against the forcefield as it slithered outwards as a distraction while he felt for any sign of a telltale badge. Nothing. Hm. Not SHIELD, clearly, but the director of something. He was not optimistic that any government agency was less than a threat.

And with that ring, she needed to be out of the way first, at any rate. The Phoenix roiled in his veins, something like displeasure making itself apparent, though with what he couldn't tell.

"My people don't have time. They're being killed in the streets, arrested every day," he said frigidly as the metal slunk off the forcefield, gathering in a swirl of shimmering silver around his hands.

She needed to see an attack coming to throw up a forcefield, same as himself, no doubt. Erik's head tipped contemplatively, sharp gaze flicking over the two women and the room around them. A chessmaster considering the board. Ah. He remembered his training session with Jean all those weeks ago on the banks of the Hudson, and felt an idea take shape. Piping beneath the floor. He coiled his power around a bundle of them, the copper purring under his attention, and yanked up through the floor, sending Lena off her feet. But when he moved to whip the bundle at Alex in the next millisecond, the copper refused to move, and the Phoenix hissed and he froze, confusion furrowing his brow for a moment.

What-- oh. He focused more on simply sensing, rather than searching, and heart the steady beating of four hearts. Four. Two, fast with adrenaline, his own steady beat, and another, far fainter one.

Was it really? A brief sweep, and yes, the ring-wielding woman had a second circulatory system starting to take shape. The metallokinetic released the pipes, raising a brow at Alex. "Oh, Director Danvers. You really ought to go home, and let Miss Luthor and I handle our own business, ring or no--we wouldn't want something to happen to the baby."

LENA: Her eyes tracked the movements of metal -- slithering in a way she never thought possible around the force field that Alex had just generated. He was angry. Angry enough to kill perhaps, and Alex could only hold him off for so long before something had to give. Her brain ticked through possible solutions and outcomes, hoping for one that wouldn't end with death.

Erik watched them as he kept talking. Of course, he was always talking. So much like Lex on the opposite pole of the spectrum of hate -- in love with the sound of their own voice. Lena began to formulate a reply, anything to buy them more time, but her feet were knocked from underneath her and she was left with ringing ears and lungs suddenly desperate for air. Ribs screamed as she rolled to her side and sucked in deep breaths until she could hear again and the room wasn't spinning so much.

Lena moved to stand but froze at the words. The baby. Her eyes widened and her head snapped in Alex's direction. The baby. But Alex couldn't possibly be -- She pushed herself onto shaking legs, squinting as the room tried spinning around her again. Lena didn't try to address Alex, knowing enough about the woman that it would only end in argument. Magneto was the one she needed to address. "Mr. Lehnsherr, she has nothing to do with this. Just, let her go. I'm the one your quarrel is with. Not her." Lena tried again to angle her body between the two, knowing that in Magneto's hands her body was a pathetic shield for Alex's protection. The baby. Did Kara even know?

ALEX: She moved to check on Lena when Magneto's words registered. The first was that he'd heard Lena call her Director Danvers, thanks Lena, the second was the baby and her hand instinctively moved to cover her stomach. She was pregnant, she was having a baby and she didn't know until now. She hadn't checked to see if the procedure had worked yet, first it was because she'd been worried about the answer and then the fear thing and she'd just... she'd had so many things on her mind that she hadn't taken a test yet, though seems she didn't need to now. Even with the baby she couldn't leave Lena alone with Magneto, she wouldn't leave her.

She needed a plan, even without the reveal that she was pregnant fighting wouldn't have been ideal, she doubted Lena would appreciate it if they brought the whole building down, it wasn't something she could risk when there might be people inside too. Fighting wasn't an option, not an ideal one anyway, maybe she should try taking a page out of her sister's book. Lena tried to put herself between Alex and Magneto again and she rolled her eyes, what good did she think that was going to do? "Will you just stay behind me" she said, once again stepping in front of Lena before addressing Magneto. "I don't want to fight you, I don't agree with everything you've done but I understand why you're doing it, you want to protect your people" Kara was much better at this talking thing than Alex but she'd seen her sister in action plenty of times, she'd had to have picked up something. Besides, Alex could understand wanting to protect people, she’d do anything to protect the people she cared about. “The way mutants are treated is terrible, you should be able to live in peace” she was more familiar with how aliens who only wanted to leave in peace was treated but she doubted it was any better for mutants. “I don’t agree with the Accords” at least not the way they were not “and I don’t agree with the device Lena made.” The detection device was what she figured he was here because of, it made the most sense. “While I’m sure she had good intentions for it there are always those who’ll abuse that kind of technology” she’d seen it too many times to know that was almost always how it went with these things. “I know this device makes it harder for mutants and other powered people but if you kill Lena you kill your best chance of finding a way to counteract the device.”

ERIK: G-d above, they were ridiculous, pushing each other out of the way like children, like it would do anything to stop Erik from getting to either of them. They thought of the battlefield as most humans would, expecting lateral attacks. But Erik had options: he could rip the floor apart under their feet by the joists, he could bring the ceiling down on their heads, he could drag their blood through their skin from the inside out, create an aneurysm in the brain before they had time to register the pain.

He was a weapon, and never had he relished it so much as he does with the Phoenix in his veins.

Danvers talked, and sounded so much like the person Erik was waiting for that he nearly laughed. Nearly. But this wasn't funny. This was the segue into the endgame of a war the humans thought they had the upperhand in, and Erik would not be so frivolous.

"Another who concedes me to be right and yet would stop me from doing what is necessary, I see," he said, coolly. "Course-correcting is clearly not a priority for Miss Luthor, even in the face of her technology so predictably being adapted for automated, systematic hunting of my people. But you would be surprised how clearly the threat of imminent death tends to shake out the mental cobwebs." The wires and pipes began snaking toward Lena again. "I'm told she's a quick thinker. She'd best get to it. Right here, right now."

SUPERGIRL: She had the specific wail of L-Corp's alarms memorized. There was a tick in their upswing, a slight warble that was distinctly different than the layered sirens of New York's first responders. More than that, they belonged to Lena, and if there was a difference, Kara was going to find it. She had to have them memorized, had to. They meant Lena was in danger.

"I gotta– I'm sorry, it's just, I have to go." Snapper was talking, he was saying something. His mouth was set in a frown and he lifted one eyebrow like he couldn't be bothered with whatever excuse poured out of her mouth next. But she couldn't hear it, she could hear the hammering of too-familiar heartbeats across town, and it didn't matter. It didn't matter if Snapper heard the nothing excuse that fell out of her mouth, if he wondered why the elevator button was cracked.

It still felt too late when she finally sailed through the windows of L-Corp, immediately taking in Alex – oh no, no no no not Alex – Lena, and Magneto. The pipes were groaning in a quest for her best friend, and there were too many heartbeats racing too fast. Somewhere it registered Magneto had kryptonite, and she should be scared – she was, she'd told Lena as much –but she shoved the thought away.

"Alex! You shouldn't be here." Her feet skidded across the floor centering herself just in front of Magneto, eyes glowing a deadly orange. He could attack from any angle, but she was banking on him going for the imminent thread first. "Take Lena and go."

Please, please listen, just this once. She knew Alex's name came out just a touch too familiar, breaking almost imperceptibly around the edges. "Magneto and I need to have another talk about his methods."

LENA: Such rapid and intense displays of power meant that it was only a matter of time before they had company. Company in the form of Sentinels that had taken inspiration from L-Corp's own technology. Had it just been Magneto, perhaps she might have been thankful for the assistance, but now the odds were stacking against Supergirl and Alex getting out of this easily. Then, there was the baby. The dozens of facts and quantifiable variables rushed through Lena's mind as she looked for a solution that would stop Magneto from hurting anyone before it was too late, and one that wouldn't end with Supergirl's arrest splashed upon the front page.

"Supergirl, you shouldn't be here. He has kryptonite!" Lena shouted, ignoring the pipes that continued to slink in her direction at Magneto's command. "Just... take Alex and go!" She face Magneto. "Some men can't be talked to." She remembered how much she'd talked to Lex, but in the end he only loved the sound of his own voice, not the voice of reason.

ALEX: She shouldn't be surprised that Supergirl showed up and really she wasn't but she was hoping her sister had enough sense to leave when she saw Magneto, someone who had Kryptonite, was there. It was obviously too much for hope for. And obviously she shouldn't have bothered with the mask either now that Lena has used her last name and Kara used her first name. "I shouldn't be here? You shouldn't be here" at least she got confirmation that her sister knew about the baby too, and she still had to find out from Magneto of all people. "Supergirl you should take Lena and go" she doubted her sister would listen to her but it was worth a shot, one thing was for sure, she wasn't leaning either, not while Kara was up against someone who had one of the few things that could hurt her in his possession.

ERIK: Take so-and-so and go! Part of Erik noted with amusement that the whole scenario was shaping up to sound like the chicken-fox-corn problem he used to give the kids in strategy classes. G-d above.

Focus.

Observation had kept him alive this long, and observation was paramount now, in the endgame of this war. So he observed, and he didn't miss the familiarity and concern in Supergirl's tone when she spoke to the Director, or the latter's faint expression of betrayal.

Danvers. Impossible.

And yet. Erik let out a slow breath, turning his focus fully to the senses afforded to him by his mutation. Each person, each living thing, had a bioelectric signature as unique to them as a fingerprint or genetic code.

Supergirl's was familiar. Supergirl's felt exactly like that of Kara Danvers.

The Phoenix shows you the truth.

Supergirl's--Kara's--eyes were glowing red, stance and sharp words showing her to be ready for a fight, and for the first time yet he felt his heart rate tick up in response. Kara was peaceful, but she was a hero. She would protect her family, like he would, when pressed, and she had a not inconsiderable arsenal at her disposal.

Erik flashed her a smile and the pipes stopped their crawl toward Lena and began to redirect. He didn't think they'd work, of course. But he would need some sort of showy distraction, and soon, if he was to plant the Kryptonite and get away before the Sentinels arrived.

"Still such faith in words," he said. "Give me something worth listening to and we'll see who makes it out. I already offered the Director free leave, but she's quite the protective sort. Even carrying child."

KARA: He knew. How he knew, Kara didn't know, but he knew. And he'd felt the need to declare it. Her own heart sank as she tuned in to Alex's, was it too fast? What was too fast? It was too early to stress this much, stuck in that tentative moment between certain and catastrophe. Alex shouldn't be here.

Neither should Lena, for that matter. Kara could still picture the jagged lines of her fractured ribs, the way she'd stood tall on an ankle that couldn't support her weight anymore. They'd been through enough, and still had so much to lose. And both refused to leave. Their protests twisted painfully in her chest, she just wanted them safe. Please, she couldn't lose them, not either of them.

The metal switched targets and Kara could tangibly feel the relief.  Magneto's heart rate was up and she'd done something by making herself a primary target. If it didn't end well for her, well...

Kara swallowed the thought. Rao, just let Lena and Alex get away. The familiar raking pain of kryptonite was notably absent, and she would be fine. She wondered if he'd heard, if the catch in her voice was a dead give away. If the uptick in his heart rate was because meeting her eyes was hard when they lit up, or if he knew, somehow, she was ready to give it all for the people standing behind her.

