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Barry had insisted on coming and Kara was too weak to protest. There was no need to bribe her with the promise of the best potstickers in any universe (though it didn’t hurt). And there was especially no need to reassure her she would be returned to her proper Earth in no time.
If anything, the most convincing reason for this escapade was the fact she could avoid going home for a little longer. Not that she was avoiding home, she scoffed mentally, as she sat down in a sticky chair in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in this Earth’s National City Barry had led her to eagerly.
No, because if she were avoiding home, then that would make her avoiding a specific person she definitely wasn’t avoiding because she felt like a bad friend. Especially when that person had no idea she was even avoiding her because she technically wasn’t even upset at her, just at her alias.
Oh Rao. She let out an overwhelmed sigh and dug her fingers in her hair.
She was a most definitely a terrible friend.
Barry eyed her carefully from across the table while pretending to look at a menu. “That’s a big sigh for someone who’s about to taste life-changing potstickers,” he commented, noncommittally, still scanning the menu. Kara’s wide eyes slowly drifted up to his with a desperate plea for help in them, and Barry met them with his eyebrows raised.
With another sigh, Kara dropped her hand to the table and pushed herself back in her chair, roaming her eyes around the restaurant so she wouldn’t have to look at her friend as she began talking. “It’s just… I think I messed up with one of my friends. My best friend, actually, a-and I don’t know how to fix it,” she finally mumbled, ending by concentrating intensely on her hands fiddling with the utensils set at their table.
By this point, Barry had gentle sat down his menu, and studied Kara carefully, a soft look in his eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Kara paused. Did she want to talk about it? Technically Lena didn’t even know she did it, but losing her trust as Supergirl hurt. A lot. She should have been a better friend in both of her identities. The look in Lena’s eyes when she confessed she could never trust Kara’s alias ever again haunted her. She’d let Lena down. Did she even want forgiveness she didn’t deserve?
“I just don’t understand,” Kara began, her voice getting stuck coming out of her mouth.
Barry’s eyebrows furrowed. “What don’t you understand?”
Kara threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. “I don’t know!” she burst, her brain barely registering that she sounded desperate and maybe a little crazy. “It- It just feels so, so,” she trailed off, her hand motions trying to fill in the gaps in her mind. Finally, her wide eyes met her friend’s. “It just feels so big. Between us. Everything feels so big. And now- Oh Rao, now I’ve messed up big time and she hates me. And I don’t understand how to act like it doesn’t kill me that she hates me.” Her chest heaving a little by the end of the speech and she searched Barry’s eyes for an understanding.
And she found it. His eyes softened, and he leaned forward slightly, and slowly took her hands in his. “Just to be clear,” he murmured softly, “we’re talking about Lena Luthor, right?” When Kara’s response was a resigned sigh, he fought to hide his smirk. “I mean, I only figured because you mention her once or twice or a dozen times every time you speak,” he teased lightly, and Kara let out a scoff and pulled her hands out of his, crossing her arms and settling back into her chair with a pout.
“Do not,” she grumbled, unsure of why she was fighting the heat coming to her cheeks.
“Hey,” Barry spoke again, this time a soft sincerity in his eyes. “She’ll forgive you. You’ll be fine.”
Kara stared silently at the table for a moment biting her cheek. “You should have seen the look in her eye. I- I don’t think she’ll forgive me this time.”
“And I think you both are stressed and she will come around. You messed up Kara. Make it right, and she’ll forgive you,” Barry promised sincerely, and Kara relented a resigned sigh.
Nearly a half hour and fifty devoured potstickers (which Kara would regrettably admit were the best she’d ever had) later, they both stood from their table and made their way to the door.
“So um, what business do you have here on Earth-27?” Kara asked Barry, trailing behind him a bit.
As he pushed opened the door, Barry cleared his throat and raised the pitch of his voice a little higher than normal. “Oh, just some really boring stuff you wouldn’t care about,” he commented, with a blasé shrug. Suspicious, Kara raised her eyebrows and gave him a side eye. “I’m actually going to take care of it now, so looks like you’ve got the rest of the day in the city to yourself.”
Kara stopped mid step on the sidewalk and stared at Barry with her eyebrows furrowed. “What?”
“Yeah, should be fun! … for you! Not for me, because I have all this boring business stuff to take care of, so, you’ll be having fun… I’ll be suffering, probably. But not enough for you to not have fun without me!” he rambled, pointing finger guns at her.
Kara’s frown deepened. “You’re just going to leave me alone on an unfamiliar Earth for a day?” she asked, unimpressed.
Barry considered this for a moment and then shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll run into a friendly face to spend the day with,” he offered, and as Kara was about to protest, he cut her off. “I’ll find you at the end of the day! Try not to have too much fun!”
And he was gone.
Kara stared in disbelief at the place her friend used to stand, and briefly considered her options.
She could hunt him down, which would probably make Barry more jittery than he was right before he left, which made it a very tempting option. But she honestly wasn’t sure she wanted to know why Barry was acting the way he was.
So she decided on the second option: she would just walk around and explore. Take some time off for the day and just enjoyed herself. With a determined huff, she clenched her eyes shut and made her resolve. Opening her eyes and shaking off the bad vibes she had gotten from Barry, she settled her usual smile on her face, and went to take her first step.
“Kara!”
The voice sent a jolt through her body. Whirling around, Kara tried not to widen her eyes too much, but she couldn’t help it. “Lena,” she breathed out, and she couldn’t take her eyes off those green eyes she’d been avoiding for days as her friend walked towards her. In this world, she hadn’t let Lena down like she’d let her Lena down. It was kind of like cheating, but maybe spending the day with this Lena would clear her he-
It was several seconds after Lena casually pressed their lips together that Kara’s brain caught up with the action. She just stood there, stunned, blinking. And then as soon as she realized it happened, Lena was pressing a small child into her arms with a small laugh, interlocking their fingers, and dragging Kara down the sidewalk.
The child--a girl no more than two years old--stared at Kara curiously as Kara’s wide eyes looked her over. She wasn’t even going to breach looking over at Lena. One problem at a time.
A couple of guttural sounds made attempts from escaping her mouth, but nothing sufficient enough to draw Lena’s attention, as Kara wildly searched for anything to say. Her brain was in overdrive, trying to make sense out of what was happening. Clearly, this world’s Lena thought she was this world’s Kara. Which would be fine, but apparently being this world’s Kara included kissing and holding hands and having a child with Lena? Which was not fine. It was actually the opposite of fine because- just- how?
“Mama, Yeyu’s eyes aren’t closing,” the little girl finally called out, and decided to explore the subject herself by swiftly lifting Kara’s glasses and poking her pointer finger into Kara’s eye.
Kara immediately yelped, and ripped her hand from Lena’s. Hunching over, she set the child down, and distantly heard a laughter she had gotten used to in the past two years, though it usually wasn’t directed at her in pain.
Gently a hand was placed over hers to remove it from her eye, and there was Lena. Staring intently at Kara through her watering, freshly-poked eye. And once again, Kara was lost thinking of anything to say.
“Well, at least she’s stopped picking our noses,” Lena offered as a small consolidation with an amused smirk as Kara scoffed. “If I kiss it will it make it better?” Lena asked in mocking murmur, and Kara scrunched her nose at the cheesiness of the line, but before she could answer, Lena’s lips were on her eyelid, and Kara’s heart was stuttering to a stop.
