Chapter Text
“So my office is overflowing with flowers.” Kara couldn’t help the grin on her face when she was hit by memories of coming into an office full of all kinds of bouquets and thank you cards, each of them unique and personal.
“Really?” Lena retorted, fake ignorance all over her face.
“Yeah.”
They chuckled at that, both for their own reasons.
Lena on her part was relieved to know her gesture was appreciated. She had spent a big part of her day asking herself if there might had been too many flowers, or not enough, or maybe not the right kind; until she had settled on not mentioning anything about it unless Kara did.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Kara said after she collected herself, her voice softer than usual.
“Yeah I did.” She really did. And to Lena it felt like the most honest thing she had said in a long time. “Supergirl told me that it was you who sent her. I don’t know how to thank you.” However, she wasn’t being quite honest; she actually had some ideas on how to thank her, but they involved acknowledging how deep her gratitude for Kara’s presence in her life ran, and she was sure neither of them where ready for that. Or that they would ever be.
“Well that’s what friends are for,” Kara said without losing a beat, like it was the most obvious thing in the universe. And Lena’s heart ached a little, for several different reasons.
She considered hiding her emotions behind playful flirting like she’d done countless times before, but decided that the least Kara deserved was her sincerity. So she gave her that.
“I’ve never had friends like you before. Come to think of it, I’ve never had family like you.” That elicited stinging memories on Lena’s mind and she tried to suppress them as best as she could, because right then the only important thing was Kara. Kara, who had believed in her despite the solid evidence. Kara, who had not given up on her. “No one’s ever stood up for me like that,” She said before she could over think it. Before she could contemplate against it.
“Now you have someone that will stand up for you. Always,” Kara reassured her.
And she almost believed it for a second, with Kara looking at her like that, eyes all honest and a smile brighter than a thousand suns. But deep down Lena knew that sooner or later she’d disappoint her. She’d make some ill decision and she would make Kara regret those words. She’d make her break that silent pledge.
But then again there was Kara, looking at her like she would do absolutely anything for Lena to believe her words, and she couldn’t help but indulge her.
“Well, Supergirl may have saved me but Kara, you,” Lena said with playful eyes and the raise of an eyebrow, “are my hero.”
Neither of them could help a laugh that lasted a second too long, both pretending it was just light hearted humour. Because the implications underneath that were so tangled and full of lies and disappointment, that they were better left like that. Like some playful innocent joke.
They were too up in their heads to notice whom had made the first move but suddenly they were hugging. Suddenly the world felt safe and warm and understanding.
And there, with her head resting atop Kara’s shoulder, she whispered a thank you that flooded Kara with a wave of warmth and fuzziness. A thank you meant only for her ears. One that could only exist in the private little universe that had settled around them.
Kara wondered what else could she say but “Anytime.” Because she would do everything again and again if it meant keeping Lena safe and happy. Lena, who would have traded her whole company to stay just like that, wrapped up in Kara’s gentle embrace forever.
They said goodbye. Soft words full of something new. Something growing within them, fragile but certain. Something dangerously close to hope.
Moments later Lena was alone in her office again. Alone with thoughts of her mother and how Lillian would never love her more than what Lena could be of use for her. With thoughts of her brother and how fast he’d turned his back to her in favour of his own thirst for power; how she’d been betrayed by the only person in her family who had shown her what love could look like.
She laid eyes on the chess set Lex had given her for her first birthday with the Luthors and picked up a knight. She remembered when she had first arrived at the household, how fast Lex and she had bonded over the game. She missed the days when she was young and innocent and had no clue of what her last name would bring into her life.
But all of that was in the past. She was done with it. No more doubting herself over her family history. She might have been Lionel’s biological daughter but that didn’t mean anything new to her, apart from another set of lies in her past. The Luthor part of her was the one they had taught her, the one she had built around herself as armour as result of what her family made her go through.
She was resolved to leave that in the past, to not only get a fresh start for L-Corp but for herself too, despite her mother still being out there planning her next move, and herself not being too well versed in taking care of her personal life. That part was going to be harder than the business side, but she had to do it. For her own sake.
And probably for the sake of the world too.
She put the chess piece back down.
No, she was done with them.
Especially if she had someone like Kara in her life to remind her of her own strength. Kara, who had something about herself that was slowly creeping through Lena’s very think walls. And it was scary, but, as she had said in the past, you can’t live in fear. And if someone were to manage that unprecedented feat of getting through her Luthor shell, she really wasn’t opposed to the idea of it being Kara.
Kara closed the door behind her. A sweet grin on her face
She waved at Jess, who was still at her desk looking far from done for the day. “Thanks Jess! Have a nice evening.” She remembered working long nights for Cat whenever some kind of crisis hit CatCo like it were yesterday.
“You too Miss Danvers,” Jess answered, briefly looking up from her computer.
Kara got into the elevator, her thoughts going back to Lena’s office.
Had the hug been too much? Had she lingered too long? Had she made Lena uncomfortable? Surely Lena had reciprocated it, so at least it hadn’t been as weird as Kara was feeling about it right now. She hugged her friends all the time, it probably wasn’t as big of a deal as she was making it in her head. At least she hoped so.
Nonetheless, Lena had called her a hero. Not Supergirl, but Kara Danvers. And that filled her whole body with delight, and a smidgen of anxiety. Delight because nobody had ever considered her a hero in a way that was completely detached from her sun-induced powers. Anxiety because she was afraid of not being able to meet such high expectations as Kara.
All of a sudden her stomach grumbled loudly taking her back to the present an all her brain could focus on in that moment was pizza, and maybe ice cream. She was glad Alex and her had a sister night ahead.
