To say Kara was pissed when Alex showed up to her door crying was the understatement of the century. She was infuriated. She wanted to give Maggie a slap likes of which she would never recover from.
So many look at Alex and see the hard as nails D.E.O. Agent and not the sweet, caring sister Kara has come to love. Yes, Alex has her flaws, but as far as Kara is concerned, they are far outweighed by just how amazing Alex is. So, for Maggie to encourage her sister to come out to her, and then, tell her she doesn't have feelings for her. Kara desperately wants to do something she knows she shouldn't.
It is this that means that once Alex is asleep, firmly drunk and dead to the world, Kara finds herself flying over to Lena`s and knocking on her door. It is clear to her Lena hadn`t been sleeping, because as soon as she knocks the door opens and she finds Lena looking worriedly at her. She immediately throws herself into Lena`s arms and takes the comfort she finds there.
They had secretly been dating for the last few months, since just after Clark`s visit and in that time, they had grown close, so close in fact that just weeks prior Kara had told Lena the truth, about Krypton, herself, and about being Supergirl. It had been a lot for Lena to process, especially with everything she had heard from her brother and mother. Combine that all with everything else that has been happening with Cadmus this year and it is no surprise Lena needed a few days. But sure, enough not even 72 hours later she was at Kara`s door, again telling her how she still loved her and that none of it mattered to her.
And so, it was now that Lena didn't even ask how Kara got here in the middle of the night, or why she had been crying. She just pulls Kara into her arms and hugs her letting Kara let go of everything as she lies safely in Lena`s arms.
They lie that way for hours and Lena just slowly strokes through Kara`s hair as she whispers words of love into her hair. As Kara snuggles close into her side. Eventually, Kara seems to emerge from the headspace she had been in and starts to tell Lena about what Alex had told her. About how Maggie had broken her sister`s heart. Lena lays there and just listens, she doesn't interfere or comment; she knows that right now all Kara needs is to get this all off her chest before it crushes her under its weight.
Hours later they are asleep when Kara`s phone wakes them signalling it is time for her to get back before Alex wakes up. She kisses Lena softly and thanks her for the last night before promising to send her a message later so they can catch up properly.
Kara doesn't manage to call Lena all week, between Alex`s heartbreak and the D.E.O. Seemingly losing every alien at once she spends nearly her entire week chasing back and forth around the city and never has time to pick up her phone and call Lena being forced to make do with a few short texts here and there. It is this that prompts Lena to show up on a Friday evening with eight containers of pot-stickers, a large pizza and a copy of 'The Princess Bride'.
Kara immediately wraps her arms around Lena as she kisses her solidly, taking the pot-stickers and movie before placing the food on the table and putting the movie in the player and laying down beside Lena on the couch.
An hour and a half later Kara finds herself pressed tightly into Lena`s side when her door opens, and suddenly Alex is walking in trailed closely by Clark.
"Hey Kara, guess who I found… outside…" Alex`s voice trails off as she sees Lena cuddled with Kara.
"Luthor" the venom in Kal`s voice sends shivers down Lena`s back, and her spine immediately starts to straighten.
But she barely moves before Kara is standing in front of her asking "what are you doing here Kal" her voice barely moderating her anger.
"what am I doing here?" he asks incredulous "what is she doing here?"
Lena almost wants to sink back into the couch and avoid the glare Kal-El is giving her, but it`s Kara`s voice that stops her "She`s here because she`s my girlfriend and I asked her to be."
"She`s your What?" Alex asks shocked the same time Kal practically yells "she`s a Luthor."
Kara barely spares an apologetic glance to Alex before she focuses on Kal "Get, out" her tone is darker than
Anyone has ever heard.
Kal visibly shivers when his cousin fixes her glare on him. He has flashbacks to when he was a child on Krypton, and one of the neighbour's kids had hurt a small bird. Kara had that exact same look on her face then. It was then he realises exactly how far he has stepped over the line and if the way Kara is starting to advance on him is any indication he needs to go, now.
As Kal makes a quick run for the door, Lena places her hand over Kara`s and immediately Kara seems to lose all the anger and rage as she turns to look at Lena pure love in her eyes. Alex stands silently watching this for a few moments before she is moving so she is standing in front of the now seated pair.
She regards Lena carefully as she asks "you`re dating my sister?"
"I am."
"and do you love her?"
"with all my heart; and until my dying breath."
"good, but if you hurt her, that can be easily arranged."
"Alex" Kara groans just as Lena nods solemnly "I will never hurt her."
"good, so what are we watching."