This was- Well, Kara wasn’t sure if she’d ever get used to this kind of intimacy with Lena. The hand holding and the light kisses. It was… Well it was just not how her and her Lena were. Not that it wasn’t nice. It was very nice, but things were obviously different on this Earth for this to happen, which is why this never happened on her Earth, and so what was nice here wasn’t really possible back home, and she really didn’t even want this back home, she just wanted her friend to not hate her so-
This time her brain caught up to the action quicker and registered Lena’s lips on hers. Or maybe the kiss was longer this time. But either way, Kara had time to process what was happening, and her first (and only) thought was of how soft Lena’s lips were before a tiny squeal came from below them.
“Ew, stop!” the child squealed with laughter, trying to pose it as disgust.
Lena broke away from Kara with a laugh, and her eye’s met Kara’s with a pointed look that made her think she was missing out on some inside joke.
“Uh-oh, Yeyu, Liza thinks kisses are gross,” Lena began telling Kara, but was obviously talking so the little girl--Liza--would listen. “I think that means we have to-” Lena turned and caught Liza before she fully caught on to what happened and squealed within her mother’s arms, trying to escape as Lena gripped her tightly, laughing. “Smother her with kisses!”
Letting out a yelp, Liza struggled harder against her mother, but soon the squeals became laughter as Lena began planting kisses all over Liza’s head. Kara watched the scene from behind, a little at a loss. She couldn’t remember a single time Lena had ever looked this happy on her Earth.
Swallowing thickly and pushing down her emotions as far as possible, Kara instead turned her attention to the task at hand. This Earth’s Lena probably didn’t understand much about the multiverse, so she would play along until she could get ahold of Barry and/or this Earth’s Kara. She hoped it wouldn’t involve much more kissing. She wouldn’t be able to handle a lot more kissing.
Finally, after she was done attacking Liza, Lena sat the girl down and held her hand. Casually she threw her arm around Kara’s shoulder’s and began leading the two girls down the sidewalk again. Kara struggled with her arms, which were glued unnaturally to her sides. Where would Kara-27, as she now mentally dubbed this Earth’s version of her, put her arm?
“Come on you two slowpokes,” Lena teased. “Alexis is going to be pretty mad if we don’t make it to her recital on time.”
Kara was so focused on her arm dilemma, she barely processed the second name Lena dropped that strongly implied she had two daughters here, instead of just the one. Instead Kara finally steeled herself, and went for her best option for her arm: snaked around Lena’s waist. Lena’s heart rate spiked slightly as she pursed her lips for a moment.
Then with a sly smirk, she commented, “Yeyu’s trying to get lucky tonight.”
Kara almost stopped mid step, and began sputtering. Her face flushed bright red, as her eyes widened and took in Lena’s wicked smile.
“Is it so she can win at Bingo?” Liza asked, completely unperturbed, and Lena laughed.
“Something like that, darling,” she assured her, and the little girl nodded happily and began skipping down the street.
Kara, however, was still trying to recover from the comment. Because she absolutely should not be dwelling on it. If her and Lena were married in this world, o-of course they would be, well, more intimate than just kissing. It was just up to this moment, Kara hadn’t felt it necessary to really explore that prospect, but now Kara’s hand was on Lena’s waist, and Lena’s hips were ever so slightly bumping into Kara, and Lena was making sexual comments, in front of their child, no less! And so Kara was a little hopeless at the moment, and her imagination was doing little to quell that because the thought of Lena’s soft lips (and she knew just how soft they were) trailing down her body to-
No. Nope. Different topic. Find any other topic besides that one, Kara demanded of herself as she clenched her teeth.
Lucky for her however, Lena turned them to walk up the steps to a school. Kara felt some tension release slightly from her shoulders at the sight of Alex waiting at the door. Her eyes lit up when she saw the trio, and waved at them.
“Aunt Alex!” Liza screamed, and ripped her hand away from Lena’s to run up the stairs to her.
Kara offered a small giggle at the sight of the little girl almost tripping up the stairs and taking out her FBI trained sister with a bear hug. Lena glanced over at Kara with an amused smirk and then leaned over and ghosted her lips just over Kara’s ear, causing a shiver to go down Kara’s spine.
“It’s a shame Alexis is more involved in the recital this year and we can’t duck out after two dances,” Lena whispered teasingly. “Then you wouldn’t have to wait until we got home to see if your luck turned up.”
Kara wished she could have came up with a witty remark or a sly comment or anything to respond to that, but could anyone blame her for being a stuttering mess? Up until a half hour ago, she was wholly convinced her best friend hated her, and now here she was offering to skip out of a child’s dance recital to hook up with her. She thought she was entitled to a little whiplash.
Laughing in amusement at Kara’s flushed face once again, Lena nonchalantly lowered her arm from Kara’s shoulders down to her waist, reflecting Kara’s arm. Her hand naturally tugged Kara flush against her, and Kara focused intensely on every step so she wouldn’t trip like a fool.
When they finally reached the top of the stairs, Alex was in an animated conversation with Liza, not acknowledging Kara and Lena for a moment. Pausing her conversation, she softly pulled Lena into a hug, which once again, should have been something Kara expected, but it was just something she never thought was in the realm of possibility. Her Alex still minorly distrusted Lena, and wouldn’t be caught dead showing more affection that just a short nod.
But watching the two people she cared about most in the world happily hug shot another pang in Kara’s stomach. Maybe, just maybe, her Alex and her Lena could be like this one day. She would really really like that, she decided.
Then the hug was over, and Alex turned her attention to Kara.
“Hey sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier, but I can definitely find something for the kids to do at the DEO tomorrow for their day off school. I’ve been meaning to do more testing on their powers anyways,” she said to Kara, and Kara mind immediately went into overdrive at the realization that of course her children would have powers.
One after the other, the implications of her life on this Earth hit her harder than she expected. Of course if she were married to Lena, they would be intimately close. Of course if she were married to Lena, her best friend would be integrated into her friend group permanently. Of course if she were married to Lena, she would have cute super powered babies that spoke Kryptonian. Of course if she were married to Lena, Lena would be impossibly happy.
The realizations settled uncomfortably on Kara’s chest, and she immediately backtracked. Maybe these weren’t the givens that she instinctively thought they were. Maybe too much was different on this Earth to compare the two. Lena hadn’t even made any implication she was gay, let alone interested in her on her Earth. Maybe they were just meant to be married here and friends back home.
This thought sat even more uncomfortably with Kara.
“Kara?” Lena asked, concern seeping into her voice as Kara was thankfully ripped from her thoughts before she could dwell on them anymore.
Kara’s eyes shot up to hers and then to Alex’s, both of whom were staring at her expectantly. Kara realized she had never answered Alex.
“Oh! Um, yeah, that would be great, thank you!” she finally managed to respond, and they both relaxed a little as Lena gently slipped her hand into Kara’s.
Thankfully, before anything more could be said, Sam appeared in the doorway with a smile, announcing, “It’s already filling up in there.”
Kara had to bite her cheek as she watched Alex’s arm instinctively wrap around Sam’s waist, and she noticed for the first time the wedding band on Alex’s finger. Was this universe’s tagline “All Your Friends Are Gay and Married to Each Other”?
But even just thinking over it for a brief second, Kara had to admit that if Sam were gay, she and Alex would make a great couple.
“Better head in then,” Lena responded to Sam’s announcement, and gently tugged at Kara’s hand. Both couples watched as Liza excitedly led the way in to the auditorium.
Kara was having strong flashbacks to doing exactly this with Sam to support Ruby not that long ago. Except back home, they were only watching Ruby and Alex had run out crying, and here…
Kara snuck a glance over at her sister who was laughing happily at something Sam had whispered to her.