"Always. We've been over this, Magneto. Violence is a last resort, but don't think I won't if I have to." She took a step back, directly over the creaking pipes. A point, she was making one. She settled her own breathing, her heartbeat steady. It wasn't that she wasn't afraid, but she'd been here so many times. Life or death for the people she loved. She was ready. "I don't think I can say anything you want to hear, can I? You came here for something specific, and if I know you at all, you'll take it no matter what I have to say. It's what I will do that matters, and I'm not sure you want this fight. Not right now, not with sentinels surely on their way."

LENA: First Alex and now Supergirl were trying to talk to talk Magneto down, although Supergirl seemed to understand that fists might be the most likely result. But then Supergirl reminded them all of the latest reality — Sentinels. The thought sent anger roiling through her veins: that someone would use her technology to make a police force so targeted that it ignored the larger problem. She knew what they said in the history books about older versions of the Sentinels and it looked nothing short of genocide. Something Lex would have been proud of... and she’d had a hand to play. That was the worst part. In some ways, Magneto was right.

“Why don’t you all leave my property before the Sentinels decide to turn L-Corp into ground zero in their power hunt,” Lena suggested with a slight snarl on her face.

ALEX: Magneto had offered to let her leave when telling her she was pregnant, and maybe she should leave, she had the baby to think about now too. Protecting people, helping people, it was what she did. First it was protecting Kara, then she went to medical school because she wanted to help people, and then she joined the DEO to protect and help people, she couldn't just leave, that wasn't what she did. A green glow surrounded Alex, a personal forcefield that would protect her and the baby, but she was ready to construct a forcefield around Lena too if Magneto turned his attention back to her. Kara and Lena was right though, the sentinels were more than likely on their way and if they had to fight them L-Corp would have more damage than just Lena's office. "I don't think we have much time before the sentinels get here."

ERIK: Sentinels. The very thought of them triggered a firecracker of anger, made the metal in the room shiver with the revulsion their mention stirred. They'd been terrible during the Cold War, and he was no more happy about them now than he had been then. Another, automated way to force powered individuals to suppress the parts of themselves that made humans uncomfortable.

Not for long.

The reminder of them reminded him why he was here, and Erik let the little metallic beetle painstakingly constructed to ferry the Kryptonite close to her crawl down from his back pocket. It skittered silently into the shadows as he kept them distracted with the shimmering metal in the air, shaping itself into dangerous, lashing coils between the three women.

"She made them happen," he snapped, voice raising. "She did this, and now she has the gall to ask us to spare her building destruction at their hands? I should bring it down myself," he snarled, lights sparking above their heads.

Dramatic, but suitably distracting.

The pipes coiled around Supergirl's--Kara's ( no, don't think about her like that now )--ankles, though he didn't expect them to hold. Barely even tried. The silvery tendrils he'd been using before shot towards Lena again.

"She doesn't deserve your protection."

KARA: Kara had learned physics before she came to Earth. It made her middle school Science classes feel like ancient history lessons more than anything, something she continuously rubbed in Alex's face. She knew how metal worked, and in the moment she remembered how it could fracture.

Drop the temperature, and most substances became brittle.

She felt the metal coil around her ankles, but only just. More importantly, her eyes traced the movement of deadly coils shooting towards Lena. Rao, why didn't they just leave when she asked them to?

It didn't matter, what mattered was physics. She turned her attention to the metal moving towards Lena, pulling in a breath and letting it freeze before directing it their way. In the same moment she launched herself towards them, the metal around her ankles barely enough to feel, let alone stop her. Her body connected with the tendrils and they snapped, ice-cold in her hands as she firmly positioned herself so Erik was between her and the windows. All in just the span of a moment, she pulled in another cool breath and released it.

He could fly, right? At the very least, he could direct something to catch him.

She wondered if he fractured the same way metal did. If the cracks would start small, and spread until he broke. She wondered if he'd let himself fly before he let himself break.

She'd stop herself, if he stood his ground in the icy blast of air. She had to, she had to be better. Because it wasn't her right to decide who deserved protection, and who deserved to die.

They weren't gods.

LENA: Watching Supergirl's powers up close was somewhere between awe-inspiring and terrifying. The sudden blast of cold air sent a shiver down her spine and Lena backed up as Supergirl plowed through metal as easily as cutting through paper. Now more than ever she was thankful to be on the same side as the Kryptonian and not on the opposing end of her strength. Lena still remembered the grip of Reign's hand around her throat -- her life in the hands of a being so powerful that somehow was also her friend. "Shit," she muttered, eyes widening as Supergirl turned around to attack Magneto. At this rate, they were going to bring the building down around them.

ALEX: Kara reacted faster than Alex, of course she did she hadn't expected anything else but Alex still constructed a forcefield bubble around herself and Lena, keeping it up this time. She watched her sister using her freeze breath against Magneto after breaking the metal with it, she wasn't sure what Kara's plan was but if there was one person she trusted to know what they were doing it was Kara, especially when it came to Supergirl things. She might be rash sometimes as Maggie had pointed out a few times, but Alex still trusted her sister, trusted her enough to leap off a building without a second thought because she knew Kara would catch her, and she was going to trust her now too. She knew the sentinels were on their way though and the last thing she wanted was for her sister to get arrested, not to mention fighting sentinels would definitely bring this building down, if Supergirl and Magneto didn't do it themselves first.

ERIK: She was brilliant, and in spite of the situation, in spite of what he was here to do, he felt pride rise in his chest. This was one of the things he loved most, when he was teaching and training others: witnessing them fully comfortable with their powers, thinking on their feet and using them in new and creative ways against their opponents, using their academic knowledge in a fight.

He'd anticipated laser vision, perhaps, or an attempt to melt the metal by way of heat. Freezing was unexpected, out of the box, and Erik realized in the moment he was forced to block out the frozen metal or feel the sting as if against his own skin that he had underestimated her. He hadn't seen her fight often, and he was beginning to see why so many tried to avoid that very scenario. Strong fighters were one thing--creative fighters were an entirely different sort of beast.

Incredible.

And then she was turning on him.

The icy blast of air nearly took him back a step. The shock of cold snatched the air right out of his lungs, and Erik had to decide what to do quickly.

Bend, or break?

He'd had to make that call before, but never under circumstances quite like this. He'd started this fight, set it up despite knowing his opponent was one of few that likely could actually kill him. That he believed she wouldn't take that step was why he was here at all. To retreat, regroup, would be an admission of strategic miscalculation in front of three opponents Erik cared little to let see any trace of weakness. And perhaps it was a miscalculation: he'd underestimated her once already. Was he wrong here, too? Could she look him in the eyes and kill him? He didn't think so. She was a bleeding heart, another person with the power to rock the world on its axis who tried so very hard to avoid speaking the language of war that it ran on. She wouldn't kill him. He was sure of it. But was he sure enough to bet his life?

Wrong question--of course he was. He bet his life on his own convictions regularly, had done so for decades.

No, more importantly: was he willing to risk the painstakingly plotted revolution that was to come in just two days' time, the countless mutant lives that could be liberated, on calling Kara's bluff? The pride cometh before the fall, after all. And closer to home: was he willing to risk putting Jean through losing someone else simply for the sake of posturing, mere weeks after the happiest day of her life?

The answer to both of those questions came easy. So Erik locked eyes with Kara, for a moment that felt like eternity with the flash-burn of ice snapping across his skin and biting like fire. And then he gave his ground, let the blast of air carry him off his feet and out into the open air.

In freefall, he felt the bird slide into the driver's seat. He didn't need to think, because he could feel everything. The buzzing network of electricity that ran through this city in a web pulsing at the speed of light, the countless cars and streetlights and rebars contained within just the nearest city blocks, the lines of force emanating from the Earth's core out into the atmosphere and beyond. It wanted to flex, wanted to fly. So rather than pick himself out of a fall with an uncomfortable jolt to the wrists--and the bracelets that sat there--he felt the easy pressure of a forcefield settle at his back like a hammock. Almost peaceful, thirty stories above New York. Except there was still a battle taking place several floors above, one he started and had every intention of finishing. A chess match with players he hadn't crossed before. He caught a silhouette in the window above him, a cape billowing behind, and he grinned up at the figure and offered a wave.

She wanted him out? Fine. Wanted him to catch himself? Sure.

She wasn't the only creative fighter between them.

Ordinarily, something like this would tax him to the limits--if not of power than of concentration, especially with the separate shields up around HQ and the mansion. But the bird had never met a limit it couldn't help its host blast through. So he closed his eyes and reached.

They were expecting him to come back up to the window, that's why Kara was standing watching. Making sure he lived, no doubt ( he'd been right, she wouldn't have killed him ), but likewise squaring up for his answering attack. Of course--retreat, regroup, return.

But that didn't mean he needed to put himself at risk of another hit of frost--or worse. So he sent his little beetle skittering over to the mess of shattered pipe on the floor by the elevator doors. And then those very doors melted down and slunk across the floor. The rubble of frozen pipes might be little but icy scrap metal that stung to feel, but he could feel it, and felt the pieces rattle faintly as what must have been a protective shield while he was in the tower dispersed.

How kind. Just in time.

The fluid metal that had once been Lena's elevator doors reared up behind. Metallic hands lashed out through the flickering field, snatched Lena by the shoulders, and dragged her back--through the open doors into the shaft.

The now-cabless shaft.

Erik knew the physics. 70 stories up, the crash to the bottom would take less than seven seconds. Superspeed in a tight space would be a delicate balance. Weaving the cables across the shaft after Lena would make things even trickier--laser vision or cold pointed in Lena's direction could be lethal if not well-controlled.

Erik hoped, genuinely, that Kara's creativity managed to get her to the woman in time as he let the forcefield around him carry him blocks away and to firm ground once more. He knew, after all, what it was like to be too slow to save someone you loved.

He didn't wish that for her. But his people came first. They always would.

KARA: For a moment, she thought he was going to let himself break. Frost danced around them, the temperature in the room dropping considerably. The metal at her feet cracked and snapped like wood in deep frost and she thought she was going to have to be the one to give. Her stand would be made with her sister and her friend at her back, toe to toe with one of the few people on Earth who could hurt her without breaking a sweat, kryptonite notwithstanding. She thought of fractures again, how they started jagged and small and spread until all structural integrity was null, and if she'd managed to crack Erik at all. Or if he'd known from the beginning she didn't have the heart the truly break him.

He met her eyes before he let his feet get light, and she knew without a doubt it was a choice. There were a dozen ways to stay put, all of which he could manage. But he lifted, and he held her gaze in the moment before he bent. And she was relieved, so relieved as she pulled in a breath and breezed through the frost at her feet. She was, but a part of her knew it wasn't over. The look in his eye hadn't been one of defeat, it had been one of stark, steady defiance; a storm not quelled or settled but centered, waiting for the perfect moment to rage once more.