The rest of the evening soon turns into 'share embarrassing stories about Kara' as Alex proceeds to tell Lena all about Kara as a clumsy pre-teen. She learns about how Kara managed to adapt to life on Earth, about how she learned to control her new powers after she nearly burned down their house six months in, about the time she didn't watch where she was going and accidentally knocked the entire football team into the lake.
She even learns the reason Kara seems so clumsy still is not because of her sight or anything with her. It's the glasses the special lead-lined glasses with the slightest traces of kryptonite in them that dull her powers and make it difficult for Kara to truly 'see' her surroundings.
When Lena hears this, she can't help the instinct as she reaches up to Kara`s face takes off the glasses and moves them as far across the room as possible, determined Kara need not suffer such a disguise or hindrance for appearance sakes when they are alone. Also, if the look on Alex`s face is anything to go by that was the right thing to do, that small part Alex seems to have been holding back vanishes almost immediately.
The next morning Alex is sprawled across the couch as Kara and Lena lie snuggled in bed, as they lie there Lena can`t help the love filled looks she is constantly shooting Kara. She is drawn back to the times when she had been at boarding school, and she was forced to stay there for the holidays, because her mother didn't want her 'home' with them. Honestly, they may have adopted her and given her a 'home', but Lena never felt the love at home with them as she does just laying here in Kara`s arms, the warmth of being so completely accepted, of knowing that no matter what happens Kara will love her. Knowing that Kara loves her for who she is, not her name, not her money, but her, Lena. She knows Kara understands what she feels; she sees it every time she considers her eyes, she sees the love and compassion that make Kara a great hero, but more importantly she sees the understanding, she sees it when Kara doesn't force her to do anything, letting her set the pace. Always being sure Lena is ok before she does anything. It was foreign at first for Lena to be the focus of so much love and devotion, but slowly she is learning to accept it. She is learning to let those walls she built over many years alone fall and letting Kara climb firmly into the nest she has built in her heart.
Kara is determined to make Maggie sorry for what she did to her sister
When Kara wakes, she is in Lena`s arms, and she can't help the contentment she feels, that is until she walks out into her living room and finds Alex sprawled on her couch. As soon as she sees the tear marks that stain Alex`s cheeks, her anger resurges with a vengeance she wants to suit up and give Maggie a piece of her mind for harming her sister. She wants to make her suffer the pain that Alex has suffered these last few days. But she knows she can't like it or not Alex would never forgive her if something happened to Maggie, no matter how 'accidental' it may have been.
Luckily for her though if there's one thing in this world that always manages to calm Kara down it is Lena. Just being in the brunette's arms seems to quell any fiery emotions she feels, she can't explain why, but as soon as she is in Lena`s arms the world seems to just fall away. And even luckier Lena always seems to have a sixth sense about when Kara is feeling particularly off and manages to appear to abate her Girlfriends emotions.
Work at the D.E.O. was soon 'a little' awkward as Kara watched her sister work with the woman who had broken her heart, it was as she was watching the pair that she came up with an idea, well a memory really of the time Lucy asked Kara if her sister was dating anyone. She has no doubt that Lucy liked Alex and judging by the blushes that she saw Alex sporting around Lucy sometimes she doubts her sister thinks of Lucy as just a friend either, but how to get Lucy to come back to National City?
As it turns out getting Lucy to return to National City was the easy part, all it took was a call to Lois and a call from Lois to her sister before Lucy was on a plane bound for national city none the wiser to the plans that Kara had for her. Alex, however, was the problem, Kara had forgotten just how terrified some of the other agents were of Alex, even more, now she was Assistant Director. Given this Kara is surprised it takes as long as it does for Alex to interrogate her about Lucy showing up, apparently, she had mistakenly questioned J`onn for half an hour before realising he knew nothing about it.
Naturally, her next step had been to find Kara. Luckily for her Kara was by the exit and quickly flew off before her sister could catch her and do something drastic, like lock her in the Kryptonian training room until she cracked. Unluckily for her Lena had a very well known address and it took Alex all of ten minutes to reach L-corp and begin her interrogation there.
To say Alex was annoyed was a massive understatement, she hated when people interfered with her love life, she ranted for about ten minutes before Kara pointed out that Alex had been interfering in her love life since the 8th grade. Surprisingly this seems to calm Alex considerably as she realises Kara just wanted her to be happy and as she sits there looking at Lena and Kara cuddled into the couch she begins to think maybe her sister is right. Maggie broke her heart, and she has slowly been realising she may have had feelings for Lucy so why not give it a try? That isn't to say she doesn't spend the next several days making sure Kara never attempts to interfere in her love life again, after all, she can't have the overexcited puppy interfering in every aspect of her life, no matter how effective that damned pout is.