Yeah, here was a lot different.
“How’s Alexis doing?” Sam then directed at Kara and Lena, and Kara looked up grateful to once again have a distraction from her thoughts. “I know Ruby was a mess before her first solo.”
“Well, Alexis is a Luthor-Danvers, and we don’t become messes,” Lena began, as they passed through the doors into a small auditorium. “We become tightly coiled nervous energy ready to lash out at any second,” she finished with a smirk, and Alex let out a laugh at this.
Chuckling as well, Sam shook her head and responded, “Fair enough. We only hope her moms are handling it better than her.”
Lena morphed her face into a serious expression and pressed her lips into a flat line. “They aren’t,” she confirmed, and the other couple laughed again, as Lena joined with an amused smile.
Kara tried to react correctly to the conversation, but it was so hard when her thoughts seemed to be moving faster than she could process them, and then repeatedly got stuck on Lena saying “Luthor-Danvers”.
She was relieved when the group finally moved to settle in to a group of chairs, but Kara froze momentarily when she realized Liza had stopped to talk to someone. Inactivated mom instincts suddenly kicked in as she watched her daughter from another universe interact with a stranger, and Kara tensed up, ready to pounce in a minute.
But when the woman turned around, Kara was surprised to come face to face with her adoptive mother.
“Eliza!” Kara cried out, and the group turned to stare at her immediately as she realized that Kara-27 probably would have expected to see Eliza here for her grandchildren’s dance recital. She quickly moved to amend her shock. “We’re so glad you could make it!” she continued, beaming at Eliza, and hoping she sold her confusion as just pure excitement.
“Oh come on now,” Eliza responded as she picked up Liza. “I never miss a chance to see my girls.”
Kara smiled genuinely at this as her heart swelled and the group made their way into the row of seats, Kara sitting closest to the aisle.
“Leave the end seat open for Olsen!” Alex called back as Kara stopped herself from sitting on the very end and moving in one more. “You know he’s always late,” she teased, and Kara stiffened a bit at the thought of James coming.
She was incredibly happy he was still a part of her life her in this universe, but with her almost dating and Lena still dating him back home… she couldn’t help but be wary of James’ view of her family here in this universe.
“Are you good?” Lena whispered as they sat down, and Kara turned to her alert and eyes wide.
“O-of course!” she replied, a small part of her desperately wanting to tell Lena she wasn’t who she thought she was, but knowing she couldn’t risk causing a scene around all these people.
Lena studied her intently, and then finally took a deep breath, the concern written clearly in her eyes. “It’s just, you’ve been really quiet.”
Kara stared at Lena uncomfortably, unsure of how to respond. “I’m only-”
Lena cut her off before she could continue though. “She’ll be fine, darling,” she promised sincerely, placing her hand on Kara thigh, and the gesture made it even harder for Kara to interpret Lena’s reassurance. “You rehearsed the solo with her countless times. She couldn’t be more prepared,” Lena continued, and Kara realized that Lena believed she was merely nervous for her daughter.
Relaxing a bit, Kara nodded. “I- Yeah. She’ll be- She’ll be amazing,” Kara finally said to herself, but she was relieved to see Lena relax as well.
“Sorry I’m late,” a voice came from Kara’s side, and she turned and found Winn sitting beside her in the seat she had saved for James.
“Winn!” Kara accidentally let out, once again exposing her surprise to see people she supposedly invited to her daughter’s dance recital. Trying to play it off again, she continued, “I’m glad you made it, but that-”
And before she could explain that she had saved the seat for James, Winn cut her off.
Feigning betrayal, Winn held his hand to his chest and asked, “Did you really think your daughter’s favorite godparent would miss her dance recital?”
“Fat chance, Olsen!” Alex yelled from down the row, catching the attention of several other recital-goers. “Her favorite godparent is clearly the one she’s named after!” she asserted, gesturing to herself, and Kara looked back and forth between the two, slowly putting things together in her head.
“Considering her middle name is Winifred, I’m still the favorite!” Winn bantered back, and Lena sighed heavily to Kara’s side. Kara got the impression this was an argument they had a lot.
“Oh for the love of-” Lena started, and then turned to Alex. “As I’ve told you a thousand times Alexis is named after my brother, and-” she continued as she turned to Winn “-as I’ve told you a thousand times, her middle name is not Winifred.” She tried to come off as serious, but Kara recognized the playful glint in her eyes.
Alex sat back in her seat rolling her eyes, and Winn piped up again.
“Just you wait until I break through all your security, and finally find the original copy of her birth certificate, because I know you’re lying,” he stated confidently, and Lena dropped her head defeated into her palms with a sigh.
With Kara’s super hearing, she was able to pick up Lena mumbling “God if they ever find out we named her Alexis Winston after them both, we’ll never know peace again”.
Kara stifled a laugh at this, and Lena looked up at her laughing.
After a moment, Lena tried casual conversation with Winn. “James still out on his shoot?” she asked, and Winn brightened up at the mention of James.
“Yeah, but he promised he’ll join us later. I’ll probably swing by home to pick him up before heading to your house,” he responded, and it finally hit Kara that her earlier hypothesis was right.
All her friends were gay and married here. That’s why Alex referred to Winn as Olsen. That’s why there was no animosity between Kara and Lena and James. Jame and Winn were married.
Rao, next she was going to find out Lucy and Jess were together.
The lights dimmed as Kara was pondering this over, and she felt Lena’s hand squeeze hers as a hush fell over the room.
As Kara watched all the little girls perform on the stage, she suddenly realized she didn’t know which one was her daughter. A slight panic began to take over her body, because she had no idea how to recognize a little girl she had never even met before. A little girl who was excited for her mom who practiced with her non-stop to see her perform, and instead she was getting a fraud. Guilt began to seep into Kara’s mind as the panic set in deeper.
But then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a little blonde girl take to the stage, and when she looked out onto the crowd, Kara gasped a little, realizing she didn’t need to see her before to know without a doubt that this was her daughter. She had Kara’s cheekbones, Lena’s eyes, and the House of El chin. There was no one else this child could be as she gracefully posed for her solo to begin.
The moment she began to dance, Kara was at the edge of her seat holding her breath. She didn’t even know anything about dance, but she knew her daughter was talented just from the way she confidently held herself and elongated every inch of her body to give more and more of herself to the music. Any brief survey of the room would tell her everyone else at the recital was thinking the same thing. Every spin, every leap had Kara more and more enraptured, and her heart expanding with pride.
When she completed her final move, flawlessly executing her solo, Kara near shot out of her seat to stand and clap. Lena laughed embarrassingly from her side, half-heartedly attempting to get Kara to sit back in her seat, but couldn’t find it in herself to follow through, proudly watching her daughter and her wife cheer her brains out for her.
Alexis immediately noticed Kara in the crowd, and while a slight pink blush crossed her face that her mom was embarrassing her with her antics, she began beaming and looked as if she could almost cry that her mom was so proud of her.
Kara eventually did sit back down, allowing the show to continue, but she couldn’t form any actual thoughts in her head, instead buzzing from the adrenaline of watching her daughter. Alexis was in two more group dances, and each time she was on stage, everything else in the world disappeared.
She caught Lena staring at her at one point, and Kara quirked her eyebrow confused. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but instead, just sighed happily and rested her head on Kara’s shoulder, turning her attention back to the recital.