It had her hands clenching at her sides, her movement in the window restless and unsure as she watched him fall, slow, and wave. This wasn't a battle lost, and she found herself tensing for the next blow, even while unsure exactly when it would fall. Unfortunately, it didn't come as she'd expected. The soft gasp behind her pulled the air from her chest, her heart stutter-stopped, and for a moment time ground to a halt. She heard the metal solidify around Lena, and the drag of her feet across the floor before they dropped over nothing. Seventy floors. On Earth it was 9.8 meters per second squared, but it had never really matched up with Kryptonian Sulls, and it wasn't a simple math equation, it never was. She had approximately seven seconds from the time Lena's feet found empty space at the top of the elevator shaft, and the time they'd come to a sudden halt at the bottom.

One wasted with Kara working her mind around the sound of metal creaking around Lena's chest, and the sound she'd made as she was pulled backwards.

Two. She found herself at the top of the elevator shaft looking down as the tips of Lena's fingers disappeared behind a web of cables. Every obstacle between her and Lena would fall exactly where it absolutely couldn't. And Erik had ensured there were far too many obstacles. She couldn't freeze them, she couldn't melt them, she couldn't–

Three. She just had to be faster. She'd slowed the turn of the Earth once: another Earth, another time. The consequence had been death, written in ink at the end of a book. A twist in fate had seen her live through it, and she hadn't spoken with anyone about it since. She wasn't the Flash, she couldn't fly faster than time, but she could fly faster than 9.8 meters per second squared. Lena's life depended on it.

Four. She broke through the first few layers of interwoven cable and the release in tension echoed with a snap down the elevator shaft. Her fingers barely wrapped around each tendril as it flailed towards Lena, the force tugging even against her strength. Pieces fell, but they all fell at the same rate, right? Five. Just a touch faster, and her arms wrapped around Lena, tucked just lower than her with her cape pulling tight around the both of them. That's when math always came back into play. Two seconds too slow, and humans couldn't just stop. This was a calculation she'd done far too many times, catching cars and trains and space crafts hurtling across the galaxy. She couldn't allow herself to become the floor at the bottom, otherwise it would have all been for naught.

Six. They slow as fast as Kara can manage without hurting Lena, still too fast. The air sucked in around them, and their feet hit the concrete light enough that it didn't crack. It didn't spider or thump, she'd done it! She had only a moment to let out a small cheer before–

Seven, the cables and chunks of metal rained down around them, bouncing off of Kara and the cape she'd flung over the both of them. The cacophony rattled up the walls of the elevator shaft and Kara pulled Lena close, like she could shelter her from the chaos just as surely as she sheltered her from the metal itself. And for a moment it hurt, her own gasp filling the ringing silence left behind once the debris settled.

"We're, ah–we're okay!" She called up to Alex as she pulled the metal that had wrapped itself around Lena away, but something about it made her hands burn. It fell to the floor with one final clank, and Kara took two careful steps back. The feeling faded quickly, and she made a point to pull in a breath. She was Supergirl, she couldn't look weak. "Are you alright?"

Her hands moved restlessly across Lena’s shoulders, all sound zeroed in to her heartbeat. Something burned just beneath the surface, something shifted. But they were safe, they were alright. Lena’s heart thumped too fast, and she could hear Alex breathing hard from the top of the elevator shaft. This wasn’t over, but they were safe.

She thought.

Her eyes found the metal she’d pulled from around Lena, for just a moment, thinking of the way it had burned her hands.

But Lena’s heartbeat was louder, and she had seventy stories to climb. It could wait.

[magewriter]

Rescued

Rescued

I own nothing!

Lena’s been rescued, but recovery is no easy thing.

This is for Thattallnerdybean/Silent_specter! They wanted hurt/comfort, angst, and Supercorp. Not sure how well I covered the angst as that’s not my typical wheelhouse, but I hope they still like this.

Happy Holidays!

________---------------

Lena woke with a cut off scream. Kara jolted awake, tumbling off the bed so she could be between Lena and the door.

“Lena?” Kara turned to her girlfriend.

“Nightmare,” Lena rasped. She took the water Kara had gotten for her.

Her hands were finally healed, fingers once more straight and the nails regrown if still tender. The bruises were gone and the cuts healed to fading scars. She was still in walking casts and her high heels were a distant dream, but her legs were healing.

She took stock of all of this, reminding herself that her nightmare had been just that: a nightmare. The man responsible was behind bars as were those who had helped him. Kara, aided by their friends and family, had rescued her.

It had taken them nearly two months to do so, but they had come for her. Kara had ripped the building apart coming to her aide.

Kara had never given up on her. She had never lost hope that Lena was still alive when everything pointed to the opposite conclusion.

“Movie and cuddles or a bath?” Kara asked softly, taking the empty glass from Lena’s hands.

“Take a bath with me?” Lena fidgeted. “I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“Then you won’t be,” Kara dashed around their apartment, preparing what was needed for a relaxing bath sans wine. “Do you need any of your meds?”

“No,” Lena shook her head. “I’m not ready to sleep again.”

“Okay,” Kara picked Lena up and carried her to the bathroom. “I love your tub. Have I mentioned that, ever? Alex wishes she had a tub like this. She threatened to steal it once. Maggie and Lucy said they’d help her do it to.”

Lena chuckled as Kara told her story. She could see all three mentioned women planning such a heist. Sam would probably help them. If enough alcohol was involved, they might even try it at some point.

She relaxed into the hot water, resting against Kara when the taller woman settled behind her. She felt it as Kara drew nonsense lines and shapes across her skin, her lover slipping into another story. Lena recognized this one as a translation of a myth from Krypton.

“Sometimes I wonder why you still put up with me,” Lena said once Kara’s story had finished.

“I love you,” Kara replied. “That means both the good and the bad.” She snorted. “If your mother continues to fail at getting rid of me, I don’t see why you think some justifiable nightmares would do it.” That was key (in Kara’s mind), reminding Lena that her trauma was valid and she was allowed to be hurt by it even as the physical wounds healed.

“I wish they would stop.” Lena was just so tired of everything. She hated waking up, thinking even for a moment she was still chained in that room. She could no longer stand the feel of silk or satin on her skin. Soft pillows were tolerable only when Kara was with her. Her skirts and dresses hung unworn in their shared closet.

“I know,” Kara murmured, tightening her hold just a little to assure Lena that she was awake. She began to hum, thinking. “We only have PT today.”

“We both still have work,” Lena reminded her, already knowing where Kara was going with her statement.

“I know for a fact that you only have paperwork waiting for you, and you were going to only be there for a half-day.” Kara grinned. “HR loves when I use my off-time. You know, Suzy from HR is almost as scary as Pam at the DEO?” Kara snickered at Lena’s snort. “She is! She yelled at Snapper in his own bullpen!”

“She did not.”

“She did,” Kara nodded. “I heard her do it.”

“Alright, but I still-”

“No, you really don’t.” Kara rubbed one of the spots that were still tender. “Jess will send you anything that absolutely needs your signature. No one who matters is going to judge that we took a day off.”

“And what will we do on this ‘day off’?” Lena gave in. She didn’t really wish to be in her office anyway. She was still banned from the labs until her legs were out of casts completely.

“Well, you still have Disney movies to catch up on so there’s that.” Kara grinned at Lena’s huff. “I also have a surprise. It was going to wait until after PT, but if we’re not going back to bed then I can show you now.”

“Darling, just because-” It was awkward, but Kara still managed to cut her off with a kiss.

“I’ll get some sun later and be fine. Unless you want me to, I’m not leaving you alone. Even if you don’t want to speak about them, nightmares are best dealt with together.”

“Okay,” Lena never argued when Kara used that tone. She knew her girlfriend understood about nightmares. Kara still dealt with them from when she watched her planet explode and her time in the Phantom Zone.

Kara also never gave her the platitude of ‘give it time’. Sometimes she wanted Kara to get frustrated with her, but if the Kryptonian did she did it where Lena wouldn’t hear it.

They got out of the bath and into sweatpants and t-shirts. The clothing was soft and comfortable, a far cry from anything that had originally been in her closet. Kara loosely braided her hair, pulling her own back as well.

“You sit here, I’ll be right back.”

Lena looked bemused at the fact their dining room table was covered in an old bedsheet. It had to be one of Kara’s, given the dried paint splatter and faded crisscross pattern.

“I wasn’t entirely certain, so I pretty much got one of everything.”

“Oh my…” Lena began to giggle, going into full on laughter as Kara piled LEGO and science kits onto one end of the table and the floor beside it. “What is all this?”

“I know you still can’t get into either of your labs, so,” she waved her hands over the pile of choices. “Alex and Winn helped me find them. Although, I think Alex might want to be here when the more explosive ones happen.”

“Is that a dinosaur Kinetic kit?”

“Yep!” Kara piled the five different kits beside Lena.

That was how they spent the next several hours. Lena soon had a small army of parts and finished figures. Kara had amused herself by sketching, mostly Lena.

“Kara?”

“Hm?” She looked up from her sketchpad.

“Thank you, for this.” Lena didn’t know the last time she felt this relaxed.

“Are you feeling better?”

A little confused, Lena nodded. “Yes actually.”

“You never need to thank me for that.” Kara got up, pressing a kiss to Lena’s cheek. “I’m going to get breakfast. Try not to plan a real world Jurassic Park while I do that.”

“Darling, if I created it, there would have been adequate safety features. I also would never splice together different dinosaurs.”

Kara left, giggling over Lena’s continued arguments over the fallacies of a fictional theme park.

[fernwehbookworm]

Woke the F*ck Up- Chapter 21

April 5th, 2018

“All right everyone! That’s it. Make sure to drink water and walk around a bit because that was an intense forty-five minutes. Remember, next week is Spin with a Friend and your friend gets in for free. Please pre-register, it fills up fast.” Kara calls after her escaping class. She smiles at their exhausted faces, knowing that despite the complaints, that almost all of them would be back for the next class. She hops off her own bike and begins toweling off the sweat from her arms, neck, and stomach.

“Hey, Coach K!” Kara jumps at the bright voice of the woman standing a little too close.

“Hey, Amanda. What can I do for you?” Kara asks her. She was a regular at her gym since the beginning.

“Well, I’ve been coming here for a while and I…” Amanda trails off, biting her lip and glancing away.

“What is it, Amanda? Is something wrong?”

“No! No. I was just wondering if maybe you would like to… Would you like to go on a date with me?”

“Oh, umm… well…” Kara was caught completely off guard.

“Forget it. It’s stupid. I should go.” Amanda hikes her bag higher on her shoulder, face beet red. Kara catches her wrist to keep her from running away.

“I’m sorry Amanda. I am so flattered. Really. I am just not in a good place right now.” Kara tries to let her down gently.

“Right. I saw the tabloids, I just didn’t realize they were true.”

“They aren’t,” Kara says tersely, but she sees the hurt in Amanda’s face.

“I’m sorry. As you can see, it’s very complicated, and it wouldn’t be fair to you at all.”

“I get it, Kara. It’s fine. Just thought I’d shoot my shot. Seems I missed.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara says.

“Please, there is nothing to apologize for.”

“Still, I’m sorry.”