It was the day Lucy arrived back in National City, and Kara had just returned from fighting an alien that was determined that he was going to burn down a police station after he had been arrested for a drunk and disorderly. As she enters the D.E.O she automatically searches out Alex's heartbeat and finds it elevated, she immediately becomes worried and focuses her super hearing just in time to hear Alex ask Lucy out for drinks. She can hear the excitement in Lucy's voice as she says yes, but what she hadn't expected was to hear Maggie grumbling under her breath jealously.
She knows she shouldn't take such joy in it but as far as she's concerned Maggie hurt Alex and no one messes with a Danvers' family. She walks in just in time to get a quick hug from Lucy and Alex before the two are headed out the door leaving J'onn to debrief her over the attack.
In the background, she sees Maggie watching after Alex, so she sends her a happy "Hi Maggie" before bouncing happily after J'onn into the nearby conference room.
Later that night Kara is lying beside Lena as Lena does some work on her laptop, she is pressed solidly into Lena`s side as she uses the familiar smell to wind down from the already long and stressful day she has had. Lena for her part is steadily sagging into the nest that Kara has fashioned around them with the pillows and blankets. Outside the moon is easily visible through the open windows but luckily just after Kara had revealed herself to Lena, Lena had arranged for the entire apartment to be soundproofed and reinforced to allow them a bastion of solitude when they were together. Although whilst thickened and reinforced the glass remained untinted as it would otherwise impede Kara`s sight of the beautiful cityscape.
As she lays there with Lena, Kara slowly focuses in on one thing, Lena`s heartbeat. She has learned over these last months that she can slowly lull herself to sleep just by focussing in on Lena`s heartbeat, the soft thump, thump, thump, allowing her to steady herself and fall into a deep and peaceful sleep.
This was a boon in more ways than one as it allowed her to better know her girlfriend's feelings but also to enter a soft and uninterrupted sleep the likes of which she had not had in years. Being able to hear and feel Lena`s heartbeat always calms her; Alex says it has something to do with knowing she is there and it is not a dream, that she hasn't lost her. Alex thinks it has to do with Krypton and losing her entire culture; she thinks it reminds Kara she isn't alone. Kara doesn't like to dwell on it; that is the path to much sadness, and she would rather enjoy these uninterrupted moments with Lena in peace.
The next morning, she is greeted by Lena smiling at her with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in her hands and a soft kiss. As she makes her way into the kitchen, she is again reminded of just how much she loves her girlfriend when she finds several plates of pancakes, waffles and bacon all waiting for her. At first, Lena, had been puzzled as to where Kara could possibly put all the food, but after she found out the truth she had happily taken to supplying Kara with as much food as she could eat.
It wasn't until she had finished her breakfast and done their washing up that Kara checked her phone only to find several messages from Alex regarding her date with Lucy the previous night, surprisingly instead of them being Alex complaining how Kara had set her up and how she should never do so again the first was a short and simple
"forget I said anything earlier." followed by numerous texts as she gushes over her date to Kara.
Kara for her part was happy that things were working out for her sister, Alex needed someone to be there for her and as Kara was spending a lot more time with Lena she hopes Alex might find it with someone like Lucy, after all being able to not hide where you are, or what you have been doing goes a long way to a healthy relationship. She knows this because that is how it is between her and Lena, she never has to make up excuses for where she has been, or what she`s been doing. Besides it`s not like Lena wouldn't find out anyway, there was that time after Kara got injured Lena hacked the D.E.O. not that they knew that, but still, that should say something.
When she finally manages to make it into work a little later than usual she is unsurprised to find Snapper waiting for her, she is even less surprised by the hour-long lecture about how just because she was dating Lena Luthor she couldn't just show up whenever she wanted.
That pulled Kara up short, and she quickly questioned what does he mean 'dating Lena Luthor' only to have him throw down a copy of the latest tabloid magazine showing a picture of her snuggled up beside Lena in bed from the previous night.
It is all she can do to not incinerate the magazine with her heat vision right there in front of him but instead she pulls on all the skill at maintaining her composure she picked up in her years working for Cat before nodding and rising to leave heading to her office before she loses it.
Once in her office she quickly closes the door before heading over to the window and looking out, sure enough at the bottom of the building is a small army of reporters and when she checks her email she notices that it has become flooded with requests for interviews and a very carefully worded email from Cat telling her she needs to come see her 'ASAFP Keira'
Kara had not been expecting this, not at all. She had thought that being so high above the city meant she and Lena were safe from the prying eyes of the paparazzi, well that and the numerous D.E.O agents stationed all around the perimeter of the building. How the vultures had managed to get a drone up there without being seen and take pictures let alone sell them before the D.E.O showed up to label them CLASSIFIED was beyond Kara`s understanding.