Ruby’s solo also went well, and Alex let out a loud holler of approval afterwards, causing a slight ripple of laughter throughout the audience. At an unknown point in time during the show, Kara rested her head on Lena’s, and somehow everything in her life felt full.
When the lights came back on, everyone blinked blearily, adjusting to the new light, and Kara and Lena sat up from each other. Excitedly, the group discussed the dance recital and the kids who did really well as they made their way to the back of the auditorium. Sam and Lena were congratulating the other parents on their kids’ performances in the recital, and all of them gushed about how talented Alexis and Ruby were. Kara’s chest puffed with pride every time.
As they reached the back, the kids were already filing in with their dance bags excitedly. Kara’s mind slowly began working it’s way back to figuring out the situation she was in and finding Kara-27, when Lena nudged her gently. Looking to her side and saw a stand that was selling little flower bouquets. Lena slipped some money in her hand and winked at Kara.
Kara quickly slipped over, and Alex followed as they both bought the biggest bouquets they could find for their daughters. Alex didn’t wait around for Kara to finish her purchase, but rather ran back quickly to Sam and left Kara waiting for her change.
As she stood there, she noticed a flash of blonde from far beyond the flower stand in an empty hallway. As her eyes lifted up, her jaw dropped slightly as she took in the sight before her.
There was Barry and Kara-27, giggling and waving at her. Kara’s teeth grinded together, as she went to confront the two, but the woman working the stand pulled her attention and handed her back her change.
When she looked back up at the hallway, Barry was gone, and Kara-27 was still standing there, wide mischievous smile on her face as she shot Kara a thumbs up and a wink before she disappeared as well.
Kara stood there floored as she finally put together that this had all been some big ruse Barry and Kara-27 had put together for her. Barry had invited her to this Earth specifically so Kara-27 could throw her into her life. Kara huffed at the information, as her mind came up with a very unhelpful reason as to why they would go through all of this for her.
Deciding to play along until Lena and the girls wouldn’t miss her absence to go hunt down the two pranksters, Kara let out a long sigh, and turned to walk to the other end of the hallway. By the time Kara made it back to Lena, who was once again holding Liza, Alexis was rounding the corner and her eyes lit up as she saw her family waiting for her.
Crouching down for a hug, Lena embraced Alexis as she ran into her arms. “There’s our Super star,” Lena beamed, and the little girl didn’t have it in her to even pretend to be annoyed with the joke.
“Mooom,” she complained, smile still painted on her face. “That joke is so old.” Lena smirked at her, and then winked at Kara.
Alexis then pulled back from Lena and gave her grandma a big hug as Eliza congratulated her on her performance. Kara smiled at them proudly and Eliza’s eyes locked with hers for a second, and she could tell Eliza was also proud of her for raising such a great daughter.
This turned Alexis’ attention to Kara, and she suddenly because a bit nervous as Kara crouched down (also a bit nervous) and offered Alexis the bouquet of flowers. “You were incredible out there, Lexie,” she said sincerely, the nickname coming naturally to her. “I couldn’t be more proud of you.”
Alexis broke into a gigantic grin and ignored the flowers as she tackled Kara in a hug. Kara was surprised to find she could hug the girl a lot harder than she could usually hug anyone, and took advantage of that fact.
When they broke apart from the hug, a voice called out from behind them.
“Hey Lexie! Great stuff up there,” Alex congratulated and Alexis turned to her with a beam. “Way to uphold the namesake,” she continued with a wink, and Winn behind her looked as if he were about to protest that.
Thankfully, Liza interrupted. “Uncle Pooh!” she called out and Winn’s attention was turned to her with an amused smile. “Are you coming over tonight?” she asked excitedly.
He laughed and scooped her up as she squealed. “Of course, my little Piglet,” Winn confirmed, and Kara smiled at the scene in front of her. “I never miss an opportunity to beat your moms at Candyland,” he continued, and Lena immediately stiffened.
“That was one time, Olsen! And I’m still not convinced you didn’t plant that Plum Tree card in there just to sabotage me,” she continued, grumbling as Winn smiled mockingly victorious at her.
Kara couldn’t help but let a small smile slip onto her face because they had game nights in this universe too, it seemed. And Lena was just as competitive as Kara had imagined she would be.
Lena took a deep breath, and then relented an amused smile on her face as she glanced at Kara. Then shaking her head, she silently moved to take Liza from Winn’s arms.
“Alright let’s save the trash talk for game time,” Lena compromised, and Winn let her have it. “We’ll see you guys in twenty-ish minutes?” she asked, and everyone standing around silently agreed, waving goodbye as their family exited the school.
Lena (thankfully) volunteered to drive them home. Kara wasn’t exactly sure how she would have fumbled her way through an explanation of why she didn’t remember where they lived together.
She was surprised however as she watched the landscape of the city slowly flatten out as Lena clearly drove them out of the city and into the suburbs. They winded their way through a little district of local shops and turned off into a small residential area that had a sign at the entrance that said “Welcome to Eagle Lane”.
After a few more turns, they pulled up into the driveway of an unassuming two story brick house. The girls immediately started ripping their seatbelts off and chattering, while Lena was gathering her things from the car, but Kara just remained sitting and staring at their house. She didn’t even notice the few tears that had entered her eyes, because she was looking at her and Lena’s house, and it somehow became so much more real. That Lena was her family here. And this was their home.
Lena was her family back home as well, but this… was more.
“Kara?” Lena asked, the concern written all over her face.
Snapping out of it immediately, Kara turned and placed a forced smile on her face. “Sorry! I- I just zoned out there,” she explained, quickly unbuckling her seatbelt and opening her car door, not wanting Lena to study her more than she already was. Lena soon followed her out of the car and they made their way up to their house together.
The girls had already ran well ahead of them, slamming open the door to the house and giggling as they sped inside. Kara and Lena took their time, Lena winding her arm into Kara’s and leaning on her ever so slightly.
“Do you think they’ll ever not be so rambunctious?” she asked quietly, as you both heard a crash from in the house, and Kara giggled. She may not be their actual mom, but she knew without a doubt the correct answer to that question.
“Not a chance,” she responded confidently, and Lena chuckled in agreement.
As the two of them stepped into the house, Lena untangled herself from Kara, and immediately sighed, her eyes zeroing in on several small pairs of shoes in the entryway.
“Alexis!” she called out, making her way further in the house to the kitchen. “I told you to take these shoes up to your room before Sam came to pick you up today!”
“Sorry Mom!” Kara heard Alexis yell from upstairs as she followed Lena silently. “Yeyu distracted me!” she defended as she came (literally) flying down the stairs.
Upon looking up from the coffee she was about to begin brewing, Lena let out an offended huff. “Alexis Winston!” she called out, and her daughter immediately looked over at her guiltily. “What are the rules of flying in this house?”
Letting out a dramatic sigh and plopping her feet back on the floor, Alexis recited sullenly, “ ‘No flying unless someone’s dying’.” She passed Kara a sad glance, and instinctively with a smirk behind Lena’s back, she lifted herself a few feet off the floor and winked at Alexis.
Alexis was immediately in a fit of giggles, and before Lena could turn around, Kara was back on the floor safe and sound, grinning innocently, but the look in Lena’s eye told her she knew exactly what she was up to.
She rolled her eyes and scoffed at Kara. “You know, it would be a lot easier for this poor lowly human to raise two Kryptonian kids if my wife didn’t constantly undermine my authority,” she teased gently, shooting Kara a tired smile.
Kara just grinned at her, unable to help herself upon hearing “Kryptonian kids”, and tried to look slightly apologetic. “Sorry, Lena,” she said, and Lena just shook her head with a smile, knowing Kara didn’t really mean it. “On Krypton children were encouraged to fight authority.”