“I’ll see you around Kara.” Amanda touches Kara’s shoulder before leaving the room. Kara exhales. Amanda was a sweet woman, but, if Kara was honest, she felt her and Lena were becoming something and as long as there was that hope, no one could change Kara’s heart. Kara grabs her gym bag and heads to let her employees at the front that she should be in her office. Then she heads down to see if Winn has anything new.

“Nothing. Nada. Zippo.” Winn says in lieu of a greeting. Kara sighs and sits next to him.

“Where could she be?”

“An Alternate Universe?”

“I think that would be easier to find,” Kara says, rubbing at her temples. Kara’s phone begins to ring.

“It’s Lena,” Kara tells Winn, heading over to her living space to answer it from the comfort of her couch.

“Hey, Lee.”

“Hey, Kara. Just taking a break from recording. I was wondering if you had any news?”

“Ugh no. Nothing new. Hows that banjo going?” Kara can practically hear the eye roll.

“Wonderfully. It turned out better than I thought. Sam is still skeptical. But don’t change the subject. You really have nothing?”

“We just can’t find her. It’s like she has disappeared. Wherever she is, it doesn't exist.”

“I’m sorry Kar, I wish I could help. Besides the kidnapping, I haven't spoken to my mother since before Lex… Wait. Doesn't Exist. I have an idea.”

“What is it, Lee?”

“Luthor Mansion.”

“I’m sorry. Did you say mansion?”

“Yes. My father’s family were upper class in Scotland. Then my great-grandfather came over to the New World, giving up his inheritance. He barely scraped by, dying and leaving my grandfather an orphan. He spent his life being a petty thief. Rumor is he got in with the wrong crowd and committed murder before he and my grandmother died in a fire. Lionel basically built himself an empire from those ashes and the insurance claim. When Lionel had the money, he bought out what was left of the Luthor family in Scotland, then, just because he could, he had the family mansion shipped over, brick by brick, and meticulously reconstructed here. Well, right outside of Smallville.” Lena pauses as Kara absorbs these new facts about Lena’s family.

“Okay. So what are you getting at?”

“That mansion, is on a huge property, most of it undeveloped forests. All off the public record. Also, my father installed cloaking devices around the actual mansion so it is obscured to satellites. Basically, it doesn't exist.”

“Wait, so, your family has a secret mansion and this is the first I’m hearing of it?”

“Well, I haven't been since I was a child, and it went to Lex after Lionel died. It should go to me after his trial. But until then, well I haven't thought about it since I was ten. Once the Smallville Luthor Factor was closed, Lionel didn’t want to go back.”

“Thank you, Lee. We will check it out. Are you coming back for the trial?” Kara hears Lena sigh.

“I don’t know. I’ve been asked to testify. It's just hard, and I feel...confused.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be there to help you through this. But he is still your brother, it is okay to be sad. Talk with Sam to work through it. Even if you don’t go to the trial, maybe you would still be willing to come to this side of the pond?” Kara asks hopefully.

“If I’m not going to the trial then I want to be as far from that courtroom as possible. I’ll let you know though.”

“Okay. I’ll call you if Winn finds anything on the Luthor Mansion.”

“Please do. I want my mother caught just as much as you do. I’ll text the coordinates. Bye, Kara.”

“Goodbye Lee.”

Kara walks back over to sit with Winn, her phone dings with coordinates from Lena. She fills Winn in on what Lena told her and he plugs the coordinates into his system. It takes a moment for the maps to load. Kara waits in tense silence. This is the closest they had come. Disappoint sweeps through her as an image of treetops fill the screen.

“Well, You did say there was cloaking. Give me a few minutes.” Winn’s fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed lines of code. A lot of things happened that Kara didn’t really understand. But then, suddenly, it was like layers being stripped away and there was a sprawling roof nestled between the pines.

“There it is!” Kara exclaims. Winn flinches away from the sudden outburst.

“I’m going to work on getting live imagining. But that’s going to take longer. Maybe go set some arrangements because if you want to get there by tomorrow you should leave as soon as possible. I don’t think you should fly because you’ll need all your equipment. Smallville is pretty far away.”

“Your right. I’ll be back soon.”

After an hour, Kara has contacted her manager and assistant manager to cover her shifts for a small bonus. Making excuses to her employees about going to Metropolis to hunt for possible expansion location for the gym. Which technically was true because Winn was already in contact with a realtor there. Then Kara went out the front door to grab her bike before getting food for her and Winn and returning to their secret entrance. She plopped the breakfast burritos in front of him as his eyes stare intently at the screen. Kara looks at what he is staring at, confused at the red moving dots overlaying the image of the house.

“Okay, so I may have acquired access to a couple of different satellites. This is thermal imaging, each red blob here is a person. It looks like there are at least fifteen men patrolling. This one here, that one hasn’t left that area so I think that may be Lillian. It’s hard to tell without any schematics of the building. You will be going in practically blind.”

“I still have to go. If there is a chance that Lillian is in that house, I need to put an end to it.”

“Okay. I do have a new toy for you. In your mask, I installed new lenses, they can switch to thermal to help you see through walls. That should give you an advantage in unknown territory.”

“Thanks, Winn! Okay, I’m going to finish my food and go.”

“Shouldn’t you bring Alex in on this?”

“Not yet. If I tell her now she will pull the federal card and forbid me to go, then they will cause a standoff and I just know that Lillian will slip away again. I’ll call her on the way so I can have a head start.”

“Okay. I’ve programmed the fastest route into your motorcycles computer.”

“Where would I be without you Winn?” Kara stands and squeezes his shoulder as she scarfs down the rest of her burrito. She heads to change out of her work out clothes and pack her suit into the bike.

“Probably dead.” Winn mumbles, but Kara doesn’t hear it.

**

April 6th, 2018

“And why the hell didn’t you call me before you left?” Alex yells into the phone

“Because you would have told me to stand down,” Kara replied calmly, zipping up her jacket, black instead of her normal red and blue, and fixing her mask into place. She was still in the cover of the woods surrounding the house, driving up as close as she could without risking being heard. She would go the rest of the way on foot.

“You’re damn right. Do not go in there. I am taking a helicopter to our metropolis branch and I’ll be there in three hours. Their assault team is already assembling to move as soon as I get there.” Kara could hear helicopter blades start to kick up in the background. Alex was moving fast.

“Sorry, sis. I’m already here. I can’t risk her escaping again. I already tried it your way and she escaped. Now I’m trying my way.”

“Ugh, Kara! Do not-”

“Sorry!Can’tHearYouOverTheSoundOfTheHelicoptor.Bye!” Kara rushes out and hangs up, cutting her sister off. She will pay for that later.

Kara set off in the direction of the mansion and called Lena.

“We think we have her. I’m headed to the mansion now. Satellite imaging shows sixteen people inside.”

“What? Seriously?”

“Yeah. Just wanted to let you know before I go in.”

“Please tell me you aren't going in alone to take on sixteen people.”

“Alex is on her way,” Kara says in a slightly higher pitch than normal.

“And are you waiting on her?”

“No…”

“Kara…”

“I’m sorry. I can’t risk it. I can’t let her get away again. What if…” Kara trails off.

“She kidnaps me again?”

“I can’t risk it. I need to end this. Today.”

“You aren't going to…”  Lena says slowly.

“Oh, no! That’s why I called Alex. The authorities can take care of the justice. I just want to make sure she can’t escape again.”

“Please, be safe.”

“I will.”

“Good.” A moment of silence and then the line disconnects. Kara takes a deep breath before dialing Winn.

“Overwatch at your command PG.” Kara rolls her eyes.

“I’m half a mile out. Anything new?”

“No, it’s all the same. Patrols look like they are pretty well spaced out, three circling the outside the rest are inside. From what I’ve timed out, they will change shifts in an hour.”

“Copy that.”

Kara reaches the tree line and watches from the shadows in the fading light of day. The patrols were regularly spaced which would give Kara an opening to take them out. She slips from the tree line and into the shrubbery surrounding the imposing building, behind one man and before the next rounds the corner. She lets the first man go. When the second man is close enough, Kara lunges out, covering his mouth and injecting him with Winn’s Night-Night Serum. The Man collapses on Kara and she drops him in the bushes. She does the same thing twice more, knocking each man unconscious as they made their rounds. Then she slips into the window and into a vacant room on the first floor.

She turns on the thermal imaging and begins assessing what to do next. She is in a room stacked with boxes, it all looks like its stuff that has been stored away for several years. From what she could tell, there were five men on this floor, five on the second, and six faint signatures on the third floor. She turns it off, the different colors throwing her off. Everything is dark and quiet, except for the muffled sound of boots passing outside the door. Kara listens intently. She hears the man turn at the end of the hall and start back towards the door. Quickly, Kara gets to the door and cracks it open, the moment she sees the man’s back, she springs out and injects him. He goes limp immediately and Kara drags him into the storage room. She shuts the door behind herself and enters the elegant hallway. An expensive lush carpet runs across the deep mahogany floors. Art lines the walls, painting and vases and tapestries. All of it was cast in shadows and made uncertain shapes in the dark.

Just before she rounds the next corner, Kara hears the next man and ducks behind a pedestal and knocks the man out from behind again using another syringe. She lays him in the shadow against the wall and continues on. Trying to take out each man as she goes without raising an alarm. Soon the first floor is clear and she finds stairs tucked away in a corner, old servants stairs she assumes, to do the same on the second floor. Dust seems to cover most surfaces that are not covered in white sheets. The mansion had not been lived in a long time. Kara gets to the next floor using the servant stairs again. The third floor poses more of a problem. Kara can see lights are on and when she cracks the door, the rest of the doors in the hallway are open. It is most definitely being used as the main living space. Kara hears two deep voices talking and quickly shuts the door again without making a noise.

Kara turns back on the thermal imaging. One man is lying prone in what Karra assumes is a bedroom. Two guard the door right outside the servant's door and two are patrolling the long hall. Kara definitely not in a good position to take each of them out. The last heat signature is sitting bent over a desk behind the guarded door. Lillian. Kara is trying to think, going over her mental map of what she has seen so far to find a way without a major fight that would allow Lillian to slip away again. Winn beeps in on her comm.

“DEO is five minutes out. What should I tell Alex?” Kara chews her bottom lip, thinking.

“Have them come in the front. That should pull the guards off the door and I can grab Lillian before she has a chance to go anywhere.”

“Copy that.”

So Kara waits. It feels like an hour but she knows it really is minutes. Suddenly, a crash echos through the building. Shouting and indistinct chatter reaches Kara’s ears. Through the thermal, she sees one of the men reach for an ear.

“Alpha team, come in. Alpha! Beta team! Shit. You go hold them off. I’ll get Ms. Luthor out of here.” Kara hears. The second man nods and raises his gun, moving with towards the commotion with the others. Kara sees her opening. She turns off the thermal and opens the door.

The man had turned to open the office door. He saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. His hand flies up to his trigger but Kara is faster. She kicks his hand away and hears the small snapping of fingers breaking. He cries out but grabs a knife from his tactical vest with his good hand, swinging it at Kara. Kara doges to the side, grabbing the extended and twisting it until the shoulder dislocates. Then she drugs him and allows him to slump to the floor. Gunshots ring out behind her and Kara fights off the worry for her sister as she opens the door to the office. She sees a frantic Lillian packing papers into a suitcase.

