Work Text:
After Lena had noticed on one of the TVs at Catco that Morgan Edge was at the Parks Conservation Gala, Kara and Lena had decided they would meet at Lena’s before going to the event together.
As it was a black tie event, Kara decided to go with a black dress, with her hair up in a bun, and a light red lipstick.
The doorman on Lena’s building was quite familiar with her, so she was allowed entrance up to the penthouse floor. Upon arriving on the floor, Kara knocked on the door waiting for her friend. The door opened to reveal Lena, “Wow, you look beautiful.”
Lena opened the door, wearing a black gown that was hanging past both shoulders that went down just past her knees. She must have missed the compliment and said, “Oh Kara, you’re here, do you think you could zip me? It seems my zipper on this dress is stuck.”
“Right… Yeah, sure, I can help you,” Kara stepped into Lena’s home, and after the door shut, she stepped behind her friend, to get to the zipper. She tried to move the zipper but it was in fact stuck, “Wow, it really is stuck.”
Lena nodded, “Yes, I was about to change when you knocked.”
Kara placed a hand on Lena’s bare shoulder for a moment, and for a brief second she thought she felt a shiver come from her friend, but she shook it off thinking she’d imagined it. Or maybe her hand was a little cold from just being outside. “If I can just,” She moved her hand back down to the zipper where it was stuck. Kara was trying her very best not to use her strength because she could easily rip the entire garment.
“You know I can just change if that would be--” Lena started when she felt Kara’s hand down on her hip.
Kara very clearly felt Lena react to her touch then, and for a brief moment she let her intrusive thoughts win, and decided to indulge in the moment and stepped up closer to pull the zipper free of the seam, and up the remainder of the dress.
When Lena turned around to say, ‘Thank you’ her mouth went dry as she stood so close to Kara, her friend. She had to remember, Kara was her friend.
The same friend that had saved her somehow from the poison earlier in the day.
That was always there for her.
Trusted her.
Was never afraid of the power Lena held. Both with L-Corp and Catco.
Never made Lena feel like she was too much.
Never judged Lena’s last name.
Before Lena knew what she was doing, she was leaning up to kiss Kara, but before she could make contact, Kara stepped back.
“Lena, what are you doing?” Kara had asked, surprised by her friend going in for a kiss.
“I- I thought, maybe I misjudged the situation, I thought you might-” Lena stammered unsure of why Kara was reacting in such a way.
“No, your judgment was right, but last I checked, you were dating James, what about him?” Kara asked, not sure what was happening. Did she have some feelings she didn’t understand, for Lena? Yes. But it didn’t matter because Lena was with James. She missed her chance.
“After this morning, I’m not sure that being with him was the right choice,” Lena admitted, stepping away from Kara towards her island.
Kara followed Lena with her eyes, “What do you mean? I thought you really liked him.”
Lena nodded, “I thought so too, but then he made a comment this morning that is making me rethink that.”
Kara walked over and sat down on one of the stools, “What did he say?”
“You know how you have never judged me on being a Luthor? Or having power? Or being rich? Or the fact that I bought Catco and am your boss now?” Lena asked a variety of questions.
Kara nodded, “Yeah. I love that you bought Catco because I’m sure Morgan Edge would have tore it down for a sports complex or something.”
Lena chuckled at the statement because she was probably right, “Well, this morning when James and I went to have brunch before the editorial meeting, he made a comment that he didn’t want me there because the staff doesn’t like having the boss around,” Lena said, quoting James almost word for word, but sounding more confused about it.
“What? Why would he say that?” Kara looked at Lena confused. “Cat Grant was at every single editorial meeting before you bought the company. The only difference between you and her was that Cat wasn’t very nice most of the time.” Kara chuckled at the statement. “Like if your idea of an article wasn’t good, she made it known. At least with you, you help to improve on an idea rather than shutting it down. The amount of times I watched reporters run off and cry in a bathroom was more than you’d think.”
Lena nodded, “Precisely, so the only logical reason for him to not want me there is that he has a problem with a powerful woman.”
“Huh, I would have never thought that from James,” Kara wondered aloud. “Not with how closely he works with Supergirl.”
Lena shrugged, “Maybe he has a crush on Supergirl.”
Kara laughed, “That’s not it.”
“How do you know?” Lena asked, curious now.