“Bullshit,” Lena called her out immediately, rolling her eyes. Kara let out a little laugh at her expression, and Lena relented and joined in as well. The banter felt good, Kara realized. It felt normal, natural.
It felt a lot like her and Lena: her Lena.
Kara swallowed thickly to prevent the tears welling up and reminding her how much she had actually missed her friend the past few weeks. She missed this: the teasing and the smirks and the laughter. Whether it was over some new project she was working on or their superpowered kids reigning terror in their household: it hit Kara that she would never want a life without this.
Lena’s expression softened into a more serious one as she noticed the tears welling up in Kara’s eyes as she was staring at her. She looked at her wife for a purposeful moment, almost as if she were about to say something, but the doorbell pulled her attention.
As Lena went to welcome their guests, Kara took that time to pull herself together.
When Alex wandered around the corner, she beelined straight for Kara.
“Please tell me you’ll spike my coffee when no one’s watching,” she asked, teasing grin on her face, and Kara laughed a little.
“I’m already in trouble with my wife, I’m not risking anything else,” she shot back, ignoring how her body responded to calling Lena her wife.
Giving a small chuckle, Alex crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. “Oh please, that woman? Couldn’t be mad at you if she tried,” Alex jested, and Kara’s smile turned strained as she knew exactly how wrong Alex was.
“If the Danvers sisters could please report to the living room so we could begin!”
Kara and Alex both shared a laugh and made their way towards the room Winn requested they be in. Everyone was already seated around the large dining room table, passing out cards to one another. Liza sat on Lena’s lap, too young to play by herself, and James sat beside Winn, but his eyes brightened up upon seeing the two women enter the room.
“Hey Kara! Hey Alex!” he greeted, and Alex smiled back at him.
“Hey James, how’d your shoot go?” she responded, plopping down in the chair beside Ruby.
“As they always do when they run that late, but I think we got some really great stuff,” he related happily, as Kara took her seat in between Lena and Alexis.
As soon as she sat, they began their game, which Kara soon recognized to be Hearts. She gathered from context clues throughout the banter during the game that it had been Sam’s turn to pick the game, and she always opted for card games over board games. Also, it apparently didn’t matter what game they played as Lena and Alex became mortal enemies during all of them. (Winn kind of as well, but he wasn’t as good as them, so it barely counted.)
A few rounds in, Kara surveyed the group around her and realized that they might all be gay and married in this universe, but they all seemed so incredibly happy. She had thought seeing Winn and James together would throw her off the most (well, more than Lena walking up to her and kissing her), but honestly?
She could see how well they worked together here, playing off of each other while simultaneously feeding into each other’s antics. She admitted to herself that they were a better partnership than even James and Lucy were at game night.
And Alex and Sam? Same deal. Alex is a little more rough around the edges, but Sam knows exactly how to counter and anticipate her, not just in the game, but with her jokes and off-comments as well. And Ruby calls Alex her mom more than a few times that it’s enough to make Kara a little teary at how proud Alex is to be raising such a beautiful little girl.
Kara and Lena… Well Kara and Lena have always been the perfect pair, in her universe or otherwise. Both of their energy is spent more on making sure their girls understand the game. Alexis catches on incredibly quick, and Kara’s first thought is she must get that from Lena. So, for the rest of the game, she’s watching Lena out of the corner of her eye, teaching Liza to be as ruthless as possible, and it’s just impossibly cute.
Before they all know it, all three of the kids are yawning, signaling that it’s time to start wrapping things up and get them to bed. As Kara was cleaning up in the kitchen and everyone else was in the dining room, she heard soft footsteps behind her.
Kara turned and found Sam standing there with more coffee mugs to throw in the dishwasher. After a moment, she turned to Kara directly and said in a hushed voice, “Okay so I know she’s starting to have super-hearing, so I’m going to try to be careful here. I asked C-L-A-R-K about doing D-I-N-N-E-R with L-I-Z-A in two weeks for her B-D-A-Y, just with us godparents, and he’s down with it, if you’re also cool with it. I know she doesn’t get to see us both very often.”
“I- that sounds great, Sam,” Kara said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. She’s not sure who else she would have asked to be Liza’s godparents on this Earth, but she’s overwhelmingly happy that it ended up being Sam and Clark. Their girls were incredibly well looked after.
“Great!” she responded happily. “I’ll send you a text with more details later!” she promised as she turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Washing her hands and turning, Kara followed her back into the entryway.
Everyone was hugging goodbye, and Kara joined in, hugging all her friends and Ruby before they all said their final goodbyes and exited the door. Both of her daughters now seemed incredibly sleepy once the door shut, and Lena silently picked up a yawning Liza.
“Alright girls, time for bed,” she said softly, and they didn’t even try to protest. Alexis just grabbed Lena’s hand and began to follow her upstairs while Liza rested her head on Lena’s shoulder. Kara stared dumbly at them, unsure of what to do, never being part of their nighttime routine before.
Sensing this Lena stopped on the stairs and turned to her with a curious glance, catching Kara at the bottom of the steps like an anxious deer in the headlights. She let out a little laugh and shook her head at Kara.
“Girls, tell Yeyu goodnight,” she said softly, and both of them perked up a bit.
Alexis immediately began hopping down the steps as Lena gently brought Liza back down. Alexis jumped off the last step and flung herself at Kara who hugged her tightly.
“Goodnight, Yeyu,” she said with a yawn. “I love you,” she mumbled in Kryptonian, and tears welled in Kara’s eyes as she hugged her tightly, realizing this was probably the last time she would hug her daughter.
“I love you too, little one,” she responded softly in the language she hadn’t spoken to anyone who would understand it in such a long time. Alexis looked up at her smiling, and turned and made her way back up the stairs.
Lena was by her side then, passing Liza off to her, who clung to her immediately.
“Yeyu can we play bingo tomorrow?” she asked quietly, half asleep.
Kara choked back a laugh and hugged her tightly. “Yeah, Liza,” she responded gently, currently willing to give this little girl anything in the world.
She yawned happily and snuggled her head into Kara’s neck. “Mmkay, goodnight Yeyu,” she mumbled, before she completely passed out in Kara’s arms, and Kara’s heart was a puddle.
Lena watched Kara watching Liza with a sad smile for a moment, before taking a deep breath and moving to take Liza from her arms again. Kara looked up at her alerted, the question in her eyes of if she was supposed to put Liza to bed.
“It’s okay, I’ve got them. How about you go get in bed, while I get them in bed?” she whispered, but snuck in a suggestive tone with a wink, and Kara couldn’t do anything to fight the heat that crawled onto her face.
Before she could sputter any kind of response, Lena was up the stairs and Kara was left trying to regain her composure once again. She looked around the house and noticed the one hallway she hadn’t gone down yet and hoped that was where she would find the bedroom.
She would just go to the bedroom and figure out a way to get ahold of Barry, and if that didn’t work, she would come clean to Lena and try to work something out, she resolved.
She stepped into a decent sized room and flipped on the light, immediately recognizing it as her and Lena’s bedroom due to, well, the bed, and the large canvas of them hanging on the wall of their wedding.
Kara was mesmerized by it, taking step closer to get a better look. She swallowed thickly as she stared at it: both of them in gorgeous white dresses in the middle of the winter with the snow falling around them. It looked like it was straight from a fairytale. It felt so impossibly close and yet so far away it might as well have been a fairytale.