“Henshaw, we have to go now. Radio the helicopter.”

“Your sorry excuse for a bodyguard is unconscious,” Kara says, leaning against the door frame. Lillian’s head jerks up and every muscle tenses.

“How did you get in here?” She asks cooly, slowly continuing to put the papers away.

“A window.” Kara shrugs.

“And how did you find me?”

“Your daughter. She wants you behind bars as much as I do.”

“She has always been a disappointment.”

Kara laughs then. She laughs at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Lena is the only Luthor not in jail or dead.”

“I’m not in jail,” Lillian states, still rummaging about her desk. Kara hears the tactical team coming down the hallway.

“You will be soon. Those gunshots are a government assault team on their way here to arrest you.”

“I don’t think so.” Lillian pulls a gun and shoots before Kara can react. The impact hits her shoulder and nearly knocks Kara off her feet. Kara pulls her Night-Night gun and fires.

“Shit, that’s going to hurt later.” Kara rubs her shoulder to make sure her jacket is still in one piece. Kara silently thanks Winn for his genius, both for the suit and the sleep serum. She slumps back against the door frame.  

“Kara!” Alex yells as she sees Kara hunched over. Boots pound down the corridor and suddenly her sister’s face appears before her. She was in full tactical gear, gloved hands cupped her face turning her from side to side, then checking down her arms and looking for bullet holes. Kara silently points to the wood frame where the bullet ricocheted and embedded itself.

“Don’t worry. Nothing broken. No bleeding.” Kara manages.

“Is she…?” Alex nods towards where one of her men is inspecting Lillian.

“Asleep. Wi- Overwatch’s Night-Night gun. There are three men outside, and five on each the first two floors also.” Kara says, aware of the DEO agents milling about as they wait for Alex to take command.

“And you are sure you are fine? Just the bruised shoulder?”

“Yes. I am fine.”

“Good,” Alex says. Then she punches Kara, hard, in her bad shoulder.

“Fuck! What was that for?” Kara grabs her shoulder.

“For not waiting. You make me so mad sometimes. And worried. And mad. Now go. Get out of here before you completely ruin my crime scene. I’ll see you back in National City.”

“And you will personally put her behind bars?” Kara asks.

“Yes. This is finally over.” Alex says. Kara sighs out in relief and stands up, wincing in pain. She pats her sister on the shoulder and walks away.

“Overwatch?”

“Yeah, PG?”

“Call Lena for me and patch her through. I can’t reach my phone in the hidden pocket right now.”

“Of course. Give me a moment.” Kara hears a beep and the dial tone.

“Kara?” Lena asks.

“It’s over. The DEO is taking your mother into custody.”

“It’s really over?”

“Yes, Lee. Alex is not leaving her side. She won’t be getting away this time.” Silence from the other end. Then Kara is sure she hears a muffled sob.

“Lee?” she says softly.

“I-I’m sorry. I d-didn’t realize h-how relieved I-I would f-feel about t-this. It’s l-like a weight has b-been l-lifted off my chest.” Lena stutters out between sobs. Kara hears a couple of deep breaths.

“Thank you,” Lena says softly.

“You're Welcome. She needed to be stopped. Now, call Sam. I don’t want you alone right now.”

“Y-yes. You’re right. I’m calling her now. Thank you again, Kara.”

“Goodbye Lee, I’ll see you soon.” Kara hears the beep of Lena hanging up as she sneaks out the back door. The front of the house being flooded with DEO agents.

“Overwatch?”

“Back yard is clear. Do you want to come straight back or would you like me to get you a hotel room?”

“I’m just coming back. I’m tired but I want to sleep in my own bed.”

“Copy that.”

**

April 7th, 2018

Kara rummaged in her freezer for anything cold to put on her shoulder. It was an ugly black and purple blotch. She settles on the bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel. Kara slumps on her couch, wincing slightly at chill before sighing in relief. She props her feet up on the coffee table and turns on the news. The story had broke about Lillian’s arrest and now was plastered on almost every outlet; newspapers, television, internet sites, magazines. Kara watched different news anchors argue about everything involved in it, from Cadmus to crime rates to Powergirls involvement. Some debated whether or not the arrest was even legal. Kara scoffed at that.

A quick knock on the door precedes an exhausted-looking Alex. She throws her keys on the counter and her jacket on a stool before flopping down next to Kara. Alex pinches the bridge of her nose and squeezes her eyes. Kara just watches her sister, waiting for her to say whatever is on her mind.

“I am still mad at you,” Alex says without looking at Kara.

“I know. But I am not sorry.”

“You could have been killed.”

“Please. That was the easiest infiltration I have had with Cadmus. Lillian relied too much on the houses invisibility to up the security. Although I am pretty sure she was nearly out of money.”

“You’re right. She wasn’t able to destroy her files. From what we gathered, she was lying low until she gathered more investors. We are still decrypting some emails of potential co-conspirators. Also, Lillian had a database with her network but that may take a few days also. Seems you surprised her.”

“Yeah,” Kara says quietly. They both watch the news for a bit.

“I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Kara says softly.

“I know, me too. But Lillian is on a constant rotating guard of the most classified agents. Each will be debriefed after every shift with at least three days in between. She won’t be able to buy or blackmail anyone. She is in isolation with zero human contact at a DEO black site. We have torn that mansion apart and seized everything. It’s over.”

“I hope so,” Kara says. Alex pats her knee.

“How’s the shoulder?” Alex asks. Kara removes her makeshift ice pack to show the unsightly blemish. Her sister winces in sympathy.

“Yeah, it may not be so bad if someone hadn’t punched me right after being shot.” Kara elbows Alex in jest.

“Well someone wouldn’t have been shot if they waited for back up.” Alex shoots back with a raised eyebrow.

“Touche. I’m still not sorry.”

“I don’t expect you to be. But what will you do now? Now that Cadmus is being dismantled and Lex and Lillian will hopefully rot in jail until their last breath.”

“I don’t know. Power Girl, she was everything. She made me feel complete in a way that I haven't since Jeremiah’s death. But now, this gym Winn and I have built, its something. It’s going to be something. I feel like maybe I should dedicate my time to that. Vigilantism is not something I can grow old in. One day, someone could get lucky. No matter how many precautions I take. I saw that when Lillian nearly killed me all those months ago, but I couldn’t walk away from it then.”

“As your big sister and your best friend, I support you in any decision. But also, I worry about you every day. It would make me feel so much better if you didn’t put your life at risk every day.”

“Says the federal agent.” Kara shoots back.

“Hey, mine is not every day. And actually, my director, J’onn, he wants to start training me to take the position of Director. Which means it will be less field work.” Alex says. Kara squeals and hugs her sister.

“That is amazing! But don’t you love being in the field?”

“I do. But, I have been doing a lot of thinking and I need to make new steps in my life. Being director will help regulate my hours, no long steak outs, or cross country jaunts. I have done a job I love for a long time, but I think I want something more now.” Alex squeezes her sister's hand.

“What is that?”

“Love, a wife, maybe even a family. I mean the whole reason Maggie and I broke up was our different view on kids. I want that. I want to raise a little girl and take her to karate class at your gym. I want to teach her to drive and how to break out of handcuffs. But I can’t do that if I’m staring down the barrel of a gun every other day.”

“I want that for you too. Guess I need to work on adding some children’s classes. Oooh, or how about ‘Kara’s Kids Corner!’” Kara stands, excitedly emphasizing the title with her hands. Alex laughs and pulls her sister back down to the couch with her.

“Okay, goober. Sit down. That would be wonderful. But that is a long way down the line. I also want to find love.”

“What about Sam? I mean I know you guys saw each other a couple of times. And you seemed very happy, as happy as you were with Maggie, I think.” Kara asks.

“We did have fun. But the distance isn’t exactly feasible.”

“Fine, but I know you’ll find love. Oh, what about Vasquez?”

“What? No! First, she has a girlfriend. Secondly, she is technically my subordinate and that is just weird and against policy.”

“I’m not giving this up. I’ll be the best wing-woman ever.”

“What about you?” Alex asks, Kara hesitates, just long enough to be saved by the delivery guy knocking on the door.

“Who knows? I’m just taking my life one day at a time.” Kara gets up to grab the cash and relieve the teenage worker of the large amount of food.

“So what are we watching tonight?” Kara changes the subject before her sister could pry further.

**

April 11th, 2018

Kara dropped the man off the edge of the roof; his cry, muffled by the gag, cuts short as the rope is yanked taught just above the nondescript car. She hears a faint cry from the occupant and the woman emerges on a mass of wild hair and cursing. She casts about before looking up at the hooded figure above her, illuminated by the full moon.

“Good Evening, Detective Sawyer. It’s been a while since we spoke face to face.” Kara greets, voice modulator distorting her voice. The detective crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow.

“Power Girl; it’s more like face to mask. At least you didn’t dent my cruizer this time.”

“Live and learn.” Kara shrugs.

“So is this what you're doing now? Hog-tying low-lifes?"

“Cadmus is almost completely dismantled. Think of me as an exterminator, killing off the roaches that got away and squirmed into the cracks and crevices of the city. We don’t need anyone trying to fill the power vacuums.” Kara takes half a step forward, plopping down on the edge of the two-story building, allowing her feet to dangle over the detectives head.

“So how am I supposed to book this guy?” Maggie pokes the man, causing him to swing and protest through the gag.

“Three ounces of cocaine in his breast pocket. The gun in his waistband matches a homicide from two weeks ago. Oh, and he is high right now. Take your pick.”

“Well don’t you know how to treat a girl,” Maggie says, getting into her cruiser and putting on rubber gloves to pat the man down and bag the evidence.

“What can I say? I’m a pleaser. Are you good?” Kara asks, indicating the swinging man. Maggie nods.

“I bet, too bad blonde is not my type.” Maggie puts the evidence in her car.

Kara pulls out one of her knives and easily slices through the thick rope. The man hits his head the side of Maggie’s hood before hitting the ground, knocking him unconscious.

“Ah, come on. I just got this car.” Maggie complains.

“Sorry Detective. Guess my aim was a little off.”

“Dent my car again and you better hope my aim is off,” Maggie says, only half joking. Kara laughs and gets back to her feet.

“I’ll keep that in mind next time.” Kara turns to go.

“Power Girl!” Maggie calls out.

“Thank you, thank you for making this city safer again.”

“This is my city too, Detective. I couldn’t sit by anymore. Cadmus has hurt people I care about. At least now it’s almost over.”

“What will you do when it is over?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m just taking my life one day at a time.” Kara jumps off the ledge and runs across the roof into the night.

“Wait! How am I supposed to get him in the car!” Maggie cries after her, getting no response.

“Good luck, Kara.” Maggie whispers.

[argyle-s]

Summary:

Adam arrives in National City, and has dinner with Cat and Kara. Lena and Astra go on their first date.

Notes:

I just want to give everyone a head's up well ahead of time. Chapter 64 of Devils in the Dark will be the last chapter of this story. It will post on September 14th, baring any unforeseen circumstances. At that time, Future Shock will go on a brief hiatus. My current plan is to start posting Future Shock Part 3: A Plague of Righteousness, on November 30. That means, basically, that there will be ten weeks without Future Shock.