Now that she was reminded of it, Kara wasn’t sure if Alex had made other plans and they hadn’t talked about it at all. She just assumed it would be like any other Monday, but maybe that was going to change as well. So she took her phone out of her pocket and called her sister just to make sure.
“Hey Kara. Everything okay?”
“Hey, are you still coming for sister night?” Kara asked with a hopeful tone to her voice.
“Yeah, why? If you want to cancel we ca-“
“No! No! Tonight is great! I just thought maybe you had plans with Maggie and I forgot to ask you.” She was relieved at that. Not that she minded Alex spending time with her girlfriend, but sister night had been a staple since she had started working at CatCo and she was craving a peaceful night after the last Cadmus mayhem.
“Kara, I have time for both of you in my life.” Kara could hear a tinge of hurt in her sister’s voice.
“I know Alex, you’ve told me that, several times actually.” The elevator stopped with an accompanying ding and Kara stepped out into the lobby checking the time on the clock over the reception desk. “How far away are you?”
“Almost there.”
“Great! I’ll pick food on my way. I’ll be there in five.” She hung up and in a matter of seconds she was walking out of L-Corp and into an alley, taking off into the dark sky.
Five minutes later Kara was at her apartment door, balancing two pizza boxes in one hand and trying to turn the key with the other.
Alex was already inside, leaning into the kitchen counter with a beer in her hand and looking at her phone.
“Hi!” Kara greeted her cheerfully with a hug and a kiss to her cheek. A bit too cheerfully if you were asking Alex.
“Hey!” She greeted back once Kara had let go of her. ”You’re giddy,” she stated, although Kara knew that tone was actually demanding answers.
“I’m just happy you’re here. We haven’t had a sister night in a long time.” And that was the truth, but only half of it.
Alex looked down, her beer suddenly the most interesting thing in the room. “Yeah I know. I’m sorry for my part of guilt in that.” She hated how she had made Kara feel lately, especially on her Earth birthday. “I’m still learning how to balance a relationship with everything else and things with Maggie haven’t been smooth so I’m trying to be extra careful with all of it.” She looked back at her sister and was met with a smile so warm and understanding that all her self-doubt and worrying seemed insignificant at once.
“Why don’t we move to the sofa and you can tell me everything over pizza, I might even consider letting you eat two slices,” Kara teased, somehow already finishing her first slice.
“Like you could even get between me and pizza.”
They sat and Kara turned the TV on, choosing some random game show as they always did.
“Where were you?” Alex asked absent-mindedly between a beer sip and a pizza bite.
“Hmm?” Kara mumbled, too distracted trying to get a cheese string into her mouth.
Alex always thought she looked like a toddler whenever there was food in the way. After all this years she still had no clue if it was endearing or outright ridiculous.
“Before now, where were you?” Alex clarified. “You left the DEO a while ago and I know Snapper hasn’t given you anything yet.”
“Oh! I was at Lena’s office,” Kara replied still mesmerised by the food in front of her mouth.
It was only after a brief moment that she noticed her sister glaring at her in that way that instantly reminded Kara who was the older sister out of the two.
“Alex!” She protested. “I know what you’re thinking, but she’s not her mother. You’ve seen that. She saved my life. She saved your life. She helped us.”
Alex let out a sigh. “I know, I know. I still can’t trust her completely.” She paused, trying to make a point. “But I trust you. And if you say she’s not like her family then I believe you. Just be careful.”
“I will.” Kara could see the concern in Alex’s eyes. She understood why her sister felt like that. However, she was sure Lena would never try to hurt her. No matter what her last name was, Lena was her friend. “She just wanted to thank me again for the article and everything. Even though she already sent flowers to my office this morning and-“
“Wait what flowers?” Alex interrupted, clear confusion on her voice.
“Oh my god, I forgot to tell you.” Kara was suddenly beaming again remembering the state of her office earlier that day. “I went into my office this morning and it was full of flowers. Like, overflowing full. And there were all this beautiful big bouquets of lilies, and daisies, and some flowers I didn’t recognise, but they were still very pretty. And there was this little vase with plumerias in the middle of my desk, and that’s when I knew they were from Lena cause she had them at her office and I told her they reminded me of home. And they’re extremely rare, Alex. And she had also sent a thank you card with every bouquet. Different ones. Like, she had to write them all. And my office looked so beautiful you know?”
“And she did all that for an article?” Alex asked once she was sure her sister was done with her rant, a quizzical look on her face.
“Well...” Kara hesitated. “Supergirl might have told Lena I sent her because I believed in her,” she blurted, knowing how Alex would react to that confession.
“Kara! You should be more careful with these things.” She reprimanded her, doing a remarkable impression of Eliza, at least to Kara’s eyes.
“Alex, relax! She doesn’t suspect anything. I’m not as obvious as you think I am.” She tried to sound as convincing as she could, which even Kara knew was not a lot. “Not always.” She added after a beat.
“If you say so...” Alex was still not persuaded by that. “But still, Lillian was there too. You don’t want to give Cadmus any more reasons to go after you, whatever you that is.”
“I’ll be fine,” Kara said, stressing her last word in a futile attempt to lessen her sister’s uneasiness. “I just... Lena has no one right now and I want to be there for her. I don’t want her to feel alone against the world, with no one to talk to. I just want her to know I understand. That’s all.”
“I’m glad she has you then.” Alex said, nothing but softness and honesty in her voice.
“Me too.”
They spent the rest of the night watching one of Kara’s Disney movies, which Alex was sure they had watched over fifty times already, and sharing a pint of chocolate ice cream before calling it a day.