“So did you have fun?”
Kara jumped and whirled around, her face betraying the range of shock and betrayal as she faced the amused face of her alter ego. Kara-27 laughed at the frustration betrayed on Kara’s face.
“Y-you!” Kara finally sputtered, which caused a full on giggle to come from the blonde on the bed. Kara became more indignant with the response. “You left me with your family for the day! Without even telling Lena!”
Kara-27 seemed absolutely unperturbed by the situation as she continued to laugh and held up her hands in defense. “To be fair,” she started with a softening smile, “Lena absolutely figured it out within the first five minutes of seeing you. She’s really smart, you know.”
Kara opened her mouth to protest that Lena hadn’t showed any sign of knowing throughout the day when a voice rang out behind her.
“Within in the first five seconds, and don’t you dare give me the puppy face for this, Danvers. You’re on nightmare detail for the next month, at least.”
Both Kara’s turned and looked bashfully at Lena standing in the doorway, arms crossed and looking entirely unimpressed. Only missing a single beat, Kara-27 was bouncing off the bed to her wife.
“I’m sorry, Lee,” she mumbled, and Lena relented her mood enough for a quick kiss, which ultimately melted her mood to a unconvincing annoyed. With that, Kara-27 turned back to Kara with a smirk. “I told you she was smart,” she stated proudly.
Lena gave a scoff at this and rolled her eyes as she broke from her Kara and crawled on top of the bed to sit. “Yeah, my wife tells me there’s alternate Earth where there’s an alternate version of us and we’re just friends pining after each other, and ‘how cool would it be to help them out, Lena?’ And then one week later my wife becomes cryptic and tells me to meet her outside of her favorite restaurant where she’s completely caught off guard to see me, let alone make physical contact with me. It was a real brain teaser,” Lena recounted dryly, trying to stop an amused smile from forming at the sight of Kara-27 ducking her head bashfully.
“Wait, hold on,” Kara cut into their moment, feeling her skin become hot as the words kept replaying in her mind. “Lena and I aren’t- we aren’t- there’s no pining, it’s not like that… with us,” Kara insisted lamely, but she was only met with raised eyebrows of disbelief.
Kara-27 looked uncomfortable, as she side-eyed her wife and then looked back at Kara. “Are you sure? Because Barry told me she filled your office with flowers? And that you talk about her all the time? That you literally crashed her date once?”
Kara shifted uncomfortably. “I mean yeah, but it wasn’t like that though,” she answered uncomfortably, suddenly recounting all of her time with Lena and trying not to see it from that lens, because she was starting to realize how easy that was.
Clearing her throat, Lena piped up, “In my experience, that’s exactly what it’s like.”
Kara sputtered at this, and Lena smiled amusedly as she took this as a cue to explain.
“I’m just saying,” she continued, “That I can’t imagine there being any version of me that knows you and isn’t helplessly in love with the giant dork in a red cape.”
Kara stared at her for some time, her cheeks flushing as she tried to come up with a response. “Well, Lena--my Lena--doesn’t know I am the giant dork in the red cape,” she protested weakly, and both women across from her raised their eyebrows.
“She knows,” they both responded simultaneously, and before Kara could counter their statement, Lena began speaking.
“I knew almost the moment I met her that she was the city’s hero. I am really smart you know,” Lena explained, teasing Kara a bit, but then her face became a little more serious. “I can’t speak for your Lena, but I know I waited for you to come to me.”
“The longer you wait, the harder it is to come clean,” Kara-27 piped up, an understanding in her eyes. “With telling her you’re Supergirl and telling her your feelings.”
Tears pricked at the back of Kara’s eyes as she threw up her hands in frustration. “Well it doesn’t matter,” she complained, slightly catching the other two off-guard. Kara frowned and looked at the floor as she admitted, “Lena’s dating James now.”
Kara-27 immediately made a choking sound and began coughing.
“I’m sorry, what!” she cried out, and Lena who looked visibly uncomfortable put a soft hand on Kara-27’s shoulder distractedly.
“Darling…” she said softly, but her eyes stared sadly at Kara.
“What about Winn!” Kara-27 continued, her eyes wide and wild searching for any sense to be made of what Kara had just disclosed to them. Kara bit her cheek uncomfortably, unable to offer any answers. Kara-27 opened her mouth to speak again when Lena cut her off with a soft, yet forceful tone.
“Kara, stop,” she said, and Kara-27 faltered, glancing at her wife. “You can’t fix everyone in a different universe to be like us,” Lena explained reasonably, and a little voice in the back of Kara’s head screamed that maybe they would all benefit from it if Kara-27 did. Everyone did seem marginally happier here. And by marginally she meant by several thousands of margins happier.
Clearly having the same thought as her, Kara-27 huffed. “Well, I can certainly try!” she declared.
Lena sighed at this. “Kara…” she said warningly, and Kara-27 turned to pout directly at her.
“But we’re all so happy here!” she defended, and Lena smiled sadly at her.
“Yes we are. And they’ll all be happy there too, eventually. They’ll figure it out, just like we did,” she consoled, and Kara felt a lump building up in her throat. Her Lena didn’t believe she even deserved to be happy, let alone that she would be someday. This Lena gave her so much hope for her best friend’s future that she felt like she had to go there immediately and spend every waking moment making that hope become a reality.
“You know,” Lena continued, “I absolutely hated you when we first met.” And a realization hit Kara-27’s eyes that finally made her submit to her wife and give up her fantasy of playing matchmaker with everyone in a different universe.
“Yeah that sucked,” Kara-27 finally admitted, and Lena shot her a strained smile.
“Things suck sometimes. That’s what makes the happy so happy,” Lena explained, softly playing with Kara-27’s fingers.
Kara watched them and realized they had probably been at a modified position her and her Lena were at right now. “My Lena hates me right now too,” she admitted, and both of them looked up at her sympathetically.
“She’s stubborn, but… she’s worth it,” Kara-27 said slowly, eyes drifting towards her wife.
Kara clenched her jaw to hold back her tears. “I know,” she admitted, and Lena nodded at her, before taking a deep breath and standing from the bed.
Looking Kara directly in the eye, she said softly, “It’s going to hurt like hell, but whatever you think she hates you for, you need to come clean and be honest with her. And mostly give her time. She already has you in her life. I can’t imagine she’ll want to lose you, no matter what.”
Kara nodded at this, wiping a few tears away from her cheeks and straining a smile onto her face. With a small smile returned, Lena stepped towards Kara and squeezed her in a light hug.
“You’ve got this,” she whispered.
When Kara pulled away, Kara-27 popped up and gestured for a hug as well, grinning.
Kara-27 squeezed her tightly and got her to laugh a little, before releasing her. “You should come back and visit sometime! Maybe we could actually spend some time together and you can give me an update!” she suggested enthusiastically, and Kara couldn’t help but smile at the proposal.
“Of course,” she agrees, and Kara-27 beamed.
“Oh! And you’re welcome!” she said with a wink. “Once you get the whole she hates you thing out of the way, or even before honestly, the sex is incred-”
“Kara stop overwhelming her!” Lena cut in abruptly, but still fighting an amused smile at Kara’s brightly flushed face.
Kara-27 began laughing at her alter ego’s response, and eventually got herself to calm down enough to call for Barry. Kara was still blushing and starting to sweat trying to keep her mind off what Kara-27 had said when he arrived in the room.
“Ready to go?” he asked sweetly, and Kara scoffed at him.
“ ‘Business’? Really Barry?” she asked unamused, but Barry laughed in response.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he said, “You’ll thank me for this one day, Danvers.”