I am really, really sorry this has to happen, but I'll be honestly. I have put out weekly, and sometimes more than weekly updates for Future Shock every week since February 11, of 2018. During that time, I also wrote and posted 13 Chapters of Something Just Like This as well as writing eleven other Supergirl stories, one of which is 190,000 words long (more on that in a minute).

Simply put folks, I am tired, and as hard as I have been busting my ass, I am only 45,000 words into A Plague of Righteousness. The ten weeks left between now and when the last chapter of this story posts is just not enough to make me feel comfortable with being able to get enough done to keep a consistent posting schedule. So, Future Shock is taking a break to give me time to get more of A Plague of Righteousness written before I start posting it.

That said, I do have some good news for you. Especially if you are a Sanvers fan, or a fan of the Midvale era Alex and Kara. Two weeks from today, I am going to start posting Taking In Strays, which is the first story in a new series called Little Girls Lost. Taking in Strays is 190,000 words, and divided into 19 chapters. It's a Sanvers High School AU. There will eventually be a sequel, which will be written and posted once Future Shock is finished. But the idea for the timing is simple. The last 9 Chapters of Devils in the Dark will go up side by side with the first 9 chapters of Taking In Strays. The last 10 chapters of Taking In Strays will cover the gap between Devils in the Dark and A Plague of Righteousness. Then, on November 30th, A Plague of Righteousness will start posting, and hopefully, it will roll right into In The Shadow of Rao, but I will be honest. That depends entirely on how quickly I can turn out A Plague of Righteousness.

So, if you don't want to miss anything, please, subscribe to author alerts.

Preview:

Monday, January 18, 2016

“Yeeessss you want you! Look at her, you know you do. It’s possible she wants you too. There’s one way to ask her. It don't take a word, not a single word. Go on and kiss the girl, kiss the girl,” Kara sang as she swung her Midnight Blue Aston Martin Rapide around a tight corner and headed towards Paramount on the Bay. “Sha la la la la la, My oh my! Looks like the girl's too shy-”

The song cut out, and Nimda said, “Lady Kara, Ms. Grant is asking to speak to you.”

“Put her through,” Kara said. “Hey, love.”

“Hello, Darling,” Cat said. “Where are you?”

“I’m about five minutes from the Paramount,” Kara said. “Why, is something wrong?”

“Nothing J’onn couldn’t handle,” Cat said. “I just wanted to make sure you were going to arrive on time.”

“Is that why you shoved me out the door this morning without so much as a goodbye kiss?” Kara asked.

“I just wanted to give you some incentive. The sooner you get to work, the sooner you can collect on that kiss I owe you,” Cat said.

“Why, Ms. Grant, are you suggesting we engage in a public display of affection in the office?” Kara asked.

“There won’t be anything public about it,” Cat said.

“Oh, that’s definitely motivation,” Kara said. “But barring a Cadmus attack, or supervillain shenanigans, I’ll have Carter to school early enough for his club meeting and be back at the office in time for the meeting with Astra, Lena, Sam and Zora.”

“Excellent,” Cat said. “Then you’ll have time to bring me a latté on your way back.”

“You called me to ask me to bring you a coffee?” Kara said, not able to keep the grin off her face or out of her voice. “Don’t we have three very well-paid assistants for that?”

“Jacob is still working on the treaty for the aquatic reclamation project. Jason never gets my order right, and Artemis spends so much time flirting with that purple-haired girl with the nose ring that my Latté is always cold,” Cat said.

Kara knew perfectly well that the request had nothing at all to do with the temperature of Cat’s coffee, because Konex, Gonk or Kleenex could have all prepared her an absolutely perfect Latté and transmatted it to her while it was still piping-hot. Requests like this were always about something else. Something had happened that hurt Cat, and she needed a little bit of attention and special treatment to feel like herself again.

“No problem,” Kara said. “One piping-hot latté for my lady love.”

“Of course,” Cat said. “Just make sure you’re on time picking up Carter.”

Ah. It had something to do with Carter then, which let Kara guess the rest.

“I’m pulling up to the Paramount now. Anthony knows I’m coming?” Kara asked.

“Yes,” Cat said, and her tone was enough to confirm Kara’s suspicions that he’d said something to her.

“He wanted to keep Carter until this Cadmus business was over,” Cat said.

“What?” Kara said.

“I told him it was out of the question,” Cat said, “but he said that if there’s another attack on CatCo, he’s calling his lawyer and suing for full custody.”

Keep reading on AO3

[al-damnvers-spam]

Could you do an agentcorp where Alex is nervous to ask Lena out but has been wanting to for a while now so one night she works up the courage to kiss her maybe during a fight because Alex almost died saving the world type thing

I have several prompts that came in before this one, but I had muse to write this one first, so… Enjoy!

There’s nothing like almost dying to get you to finally admit you’re in love with someone.

Lena and Alex were both anxious and oblivious, so the fact that this hadn’t happened yet wasn’t really surprising. All of their friends could tell how they felt for each other, but they didn’t seem to have a clue. No amount of hinting and even directly talking about it from Kara and Sam could get them to realize the truth. Alex had been working up the courage for a long time to ask out Lena, but kept claiming it just “wasn’t the right time”. Until, that is, she realized that it was now or never. 

On a world saving mission gone wrong, Alex had made the decision to sacrifice herself for the sake of keeping the world intact. Lena was sitting in one of the DEO labs, working on some research, when the team came back, with Alex being rushed to the med bay. Lena was up in an instant, hurrying to see what was going on. 

“Is she okay? What’s going on?” She asked Kara, who refused to move from her sister’s side.

“She got hurt, trying to sacrifice herself, and she’s- she’s bleeding out, Lena. They’re trying to close the wound, but it could take hours. We don’t have that kind of time.”

“Maybe we don’t need that kind of time…” Lena murmured, her mind working at a mile a minute. 

“What do you mean?”

“I have something at L-Corp, a nanotechnology that will close the wound temporarily until the doctors can close it permanently. I can call Eve and have her bring it over.” 

“No. I’ll go get it. It’ll only take me a second to fly over there.” Kara said, though she clearly seemed torn over leaving Alex’s side. 

“Kara, it’s okay, I can stay with her. You’ll only be gone a few minutes.” Lena said gently. Kara still looked unsure, but nodded.

“Okay. Whatever it takes so I don’t lose her.”

“You won’t lose her.” 

Kara paused a moment. “Neither will you.” Before Lena could ask what she meant, Kara had flown out to go to L-Corp. Lena quickly texted Eve to tell her what Kara would need, then moved to sit by Alex’s side. 

“You’re going to be okay, Alex. I promise.” She said softly.

A minute or two later, Kara came back with the technology that Lena had mentioned. As soon as it was prepared, Lena carefully injected it into the area near Alex’s wound. Within moments, it was starting to close up. While the doctors worked for the next couple of hours to get it closed completely, Lena stayed at the DEO to comfort Kara. Once the surgery was done, Kara went in first to see Alex and Lena distracted herself with various work in the lab until Kara knocked on the door gently. 

“She wants to see you.”

“She’s awake?”

“Yes. And she wants to talk to you.”

“She should rest.”

“You know her, Lena. She’s too stubborn.” Kara chuckled softly. Lena gave a slight smile before heading to the med bay. She knew she wouldn’t like the sight of Alex lying in the bed like that, but it hit her like punch to the gut. As tired as she looked, though, she was sitting up with the help of many pillows. A ghost of a smile crossed her lips when she saw Lena enter.

“Hey…” Alex said softly. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I should have died. But I’m alive, thanks to you.” 

“I didn’t–”

“Kara told me what you did. Thank you, Lena.”

“That’s what anyone would do for someone they love, it’s not all that special.”

“You love me?” Alex asked, regarding Lena with a look of surprise. Fearing she’d overstepped, Lena immediately began apologizing. 

“I’m sorry, that was out of line, and I shouldn’t have said anything–”

“No, Lena, it’s fine, I just… I was going to tell you that I love you and you beat me to it. I’ve been meaning to for a long time, but… it’s just so difficult to find the right time to say it. But after almost dying, well, I realized that I can’t wait any longer. I had to tell you.” Alex chuckled softly, then winced at how much it hurt to even do that. She had to fight not to giggle at the look of sheer shock on the other woman’s face. “Lena? You okay?”

“Just… very, very relieved. And I’m very relieved that you’re okay. I love you, Alex Danvers.”

“I love you too, Lena Luthor. You want to go on a date?” 

“I know you’re stubborn about staying still even when you’re injured, Danvers, but you’re on bed rest for the next two weeks, at the very least.”

“So? We’ll make Kara bring us some pizza or something and we’ll just eat it right here. Just because I can’t go anywhere, doesn’t mean we can’t go on a date.” 

Lena couldn’t help but smile at Alex’s logic. “Sure. Okay. But you’re spending the rest of the day resting, okay?”

“Fine. Stay a little while?” 

“Of course, Alex. I’ll be right here.” 

Alex smiled and tried to lean over to kiss her, but didn’t get very far. Lena saw what she was trying to do and closed the gap between them. It was gentle and soft, but it was sweet and just what each of them had been hoping for.

As Alex fell asleep a few minutes later, she was perfectly happy with her life, despite the painful wound in her stomach. She had a date with Lena Luthor. Somehow, that was all she needed to be happy. 

[oreoambitions]

For Kara and Lena: things you said when i was crying

Kara is crying on the back stoop of the bar when Lena finds her altogether by accident.

Honestly, it's not the kind of place Lena expected to find herself, let alone National City's resident superhero. Lena isn't exactly prone to bar hopping, but Sam is in town and she's heard of this place where even a Kryptonian can get a good buzz going, and Lena has agreed - however reluctantly - to accompany her. But bars are by their very nature loud and overwhelming, and this bar is also a little humid, a little musty, a little crowded for Lena's tastes, and she needs just a minute outside to clear her head and her lungs before the next game of pool.

Kara was invited. Sam invited her, as a gesture of goodwill, and perhaps hoping that Alex would come along, but Kara said no and Alex with her. It was understood that it wasn't really Sam that Kara was saying no to. It isn't that she and Lena aren't speaking so much as it is that things aren't quite normal between them, not yet. Maybe not ever, but Lena is holding out hope, because hope is stupid like that. It makes a home in the nooks and crannies of your heart and it digs in and it makes itself known when you'd rather be dramatic and cynical and fatalistic, and Lena figures she must have caught it from Kara somewhere along the way like some kind of benevolent parasite for which she bears a sharp irritation and a begrudging affection.

But there was no part of Lena that has been hoping Kara might show up tonight. Alex keeps her appraised of Kara's patrol schedule as a matter of courtesy. The texts are short: She's going out. Incident on 3rd street. Incident resolved; no injuries. She's headed home. But Lena appreciates them all the more because without them she'd be worried all the time and not just for the spaces between she's going out and she's headed home. She and Alex have never spoken about it. It's something that just... started happening, after Lex.