Kara breathed in deeply before letting it go slowly, “Because he and I tried the dating game before, and it didn’t work out.”
Lena looked at Kara confused, “I know that but what does that have to do with Supergirl…”
Kara slowly took off her glasses and looked back at Lena, “Because I am Supergirl.”
Lena’s mouth fell open slightly, “You’re her… I can’t believe I was fooled by a pair of glasses.”
“Don’t worry, a lot of people are,” Kara answered.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lena asked, now confused that her friend didn’t tell her such information.
Kara shrugged, “Lots of reasons. Mostly because I wanted to protect you, but also because it was nice having someone who didn’t know who I was. Someone who goes out of their way to ‘protect’ me for once. I know it’s silly, but until you’re the person everyone relies on, it’s-”
“I understand Kara,” Lena stepped closer and sat down in the stool next to her. “I’m glad you told me. So my dream from earlier, in which I thought you were carrying me, was real then?”
Kara nodded, “Yeah. After you collapsed on the balcony, I picked you up and took you to the DEO, in which I worked with Alex to save you. So the reason you felt like you were hit by a truck was because I had to cool your core body temp.”
Lena looked at her shocked, “Oh. You had to induce hypothermia. That makes a lot of sense.”
“Yeah, but since you didn’t know who I was…” Kara dragged out.
Lena nodded, “You couldn’t tell me the truth. I understand. Well, I appreciate your quick thinking in saving me.”
“It really scared me, I thought I was going to lose you,” Kara remembered back to earlier that day seeing Lena convulsing on the hospital bed.
“I’m okay, Kara, I promise,” Lena stood up from the stool and leaned in to hug Kara, who accepted the hug. She pulled back a moment later, “So then you brought me back to Catco before I woke up then?”
Kara nodded, “Yeah, J’onn didn’t want you to wake up in a facility that you ‘technically’ don’t know about. So maybe keep that to yourself until you officially know.”
Lena sat back down on the stool, “My lips are sealed.”
“Thank you.” Kara added. She put her glasses back on her nose. “So what are you going to do about James? And what about us?” She asked hesitantly because while she was curious she didn’t want to hope for something that might not be real.
“I think there is only one thing to do,” Lena started saying. “I can’t be with someone who looks at me and feels intimidated. I need someone who looks at me the way you look at me.”
Kara nodded, “I think that makes sense. So what are you going to do?”
“After the event tonight, I’m going to tell him,” Lena answered confidently, “Then maybe…” She wasn’t certain where to go from there.
Kara stood up from the stool, “Did you want to come over after the gala? Or I could come here?”
“Since you can fly, maybe we can come back here, and talk?” Lena asked, hopeful.
Kara laughed at Lena so casually suggesting she fly home, “I would like that, as we should probably be getting to the gala soon. I’d hate for your mother to kill Edge.”
Lena smiled, “Yeah, I don’t think we need that on our conscience.”
XXXXXXXX
After they catch Lillian, and Morgan Edge admitted to all of the things he’d done to Lena in the last couple months, Lena walked over to James, “Can we talk?”
“Why don’t I take you home, and we can talk there?” James suggested.
“I have plans with Kara tonight,” Lena answered, looking in the direction of Kara briefly who was talking to one of the police officers, notebook in hand taking notes.
James looked at her surprised, putting his hands in his pants pockets, “Oh, uh, it’s pretty late. I’m sure Kara is busy tonight. I just thought that with you in that dress, we could maybe…. You know.” He wiggled his brows to get the point across reaching out to put his hands on her hips.
Lena stepped back feeling a little grossed out by the way he implied having sex, and instead, shook her head, “No, James. After this morning, I realized you’re just not the guy for me.”
James’ mouth fell open, shocked, “What are you talking about? I thought we had a good thing going.”
“We did, but when the person I am with feels intimidated by my power, and needs me to be less to help them be more, that is a relationship I don’t need in my life,” Lena pointed out the error in his ways. “I pride myself on what I have accomplished being a woman in this field, and I need someone who looks at what I have, and wants me to show it.”
There was one person in her life that never judged her for the power she had, and that person was Kara. She never truly recognized it until James made the comment.
“Lena, I don’t have any problem with you owning Catco. I just, I didn’t want the staff to feel like they had to prove something with their boss being there,” James knew exactly what she was referring to and immediately went into defensive mode.