Kara huffed at this, but let it pass, because she had the sinking suspicion that they were definitely right. She was going to owe these three a lot one day.
Barry gestured to leave, but Kara paused.
“I- Before I go,” Kara stopped hesitantly, needing to ask a question that had been bugging her since she had thought of it. “Lucy Lane in this universe, is she…” Kara trailed off and Lena and Kara-27 exchanged confused glances.
“Her and Jess planned their wedding for next month, if that’s what you’re asking,” Lena finally offered as a response.
Sighing and letting out one laugh, Kara turned to Barry and said, “Okay, I guess it’s time to go.”
The first thing Kara did when she was returned to her universe was fly directly to Lena’s so she could come clean. Maybe she wasn’t ready for the whole… relationship, marriage, kids… thing yet, but she knew she needed to clear the air--actually clear the air--with Lena, or she might internally combust. No more hiding or running away from her problems. Lena deserved better.
It wasn’t until she landed on Lena’s apartment balcony that several issues with her plan began popping up. For one, it was 3:24 AM, and Lena was most definitely asleep (she could hear her calm heartbeat inside). For two, it was 3:24 AM and James could most definitely potentially be with her, a possibility that made Kara’s stomach turn (a quick scan of the apartment though told her this wasn’t the case). And for three, it was 3:24 AM and Kara knew if she didn’t wait right here until Lena woke up in three hours, she would chicken out and then go to Alex about it, and then Alex would forbid her for revealing her identity to Lena and then everything would become that much more complicated (and Kara didn’t really need more complicated right now; she just got back from talking to her alternate universe self).
Basically, all of this led to the fact that at 6:02 AM, when Lena flipped her lights on in her kitchen and groggily began starting a pot of coffee in her pajamas, Kara was sitting curled up on her balcony.
Kara’s eyes were immediately drawn to the kitchen and widened as she saw Lena with her hair up in a messy bun and donning some silly bright red pajama pants. Her jaw dropped at little bit just a seeing her friend like this, because yes, she had just spent the whole day with Lena, but it wasn’t her Lena. It was mom/wife/wise Lena.
Staring at the woman who was currently tiredly redoing her hair into a ponytail with a scrunchie, Kara couldn’t believe that it had taken her this long to realize that she was in love with her Lena. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes as she swallowed thickly to choke back her sob.
It was at this moment that Lena noticed the person on her balcony.
Her eyes widened immediately as she stiffened, but the only thing Kara could do was stare sadly at her in response. Clenching her jaw, Lena took a few steps towards Kara and looked as if she were about to cry herself.
Kara took a deep breath and knew she had to face this. It’s why she had stayed here all night. Gently she pushed herself up to a standing position as Lena unlocked her balcony door and slide it open slowly.
"Kara?” she finally asked slowly, her voice thick. “What are you doing here... on my balcony?" And Kara knew. Kara knew she was waiting for her to prove what she had long suspected wrong. Tell her Supergirl dropped her off or something and that had led to this situation, but Kara had to stop lying. It was finally time to stop lying.
"I'm sorry I just, when I came to visit last night you were already asleep, and I panicked because I knew if I went home I would chicken out, and so I just stayed here,” she confessed, shifting her weight nervously.
Lena paused for a moment, studying Kara, and it broke Kara’s heart to see the tears in her eyes. Finally, she repeated, “On my balcony.” It was no longer a question. Lena had always known, but now here was Kara--her best friend--standing on her penthouse balcony thousands of feet above the ground, and for some reason it hurt more than any of the times she had stood in front of her as Supergirl and lied to her.
Without another word, Lena pivoted on her heel and walked away.
"Wait, Lena, wait please,” Kara called after her, following her into the penthouse, her voice desperate and on the verge of tears.
Lena turned around abruptly with rage in her eyes that didn’t prevent the tears already running across her cheeks. "Well are you actually going to say it?” she demanded, the contempt clear in her voice, and Kara flinched. “I mean, you stayed here all night."
Kara stared at her and a few tears slipped out of her eyes quietly as she looked helplessly at Lena. Finally she took a shaky breath and confessed, "I'm Supergirl."
Lena stared at her for a moment, her jaw clenched so tightly, Kara was afraid it would break. “Get out,” she finally spat out, and continued to march away.
"Lena, please just let me apologize,” Kara begged, following her further.
"You already have,” Lena called back at her, her voice hard from her attempt to not let it waver. Her pace didn’t slow at all and she was nearing her bedroom.
"But for real this time,” Kara tried again, knowing she wouldn’t follow Lena that far. She would still respect her privacy.
Lena paused at this and turned around slowly. Kara didn’t know she could look angrier than before, but somehow she did. "Oh, so the last time wasn't real?" she asked bitterly, and Kara gulped.
"No, that's not what I-"
"How about I tell you what's real?” Lena cut her off. “My best friend lied to me for two years just so she could go behind my back and spy on me because she doesn't trust me." Kara could see the pain and betrayal in her eyes and it took everything in her not to shatter on the spot.
"That's not true and you know it,” she defended shakily.
"Then why'd you do it?"
Kara stared at her, her mouth open, trying to come up with any reason. It was the time to be honest, and Kara wasn’t sure what the honest answer was anymore. She had convinced herself of so many things, so many reasons over the past weeks, she could only give the answer she truly believed was honest. “I was scared,” she admitted.
Lena huffed at this and screamed, "We're all scared, Kara!"
And just like that, all the emotions and fears that had been building up in Kara for the past few weeks tumbled out of her faster than she could process that they were the truth.
"But you're not as scared as me!” she yelled back, and Lena flinched indignantly. “You haven't watched a world burn Lena. You haven't lost everything you have ever known. You don't know the fear of being absolutely invincible and having the weight of protecting everyone you love on your shoulders because they are so fragile."
"The kryptonite wasn't even-"
"I can't protect you if I'm dead, Lena!” Kara cut her off with an outburst, and at this Lena seemed completely taken aback. Both girls were now crying as Kara continued. “I just- When will you see that all I want is to make sure you're safe. I have watched you almost die so many times. I have saved you so many times. How am I possibly supposed to live with myself if I can't protect you?"
Lena looked more subdued now. Less angry, more sad, as she processed the extent of what Kara had just confessed to her. Finally she took a shaky breath and asked softly, “And the reason you didn't tell me about Supergirl?"
"You mean besides wanting to protect you?” Kara asked instinctively, but Lena flashed her a pointed look, and Kara sighed. They both knew she had kept the secret for more reasons than that.
“Out of everyone in my life,” Kara began slowly, carefully deciding how to word her response, “you are arguably the one that needs Supergirl the most, and yet somehow Kara was still more important to you. I was afraid Kara would lose some of her worth in your eyes if I told you; or even worse, lose it altogether.” Kara paused, swallowing thickly. Her voice began cracking as she continued, “And I couldn't risk that because out of everyone in my life, you are arguably the one Kara Danvers needs the most."
Lena stared at her a long time, and Kara waited in silence, saying all she needed to be said. Whatever Lena decided from here on out, she would accept gracefully, even if it hurt like hell.
"I'm afraid I'm still really angry at you,” Lena finally responded, averting her eye contact and wiping the tears from her face. “So I'm going to ask you to leave again,” she continued pointedly, this time glancing up at Kara.
Kara felt like she had been punched in the gut, but knew she needed to give Lena space now. With a shaky breath and a nod, she began to slowly move her way towards the door.