And it happened tonight while Lena was getting ready, so she knows that Kara is out on a city patrol, that nothing text-worthy has occurred, and that the patrol will likely last several more hours because that's been generally the pattern of things these past few months. So she's shocked when she makes her way outside - around the back, by the trash cans, to get away from the smokers on the porch - and spies a familiar caped figure crouched on the steps.

Lena hesitates. The music is pouring through the window and behind her a screen door bangs and someone tromps out of the kitchen with a bag of trash. Kara's wrapped her cape around herself like something closer to her blanket, her head on her knees, her shoulders shaking, and even from here Lena can hear the soft sounds of sobbing over the noise and the clutter of the night.

She feels as though she's seeing something forbidden. Something sacred perhaps, something beautiful and sad. What moves a god to weep? She shoves away the memory of the tears Kara shed when they were fighting; she tells herself that was different. This is... private. And Lena thinks perhaps she should say something to call attention to herself, to tell Kara that she's witnessing this moment of vulnerability, but then, Kara must have known that she was here when she came to this place and she must surely be aware of her presence now.

She takes a step forward and, when Kara doesn't move, another. It takes three steps to close the space between them, and then Lena kneels down, places her hands on Kara's shoulders, presses a soft kiss to the back of her head. Kara stiffens. She raises her head from her knees, but she doesn't turn to look at Lena.

"I'm sorry," she hiccups. She reaches up to brush the tears angrily from her face, but Lena catches the hand and is surprised when Kara lets her push it gently away.

The moment hovers between them, suspended, and Lena wants to say, sorry for what? But it sounds like the beginning to a conversation they've already had. They've already talked and talked and apologized and raged and the truth is that Lena doesn't even know if these tears are about her anyway. So she says, "You don't have to be strong all the time, you know."

Kara threads her fingers through Lena's and pulls her closer, takes a deep breath as if she's going to speak, chokes out another sob instead. Lena slips her other arm around Kara's waist and settles in.

"What if I can't stop?" Kara whispers.

"Hmm?"

"What if I start crying and I can't stop? What if it feels like this forever?"

Lena hums. She rubs a circle across the back of Kara's hand. "Then I'm going to sit out here with you forever," she replies.

Kara's grip tightens. She wraps her arm around Lena's to take the other hand. "Promise?"

"Yeah," Lena breathes. She hears that stupid parasite in her heart whispering something about new beginnings. "Always."

///

Thanks for the ask! This one was hard to write because hurt/comfort isn’t something I usually dabble in. Hopefully it’s sort of what you were looking for!

[thornedrose44]

All Will Be Well (Chapter 28 Sneak Peek)

Going the Distance

Week 1

Kara let out what was probably the eighteenth sigh since she started the journey back from Theonia. Leaving Lena was easier this time in some ways because of the promise of return and continued contact.

She wasn’t leaving Lena this time around. She wasn’t saying ‘goodbye’ but ‘see you soon’.

It softened the pain of departure, but it didn’t remove it completely. She still had to walk away from the woman she loved, still had to put mile after mile between them, still had to come home to her apartment which would now feel empty, still had to reconcile that her bed would be colder than she wished.

It was these thoughts that made her linger outside her apartment door, her keys waiting primed in her hand, before fully returning to the life she had taken a vacation from. Her bag was sat by her feet, her clothes inside clean and pressed thanks to the Palace staff, and her free hand was playing intermittently with the new, sleek phone in her coat pocket.

The phone had been given to her as she left. Lena explained it was top of the line, prompting Kara to try and refuse it but she was talked around to accepting when Lena revealed its level of encryption would allow them to communicate without Lena’s head of security having a breakdown. Kara’s laptop similarly was installed with Theonia’s latest anti-spyware and a communication app (designed to look like Skype) that would enable them to video call.

Kara shook her head, pushing the longing that was already growing within her chest to one side and headed into her dark apartment. She deposited her bag next to the door, and went over to the fridge, in the mood for a snack before bed.

Finding nothing suitably high sugar enough, Kara pouted before jolting suddenly as the light in the living room clicked on.

Kara whirled around, her heart jumping out of her ribcage upon seeing a figure sat comfortably on her sofa.

“Uhh… hey, Alex…” Kara greeted, her hand pressed to her chest, feeling her heartbeat steadily return to normal as she recognised her sister, who was watching her with the assessing gaze she tended to reserve for criminals (or errant little sisters). “You’re here… in my apartment… waiting for me… in the dark… not creepy at all.” Kara winced, shrinking under the piercing gaze, and timidly tiptoeing forward.

Alex crossed her arms and raised an accusing eyebrow, “Well, I wouldn’t be if I felt like my sister wasn’t trying to avoid me.”

Kara’s step faltered and her stomach sank upon seeing the hurt hidden in the depths of her sister’s brown eyes.

“Never.” Kara declared, rushing to sit beside her sister and sweep her up into a tight hug that the hardened detective sank into without hesitation. “Alex, you mean the world to me.” Kara promised before kissing Alex’s forehead to emphasise the sincerity of her words.

“Ditto.” Alex huffed in a gruff tone that was undercut by how she squeezed Kara closer to her. “And I’m sorry.” She murmured as she leaned back, her gaze downcast and guilty.

Kara easily dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand.

Kara had set up shop in Alex’s house numerous times over the years, usually for anniversaries of certain losses and when Alex was on a particularly dangerous case. Not once had Alex ever sent her away when Kara needed her and Kara, in turn, would never do so either.

“I’m just…”, Alex began, her hand running through her short red hair indicating her nervousness, “worried about you. You left without a word and then were really secretive whilst you were away.”

Kara’s insides twisted with guilt. She’d spoken with Alex a number of times over the week she was away. During those conversations, she was open about feeling better and being in a good mood but closed off about why, where and how.

Lena had spoken to her over the first couple of days and made it explicitly clear that she had no issues with Kara sharing her identity with her sister. In fact, Lena openly encouraged it having never wanted to be the cause for any rift in Kara’s relationship with her sister.

Even with the go ahead to be honest, Kara found herself still wishing to keep the reality of her relationship a secret. During her first stay at the Palace, as a journalist, it felt inherently wrong to tell anyone about her budding friendship with the Queen. At the time, she put it down to wanting to prove herself as worthy of Lena’s secrets, wanting to be better than all those who’d hurt Lena previously. It felt right to keep whatever was happening between them to themselves as a way to build trust.

After leaving Theonia, Kara’s reason for keeping it a secret shifted. It was no longer about preserving something for Lena, but preserving something for herself. With no hope of them reuniting, Kara had felt like she had lost Lena forever, the only thing she truly had left of their time together was the memories, the shared moments that only the two of them had.

Telling Alex (telling anyone) the truth about Lena, about how they came to know one another, like one another, care for one another… love one another… it would be like losing Lena all over again. Sharing so much as one of those memories by revealing the truth about Lena would take something that solely belonged to her and Lena and give it someone else. Kara hadn’t wanted that, so she dodged the questions and kept her lips sealed.

Now, though?

Now, Kara was unsure why she was still hiding the truth.

It was no longer for the sake of Lena’s trust.

It was no longer to protect a few precious memories that she had originally believed would never be added to.

It was unnecessary to hide it any longer, but still…

Kara found the truth wouldn’t come. Admitting, who Lena was would change things, would change her life irrevocably forever and Kara… wasn’t ready to face that.

Yes, she had spent a week in a Palace. A Palace she’d been flown to and from on the Queen’s private jet. A Palace that was guarded by armed military soldiers.

In all honesty, though, Kara barely even registered any of that. All that mattered was Lena. Not the crown, land, money or power.

Just the girl.

And Kara only wanted the girl. Adding all the other stuff to the story… complicated things and Kara selfishly didn’t want that.

She was in love with the most amazing woman in the world, why should a title and golden crown change any of that?

“You’re allowed your secrets, Kara,” Alex insisted sincerely, patting Kara’s leg comfortingly, “and you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to but…” Alex sighed, biting her lip as she struggled to find the right words, “you’re not acting like yourself… I just want to make sure everything is alright. I could never forgive myself if I wasn’t there when you needed me.”

Alex’s brown eyes were soft and welcoming, as they always were when Kara needed her big sister.

Kara grabbed Alex’s hand and squeezed it tightly, “You’re always there when I need you. Always.” Kara repeated, hoping that Alex could see the love and loyalty shining in her eyes, before taking a deep breath and forcing herself to brave. “Theonia. I was in Theonia.”

Alex didn’t say anything for a long minute, her expression incredulous as she looked for a sign Kara was lying or joking.

“With the chef?” Alex eventually guessed, the disbelief now permanently settled on her face.

“Yeah, about that-”, Kara winced, readying herself to be honest even though her mind was begging her to keep it to herself, to let her stay in the safe little bubble of twisted reality she had created.

“How?” Alex cut in, unable to keep the question back a moment longer. “I thought the borders were locked down tight.” Alex’s free hand moved through a whirlwind of actions as she struggled to rationalise what her sister had managed to accomplish. “Please don’t tell me you smuggled yourself there. I mean I will take on the feds if you broke the law”, Alex declared, and Kara was pleased to find she didn’t doubt the assertion for even a second, “and will go on the run with you in a heartbeat, but… how?!”

Kara chuckled at the mixture of shock, bewilderment and pride currently displayed on her sister’s face, “Sam - the Queen’s chief of staff - organised it all.” Kara explained, “She’s best friends with uh… the chef…”

“Good friend.” Alex muttered with a begrudging tone of respect.

“Sam’s one of the best.” Kara agreed before adding after a moment’s reflection, “You’d really like her.”

“I’m sure I would if she managed to arrange all that for you two.” Alex admitted, her mouth quirking up on one side before she let out a long breath, “Wow… so you spent a whole week with her?”

“Yeah.” Kara breathed, happy and willing to now share this part of her time with her big sister.

“Was it… good?” Alex asked, even though it was obvious from her tone and the warm glint in her eye that she already knew the answer.

“The best.” Kara replied genuinely.

“I can tell.” Alex smiled softly causing Kara to blush and grin.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy before.” Alex confessed, reaching out to fondly tap Kara’s flushed cheeks which were stretched to capacity at trying to contain her smile.

“I love her.” Kara whispered.

“Holy shit.” Alex whistled in amazement.

“Language.” Kara reprimanded, lightly slapping her sister’s bicep.

Alex rolled her eyes at the admonishment before asking seriously, “Want to tell me all about her?”

“More than anything.” Kara sighed out dreamily, settling back into the cushions of the sofa as Alex did the same, their positions intermingling reflections of one another. Swallowing the minor lump in her throat and overcoming the hammering sound of her heart, Kara revealed with a strong and steady voice, “Her name is Lena by the way.”

Kara then waited.

Waited for Alex’s eyes to light up in recognition.

Waited for Alex’s sharp and nimble mind to figure it out.

Waited for reality.

“Lena, huh… Nice name.” Alex commented nonchalantly.

Kara tilted her head to the side in confusion, Alex blinked back expectantly in response, clearly unsure why Kara was pausing before sharing the rest of the details. “Yeah.” Kara awkwardly muttered in agreement, relief mixed with slight disappointment washing over her as she licked her lips and began to tell Alex about the woman who had stolen her heart. “It's… um... a pretty common name in Theonia.”

