Candles Dancing in a Tempest

Short little Supercorp oneshots. Some, fluff, some action. A whole lotta angst about our favourite repressed bisexuals. Because until the Supergirl writers get their heads out of their asses, we're just going have to pick up the slack. And dammnit if this ship isn't consuming every single moment of my life.

There are three things Lena Luthor is absolutely certain of.

One: Luthors will fight fiercely for everything; power, money, prestige – love. Once they had their minds firmly set on something, they would stop at nothing to get it and woe betide anyone who dares get in their way.

Two: A Luthor was not all she was. She had tried, tried so hard, dammit, to carve out a life for herself in National City. Away from Lex, from her mother, from the ever-present spectre of the Luthor name, never too far behind, relentless in its certainty to destroy all that she had accomplished and drag her back down into the madness that her name stands for.

Three: Kara Danvers was going to be the death of her.

It starts innocuously, little glances here and there, a shy reporter and an aloof CEO. Toeing the waters. Friends? Perhaps. Not quite. Too much baggage on both sides, although only one of them really understands just how much at this point. But surprisingly, they click. Like puzzle pieces just falling into place. They're still practically strangers, but there's a spark there, slumbering in the embers of shy stutters and curious smiles.

The Luthor walls, iron clad and precision engineered to protect the lonely, beating heart within, are still very much up, cold and impenetrable in their might. But for the first time in a long, long while, Lena considers that maybe, just maybe, she can sense the faintest cracks begin to form.

(Lena dares to hope).

Supergirl is a goddess. Not in the literal sense, although she might as well be.

(Lena knows too much to think that true anymore. She thinks of the fevered fire boiling behind her brother's eyes; glinting with that sickly, otherworldly green).

But Supergirl is power. Raw, undulated power. And Lena, despite herself; despite all the promises she had made, whispered to herself in those cold, dark nights when her brother drove himself to kill a god – Lena can't help it. The power flows in her veins, intoxicates her. Just being in the same room as the Girl of Steel made her tremble at the knees.

(Think of all the things she could do with that kind of power at her disposal. Lex was a fool to try and kill Superman. Why kill when you could control? Nations would bow to her; humanity would kneel at her feet. Little Lena Luthor, conquer of worlds.)

Then she remembers Kara Danvers. Sweet, kind, goofy Kara Danvers. Lena isn't blind. In fact, she's a certified genius. It takes her maybe a second to put two and two together to get secret identity. And that stops her cold in her tracks. Because maybe she might be willing to sacrifice Supergirl, the figure, the goddess, floating high and mighty above humanity, passing judgment at her whim. But Kara Danvers?

(Turns out, Supergirl isn't the only one with kryptonite and the cracks grow bigger).

The months pass, and despite her best efforts, Lena is helpless to get sucked in to the human (kryptonian?) whirlpool that is Kara Danvers. Lena once catches herself musing that if she could somehow harness the pure joy that Kara radiates, she could power the whole world with happiness alone. Then Lena mentally slaps herself. Getting soft Luthor.

(She doesn't deny it though and the wall begins to fall apart).

When CADMUS rears its ugly head and Lena's world comes crashing down, Kara is there for her. Solid, immovable. In more ways than one.

(Lena still hasn't told her she knows. And honestly? She's not sure why she doesn't anymore and oh –)

Her head on Kara's shoulder is like coming home. Oh God, she's so far gone if she's thinking things like that and – and – she really can't be bothered to care because her world is nothing but Kara –

Lena scrambles for control, desperately trying to keep herself together because while the heart wants what the heart wants, Lena is not stupid. She knows full well the consequences of having an exposed nerve, a weak point laid bare. And Kara? Kara already holds her open heart and there's nothing Lena can do about it.

(The wall breaks. Lena can't find it within herself to care).