Lena hummed, “The very fact that you knew what I was referring to speaks volumes James, and it’s okay. We were only in the early stages of this relationship, so I hope that we can go back to just being friends, and keep this professional.”
“I-- Lena, I really think we should talk about this. I can do bett-” James tried but Lena cut him off.
“James, look I think we got caught up in a moment, and I temporarily forgot that we are better just as friends,” Lena added. “Now I better be leaving, as you said it is late.” She turned and walked away from the man, leaving him stunned.
Lena wandered over to Kara who was standing in place making notes from the interview she just had with the officer. “Are you ready to go?”
“Well, did you want me to talk to that server over there for the article, they said they saw the whole thing, or did you want me to follow-up tomorrow?” Kara asked, thinking about her reporter job first.
Lena smiled, “I think that the job can wait until tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” Kara asked. “I have this boss that can be a little intimidating when I don’t get my work done,” She said sarcastically trying to make Lena laugh.
Lena laughed. “I’m sure your boss will understand.”
“If you say so,” Kara smiled, hoping she made Lena feel better about the whole situation. “I better not hear about it tomorrow.”
“I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble,” Lena answered with a smile, before they left to go back to her penthouse.
XXXXXXX
They walked back into Lena’s penthouse about an hour later, and Lena looked to Kara, “I am going to get changed into something comfier, did you want to change as well? I’m sure I could find something for you.”
“Um… Since you know who I am now, I think I’ll fly home, and change and then come back, if that’s alright?” Kara suggested, looking towards the balcony.
Lena looked to where Kara was looking, and then back to her, “Oh, uh, sure.”
Lena walked into her bedroom to change, and took a little longer than usual partly because she thought Kara would be gone for a while, and partly because she didn’t know where this conversation would go. If it would go anywhere. She didn’t leave work today thinking she’d be breaking up with her boyfriend, and possibly starting a relationship with her friend. A friend that she cared about more than she really thought she did.
She’d always liked Kara. Even though in the beginning their relationship was a little rocky, she’s glad that over time she let the reporter into her life. She couldn’t see her life without Kara, at this point.
She chose to go with some sweatpants, and a long sleeve blue sweater that she had for when she just wanted to sit and read a book. When she had the time for that anyways. It wasn’t often that she had the time to just sit and read. There was always a crisis at L-Corp or something going on at Catco, or her mother coming to town.
After about thirty minutes or so, Lena walked back into the main area to find Kara standing at the island eating a piece of pizza from a pizza box. “You went and got pizza?”
Kara, who was focused on eating, looked over at Lena, “Your mother used Kryptonite against me, I was hungry so I didn’t think you’d mind if I stopped and got pizza on the way back.” She said wearing a baby blue t-shirt and some gray striped pants.
“Are you wearing pajamas?” Lena asked, a little surprised.
Kara looked at her confused, “Yes. Whenever you come to my apartment, I’m usually in pajamas.”
“I’m just surprised since you flew here,” Lena was a little confused to say the least.
Kara shrugged, “No one sees me, and I stopped at that pizza place that’s used to me coming in wearing all kinds of things.”
“I feel like there is a story there, but I am more interested in us,” Lena said walking in behind Kara to make some tea. “Did you want some tea?”
Kara turned, “Sure, I could go for some tea. Did you want some pizza?”
Lena shook her head, “No thanks. This late, I don’t think I would sleep if I ate pizza.”
“Fair enough,” Kara closed the box, and finished off the piece she had in her hand. “So how did James take it?”
Lena looked at her confused, “With your hearing, I would have thought you’d know how it went.”
“I try not to listen into conversations if I don’t have to, besides, I was trying to understand what the cop was telling me about the incident at the gala,” Kara explained.
Lena put the tea bag into the cup, before pouring hot water, “Why were you talking to the cop anyways? You have first hand experience as Supergirl.”
“True, but I can’t use Supergirl as a source every time,” Kara pointed out. “Otherwise it would look suspicious. Besides, if you’ll remember, you always want more sources.”
Lena handed Kara a mug, “Right, I forgot about that.”
Kara nodded, “Yeah, so how did it go? Did James take it well?”
Lena walked over to her couch with Kara and they both sat down with their mugs in hand, “I don’t know. I think it went as well as it could have.”
“Well, it’s like you said, being with someone who doesn’t understand you for you, doesn’t help anyone,” Kara pointed out.