[notallthosewho-wanderarelost]

Supergirl Spoilers- 3x15

I have very mixed feelings about how this episode handled Mon-El + his relationship with Kara. I'm really glad their lack of closure was discussed, and I'm glad they're consistently saying that Mon-El's behavior early in season 2 wasn't okay, because it absolutely wasn't, but on the other it kind of felt like they were trying too hard. It felt like they were trying to respond to all the fan criticism of Mon-El, when they really should have just... not done that.

Under a cut because this got kind of long, oops. And at the end is a list of what I liked about this episode- which was literally everything else in it- because I try to be a positive person. :)

Like yeah, Mon-El definitely was a jerk, but he also tried to improve himself almost immediately when people pointed out how crappy he was being, and he tried so hard to be better. And he really was better. He messed up sometimes in how he treated Kara, but again, he always immediately took into account when Kara or anyone else told him he was doing something wrong and improved. The first example that comes to mind is in 2x14, iirc, when Mon-El asked Winn for relationship advice and Winn told him he needed listen to what Kara was saying and what she wanted. Then later that same episode when Kara was upset because of what happened with Jeremiah, Mon-El's immediate reaction when comforting her was to ask Kara to tell him what she needed and he'd listen.

Also, Kara said their relationship wasn't perfect, and it felt a bit like it was meant to come off as a some big revelation and indictment of Mon-El and Karamel last season. But the thing is that no relationship is perfect. Perfection is impossible, but just because a relationship isn't perfect doesn't mean it isn't good. And the same with Mon-El as a person. I don't like how this episode sounded an awful lot like tumblr's mentality of "people are either 100% perfect or 100% problematic, there is no in between and even if people change and improve it doesn't count because they were wrong once."

The whole repetition of "Mon-El was a jerk and Karamel wasn't perfect/had problems" just felt way too heavy-handed, like the show was trying to show Mon-El/Karamel haters that it was "self-aware" and change their minds by changing Mon-El. The problems with that are that A. People who dislike Mon-El don't always do so for logical reasons (aka, shipping reasons) and B. whatever their reasons for disliking him, the show "admitting" he used to be a jerk (which was never something it shied away from in the first place) isn't going to change their minds.

Aside from that, everything else in this episode was just as great as usual. I loved M'rynn and J'onn's plotline; a discussion of aging and how it affects people and their families isn’t something that’s common in media, but it is something very important to discuss, and I’m glad the show did that. I liked that we got to learn more about Alex's family, I liked Kara mentioning Jor-El and bringing up her loss of Krypton and how that helped both M'rynn and J'onn work through their issues. Kara took a bit of a backseat this episode, but I really liked that she still ended up playing a role in resolving M’rynn’s conflict just by being the compassionate person that she is and showing once more how she inspires people to be better just by being herself and leading by example.

Lena is so so smart and caring  and I constantly want to hug her and tell her it's okay; her scenes with James were cute and I’m enjoying seeing that relationship develop. (Why do I feel like it’s going to get angsty soon though...) Last but defnitely not least, Sam finding out she was Reign made me cry. Very very emotional, and Odette’s acting was amazing. It hurt to watch just as much as it was supposed to. 

Also really looking forward to more Legion next week (give me more amazing badass Imra and Brainy being an awkward-and-somewhat-arrogant genius!), and seeing Pestilence.

[supergaymess]

Supergirl 3x18 Shelter from the Storm Reactions

Lena’s lived in a hotel FOR TWO YEARS???? She’s been afraid the city would reject her for TWO YEARS??

I mean, I guess so did Royal Tenenbaum?

GIVE. LENA.LUTHOR. A. HUG. No, I rephrase. I will give Lena Luthor a hug. C’mere, girl. I got you!

Aw, GuardianCorp is cute y’all. I’m still annoyed how they started out - for writing purposes it was just lazy in that they just didn’t lay the groundwork right for that relationship - BUT I do like Lena and James where they are right now and the last few episodes gave them both more screentime to actually display their relationship dynamic to the viewer outside of them both being territorial at work, not trusting a Luthor blah de blah. And I LIKE James. He’s such a great character, I want to see more of this secure, comfortable, good hearted, talented dude.

James doesn’t have his tie on yet, but he has his Shield on? YEAH OK

OOOOO Kryptonite Spray. Dang. I’d be afraid I’d mix that up with perfume or something. Also, it’s so pretty!

Reign’s up early lol

Space Dad and Space Grand Dad BEAAAANS

Lol Coffee as bean water is just so funny to me. Cuz it’s true

DEO & Legion Crew Where’s my Brainy & Winn BROTP

Cape tricks just sounds dirty to me. Is it just me? Aw THERE’S MY BRAINY & WINN BROTP lolz

“Future dirt” bahahaha I’m dying This reminds me of a time I went to an festival and forgot to get my brother something so I picked up a rock from the parking lot (I was going to steal a sign but I didn’t have the right screw driver) and gave it to him and told him it was from the moon. He believed it for about 5 hours. The look on his face when he realized it definitely was not a legit moon rock though….hahahaha. It’s been over 10 years and it’s still funny.

Brainy hugs like my Toddler and it’s terrifying. Here, let me squish your face. eeeeeeeeee

Alex at Luthor Mansion AN INVISIBLE MANSION??? WHAT THE WHAT And I thought invisible jets were cool

Kara & J’onn checking in on Lena & James Kara asking if Lena’s ok D’awww. MORE TENSION PLEASE Screw you James, no one cares hahaha JK, but really - y’all are friends. Shouldn’t you check in with him, Kara?

I don’t know what Lena’s dress pattern is, but I think it’d be tight as a bow tie.

Kara & J’onn go to see Mama “White Lady” Arias Lmao White Lady with a shotgun? Eeeeee

ARE HER SCRIBBLES KRYPTONIAN OH SHEEEEET

Can we talk about how neatly the Reign World Killer symbol has been penciled onto the wall?

“I’m not gonna turn away from her now” says Mama Arias but you were gonna pull a gun on someone looking for pills?

OKAY

Alex Visits Ruby at Luthor “It’s Invisible” Mansion Aw Ruby loves Alex

I LOVE MOM ALEX OMGGGG

Back to Kara & J’onn at Mama “White Lady” Arias’ house Hahaha Kara and food. I’m with you, lady. Pudding’s pretty great.

Dead flowers CALLED IT. REIGN IS BLIGHT HAHAHAHA SUCKAHS It might just be that I’m super gay, but holy hell Reign’s nails are terrifying.

Ohmygod. This just got TEMPLE OF DOOM level intense.

If Sam was upset about killing people as Reign before. Geeeez

Mon El/Imra and the Necklace at the DEO MONEL. GIVE. THE NECKLACE. BAAAAACK ALKDFSJ;LKDFJS;LDFJKSLDFJKSLDJKS

Brainy bugged the diiiirt?? Awww dude

Are you suuuuure there’s no blight?

Even if Sam comes back at this point, how is she going to live with herself?

Back to Luthor Mansion with Alex and Ruby ALEX LOVES YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN?!?

I didn’t think I could love her more.

Hell yes.

Aw, Rubes knows she’s being lied to. Kids know.

Back to the DEO Party SUPERGIRL, YOUR SECRET WEAPON IS LENA GODDAMMIT

Um, why can’t Imra just stay?

Also, did Chris lose a ton of weight? Are you ok? Is that why we have a beard?

Lena with Kryptonite

Weeeelll this is awkward

Soooo why is Kara ok with low levels of Kryptonite in the training room? Ok ok, I have to go back and rewatch that scene.

Rewatching-

This is OOC Kara, IMO and I like angst.

I dunno, it was just too quick jumping down Lena’s throat. Totes in character for Lena though.

“Even if I did trust you” says SG

That means you don’t. Ouch.

Reign found the invisible mansion without a generator....apparently I know it’s a plot point, but wouldn’t Lex friggin Luthor have a generator to avoid what Reign just did in cutting the power

What cat did they use for Reign’s growl? Damn

Uhhh WHERE’S THE KRYPTONITE SPRAY

Lena save the good stuff for her hotel room? Lmao

I didn’t know bullets could be extra. But that bullet Alex just shot? Super Extra

Reign Unmasked Aw Ruby. Aw honey baby pie. :((((((( I’m sorry, sweetie.

Reign contained in LCorp Oh shit. We back at LCorp

I LOVE LENA SO MUCH. DAMMIT

Aw I was weirdly hoping Lena and Monel would have a conversation. Is that weird? Hmmm

J’onn and his dad’s storyline just breaks my heart.

And Alexa and Ruby breaks my heart.

Lena and Kara breaks my heart.

SUPERGIRL IS BREAKING MY HEART.

I’d be lying though if I said I didn’t love it.

Kara & Lena in Elevator Whoaaaaa “She crossed a line. I can never trust her again”-Lena BREAKIN. MY. HEART.

I know some of y’all think Lena knows due to this scene. But I don't think so. I think that look was her being hurt about her relationship with supergirl and calculating/thinking that Kara is close to SG. If she already knew that Kara was Supergirl, I don’t think we’d get this frankness about what happened and this honesty about how she feels about it. IMO, Lena would shut her out, or wouldn’t give additional/in depth information unless absolutely necessary. This was an “overshare” to a friend.

That hug was so sweet though.

I’m bummed that this angst is occurring because of such out of character behavior from Kara. I guess it was the easiest way to have Kara be upset and set Lena up as following in Luthor footsteps?

I dunno. Maybe I’ve read too many fanfictions, but I think there were other ways for a similar dynamic to have been created without Supergirl acting out. Maybe I just needed more on screen reason for Kara to be so untrusting or SO afraid of her best friend? We’ve spent basically two seasons of Kara defending Lena against the world, literally. This included a video of Lena allegedly stealing kryptonite. Kara’s doubt happened too quickly.

Do I think she should be upset about the kryptonite thing? Absolutely. It adds to being upset about Lena not telling Supergirl about holding Reign in the first place. They could have worked together from the start, or at least, that would be Kara’s view of it and that’s realistic to her character. Having Kara hurt that Lena didn’t trust her? Now that I believe. That’s a more organic wedge to put between them. Kara being trusting and eager to help and having Lena be the one that’s insecure in their relationship with trust issues? I am here for in character angst. Honestly that’s why I love the two of them. Their dynamic is so wonderful with each of their histories. It’s why I keep reading SuperCorp fanfiction. And look - I’m not expecting SuperCorp to be cannon, but the things that make a romantic relationship believable are the same traits that make their platonic cannon relationship so endearing and believable as well. They’re complimentary opposites. Both come from a place of pain and loss, Kara with an almost endless optimism and outward empathy to the world with Lena holding things closer to the chest, a little more pessimistic/realistic but still working for what she thinks is right for the world and those closest to her.

Maybe that coffee was a mistake.

Anyways. I’m still frustrated with the show for writing out of character behaviors in order to move plots along. That said, it’s a campy superhero show and I’ve definitely been entertained by this episode and the last few while still feeling relatively connected to the characters so it’s not all bad.

Definitely looking forward to how they tie this up for the season or leave it hanging for next.