“Kara?” she heard Lena’s voice call out behind her. When Kara turned around, she was silent for a moment before saying, “You haven't lost me; I just, need some time. I'll call you?"
And before she could convince herself out of it, Kara raced across the room to Lena and wrapped her in a tight hug. Lena stiffened for a moment, but eventually melted into the hug as well and they stayed like that for several minutes.
When she pulled back, Kara offered a pained smile and turned and left without another word.
The weeks seemed to pass slowly for Kara, but the progress with Lena was still there. She had called Kara after about two weeks of radio silence, and Kara doesn’t think she’s ever answered a phone call faster in her life.
It was after that Kara had confessed everything to Alex (well, everything that went on in this universe, at least). Alex was unimpressed with Kara’s execution, but had sighed and mumbled it was about time Lena got an NDA from the DEO anyways. Kara secretly believed her sister was relieved to have a reason to bring Lena into the DEO to help with their tech and security projects.
Three weeks after her confession, Lena offered to get lunch with Kara again. It was incredibly awkward and they didn’t speak much during it, but in a weird way it was reassuring. They had gone through hell and back and here they were. Still sitting at lunch together. Kara gratefully thought that maybe they’d be okay.
The following weeks brought much of the same awkward lunch dates and strained small talk through text, but Kara welcomed it all with open arms, happy to receive whatever she could from Lena.
It was about six weeks after Kara’s admission that a large shift in their recovery process was made.
“I broke up with James,” Lena confessed on their first movie night together in months.
Kara stopped what she was doing and froze, looking slowly over at Lena who was watching her reaction carefully.
“Oh” was Kara’s response, and she fumbled with the DVD case in her hands.
Lena shifted uncomfortably on the couch, and nodded. “I actually did it a few weeks ago, but it didn’t feel right to tell you when we were so… you know,” she trailed off, and Kara nodded.
“And now?” she finally asked, her voice shaking a little.
Lena’s eyes met hers, and she shrugged. “And now I’m in your apartment and you’re making me watch some cheesy Disney movie and it feels like the old us, and I don’t know,” she answered. “I think I want to be the old us again. I’ve run out of reasons for us not to be anymore.”
Kara nodded at that. “I would really like that,” she admitted softly, and Lena smiled at her.
“Do you want to just talk tonight instead, maybe? No yelling or screaming this time?”
Kara agreed immediately, and they spent the rest of the night clearing the air. Laughing about Kara’s poor attempts to hide her identity. Teasing about their relationships gone wrong. Discussing in depth how to establish more trust and communication in this next attempt to be friends.
When Lena fell asleep curled up next to her on the couch, Kara finally was able to let out a breath she had been holding for weeks now.
They were going to be okay.
And they were okay.
Over the next few months, their relationship became stronger than ever. Kara answered all of Lena’s questions about being a superhero, and the other superheroes she occasionally fought alongside. She taught her about the Kryptonian culture, and Lena was eager to learn, even beginning lessons in Kryptonian, which made Kara’s heart soar.
Lena began opening up to Kara like she never had in the past, laying her vulnerabilities out for Kara to see, and didn’t immediately shut down when Kara began making efforts to help assuage them. They became happier, even though the world around them became messier. They had each other now. Everything was okay.
Except Kara didn’t feel like everything was okay because over the past few months she had fallen deeply, tragically and irreversibly in love with Lena. And she didn’t know how to tell her, or if she even wanted that.
“Why did you decide to tell me you were Supergirl?” Lena asked, one night breaking the silence. They were at Lena’s in the middle of a Lord of the Rings marathon, when the question escaped her lips; Kara’s eyes shot up to hers in surprise. “I mean, I was pretty angry at you then. I figured you would wait until that had all calmed down,” Lena shrugged, taking another sip of her scotch as she watched Kara carefully.
“It was Barry, actually,” Kara finally explained, after a moment of silence, and Lena crinkled her eyebrows perplexed.
“The Flash told you to reveal your secret identity to me?” she asked.
Kara huffed at this and sat up, fiddling with her glass. “No, not exactly,” she began. “He, um, brought me to this other Earth and I met a different version of you.” The statement hung in the air for a beat as Lena processed this.
“You met a different version of me?” she questioned, and Kara nodded slightly. “Well, what was I like?” she asked, and Kara let out a little laugh.
“You were… happy,” Kara answered truthfully, unable to meet Lena’s eyes.
This piqued Lena’s interest, so she sat up and prodded a little more. “I was happy? Doesn’t sound like me, does it,” she joked lightly, and then studied Kara for a second. “Was there another version of you?” she asked softly after a bit of silence, and Kara swallowed thickly.
“Yeah,” she answered. “She was really happy too.” And Kara could feel that Lena had more questions but sensed she was saving them as Kara looked as if she were about to say more.
Before she could talk herself out of it, Kara broke.
“They were married,” Kara rushed out. “You and me on the other Earth: we were- they were married. And they had two kids. The older one Alexis was super shy, but she was brilliant and a beautiful dancer, and she had your eyes and your talent at everything. And the younger one Liza? Spitting image of you Lee, except she was so ornery, and you just loved her so much more for it. And we lived in this cute house in the suburbs where we would have our friends and family over after dance recitals, and we would all play games, and you and Alex would always compete, but you were best friends, and she was married to Sam, and James was married to Winn, and-” Kara choked on a sob as she tried to finish. “Everyone was just so happy, Lena. I didn’t- I didn’t know we could be that happy.”
Lena stared at Kara, unsure of when the tears started streaming down her cheeks. Sniffing and wiping a tear after, she asked in a shaky voice, “And they told you to tell me you’re Supergirl?”
Kara laughed through some tears. “Actually they told me you already knew I was Supergirl, and I should own up to it,” she admitted, and Lena let out a choked laugh at this. Kara became tense and quiet for a second, before she strangled out her next confession. “The other Kara also told me I should tell you how I feel about you,” Kara stated softly, unable to meet Lena’s eyes, but she heard the quiet yet sharp intake of breath from the woman beside her. “And you told me-” Kara cut herself off as she shook her head, unable to get the words out.
She felt a soft hand on top of hers and looked up to see Lena’s shining eyes. “What did I tell you?” she asked, the desperate curiosity written on her face looking as if it would kill her.
Kara swallowed thickly, and then looked Lena in the eye as she murmured, “You told me there wasn’t a version of you that existed that didn’t love me.”
Kara didn’t have time to process anything else before Lena’s lips were on hers, and the two girls were desperately pulling each other closer. Rao, of all the times she had thought about it in the past month, nothing could really describe the pure bliss Kara felt while she was kissing Lena Luthor.
She tugged Lena gently into her lap and wrapped her arms tightly around her, her lips refusing to leave Lena’s as Lena dug her hands tightly into Kara’s hair.
When they finally did pull back from each other, breathing heavily and letting several tears loose, they both smiled at each other widely and began laughing.
“I was right, you know,” Lena finally admitted, and Kara’s heart swelled at the admission.
“You always are,” she responded. “You’re really smart, you know,” she mocked Lena-27 gently.
Lena laughed at this and shook her head. And without responding, her lips were back on Kara’s.
Later that, as they were curling up into each other in Lena’s bed, Lena sighed.
“So,” she said quietly, and Kara grinned at her.
“So?” she asked unsure of where she was going.
Lena paused, and then turned to look at Kara seriously. “How are we going to get Alex and Sam and James and Winn together?” she asked mischievously, and Kara let out a bark of laughter.
“Oh trust me,” she responded, snuggling in even closer to the woman she loved, “I have a plan for that.”