Lena nodded, going to take a sip from her tea and realizing it still hadn’t steeped yet and was still mostly just water. She made a face, before putting her mug down on the table in front of the couch. “I just wanted the conversation to end so that we could continue our conversation from earlier.” She turned, placing her right elbow up on the back of the couch to look at Kara.
Kara placed her mug on the table as well before looking at Lena, “So…” She adjusted the glasses on her nose before looking at her friend nervously. “You tried to kiss me earlier.”
“I did, and if you’ll let me, I’d like to actually kiss you this time,” Lena suggested, not making a move as she wanted Kara to be comfortable with it.
“Just like that?” Kara asked, genuinely surprised that Lena wanted to flip switches so fast. “You just broke up with James, are you sure you want to jump into something so fast? We could take a day.”
“Is that what you want, Kara?” Lena asked. “Look, Kara, I cared about James, I did, and while I do think there is a good chance that I got caught up in what you and Sam said to me at the Christmas party, I think I was only trying to hide behind what I was actually feeling.”
“Which was what?” Kara wasn’t sure what Lena was getting at.
“That you were who I was actually interested in, but with everything that happened with Mon-el, I didn’t want to say anything, so I pushed those feelings down, until they weren’t there anymore,” Lena explained what she was feeling. “Then James said what he said, and then Edge poisoned me, and everything with my mother, and-”
Kara slid closer to Lena on the couch so they were side by side now, “You felt trapped.”
Lena nodded, feeling warmer not because of her sweater, but because Kara was sitting so close to her, “Yeah.” She nodded in agreement. “With you though… I have never felt like I had to be someone different.” She placed a hand on Kara’s shoulder, and as if they had an unspoken conversation, Kara leaned closer, and their lips connected.
Lena’s hands moved up into Kara’s hair, pulling at the band, to let Kara’s hair loose from the ponytail, as Kara’s left arm fell onto the back of the couch, and on Lena’s back, and her right hand was on Lena’s cheek. It felt so right as their lips moved against each other.
Kara was getting lost in the feel of Lena’s hands in her hair, on her neck, and her lips on her mouth, she was honestly annoyed at herself for not admitting this to herself sooner. She could have been kissing Lena for weeks now. After Mon-el disappeared and then came back married, she thought she’d never find someone. Then Lena started dating James, and her chances of happiness diminished, until now.
Lena was losing all sense of whatever control she had as Kara’s lips moved against her own, but she needed more, she needed more contact. Before she knew what she was doing, she was lifting up, and shifting positions on Kara’s lap.
“Lena,” Kara was surprised by the movement.
Breathing heavy, Lena asked, “Was this too much? I can-” She started moving to get off when Kara stopped her.
“No, I just wasn’t expecting it,” Kara’s hands were on Lena’s thighs holding her in place. “Are you sure this is what you want? I don’t want you to jump into something so fast, and then regret it tomorrow.”
Warmth filled her heart when Lena felt the concern Kara had for her well-being. It made her realize just how much this moment felt right. She did just break up with James, and maybe that meant that this was too fast but something in her told her that this was where she was meant to be. Here with Kara.
“See Kara, this is why I love you. You have such a heart of gold,” Lena said, pushing hair over Kara’s ear, “You are who I want to be with.” She leaned in and kissed Kara softly, just enough to convey what she was feeling then.
Lena pulled back and Kara’s eyes were still closed. Kara was taking in the moment. The smell of Lena’s moisturizer, the feel of Lena’s pants under her fingers, the way Lena’s hands gently touched her neck and jaw, even down to the beating of Lena’s heartbeat. Never in a million years did Kara think she would find herself in this moment with the girl of her dreams. She opened her eyes, and looked into Lena’s green eyes with so much love, “I love you too, Lena, I always have from the first moment I saw you.”
Lena felt warm from the love and adoration coming from Kara as she leaned forward connecting their lips again. It was slow and filled with love.
Kara’s hands started to wander, dragging up Lena’s back pulling at her sweater, as their lips continued to move against each other.
Lena pulled back just for a moment, “Did you want to come to bed with me?” She asked with a fire behind her eyes.
Kara nodded, “Yes, you don’t have to ask me twice.”
Before Lena could say another word, Kara was whisking her up into the air and running them into the bedroom in a fit of laughter.
Laughter was heard from the bedroom, before they continued their exploration of each other.