Apparently, it was not what Lena expected either, she had been forced to go into a meeting as apparently when it was discovered the new CEO of L-corp was a lesbian a number of their key backers (Old-Rich White Men) had pulled out of L-corp causing a serious drop in stock prices. When Kara had called, she had been told in no uncertain terms, Lena was unavailable then had been transferred where she was ordered by the head of L-corp`s PR team not to say or do anything and threatened with litigation.
Now if there was one thing Kara had enough of over her years on Earth it was these closed-minded idiots telling her what she was is wrong, be that because she was an alien, or because she was bisexual. And so when she was threatened by the PR asshole she immediately made her way to Cat Grants office intent on issuing a statement to the waiting masses, hopefully to the effect of 'butt the hell out of our lives' as she ascended in the elevator she considers her options and slows down just long enough to call Lena she barely gets 30 seconds with her before Lena is being badgered by her board but it is just long enough for her to tell Kara that the decision is hers and no matter what she will support her choice.
When she finally arrives at Cats office, it is to find the woman with a news crew waiting and a list of typed remarks waiting for her. It seems in her years working for Cat the woman had learned a lot about her assistant and had already written several statements basically bashing the paparazzi for intruding into their personal lives, confirming that she and Lena were together and kindly asking everyone to leave them alone. The wording was a little nicer than Kara would have been prone to otherwise at the moment, but she supposes that is for the best.
In a little over an hour Cat releases the footage and mere minutes later it is playing over every news station in the country. It doesn't take long before the phones are ringing from the L-corp legal offices at the request of their PR demanding they issue a retraction, however, a quick call to Lucy and the CatCo. general counsel quickly makes them admit they have no actual grounds for litigation.
It only takes 20 minutes after the call from PR for Lena to make her way to CatCo. Apparently, Kara having issued such a direct and to the point, a statement meant that there was nothing the board could do especially when they had no means to force a retraction. And since Lena controlled 70% of the company`s stock there was nothing the board could do to force her to step down or do anything she did not wish to and since she wanted to ignore the board and go to Kara that was what she did.
When she arrived downstairs the media frenzy only increased as the reporters scrambled to get a statement from her, instead what they got was the sight of Kara stepping out of the elevator and giving Lena a kiss on the cheek before they both turned around and went back upstairs. And later when they tried to sell this multimillion dollar shot, all they could find was a file with an image of the seal of the USA with the word REDACTED written underneath.
It takes weeks before the media lays off the pair, no matter where they go they are hounded by reporters, they wait outside CatCo, outside their apartments and outside L-corp. No matter how hard they try they can't seem to escape the ever-present buzzing of the reporters, so they dot, instead choosing to go on dates to public events such as benefits for the children's hospital, or to the Gala`s held by CatCo. And L-corp.
Many of those in power, initially view the bright and bubbly blonde as a weakness in Lena`s armour, attempting to manipulate her towards their own personal gains, although what they hadn't counted on were Kara`s sharp tongue and brilliant mind.
When she was working as a PA it had been easier to hide and blend in and then as a reporter people assumed she was less of a threat if she bumbled and was a little clumsy, but now she was openly dating Lena she was free to utilise all the skills Allura had taught her about politics and let her full abilities shine through, in fact, it wasn't long before those who had initially thought Kara an easy target learned to never underestimate her and indeed to fear the skill with which Kara could move throughout the political arena.
All this attention naturally meant there was a large strain on Kara`s work for Snapper and the man fired her once, only to be overruled as soon as Cat heard; because in Cat`s words she would rather someone with as much access to Kara work for her rather than against. It was no surprise that Cat turned out to be right to keep Kara on as even as the press attention on Lena and her calms down the degree of access Kara has, has only grown until soon she can pretty much find out anything about anyone.
The scrutiny on the pair does place a large amount of strain on Kara as Supergirl, she has to be especially careful that she isn't seen either coming or going and with the exponentially larger number of people looking at her it is only a matter of time before someone makes the connection. Luckily for her, though Hank is able to shift into her and a few public appearances of the pair side by side have the world quickly forgetting the idea that Kara Danvers might actually be Supergirl.
The aliens of the City however soon figure out Supergirl isn't around as much. Instead, her Martian friend is taking over for her, with some help from Mon-El. But it is still not the same level of fear that Kara had held over the criminal element, and soon those who felt they could get away with it ended up attacking L-corp in an attempt to destroy the alien detector even though Lena had already buried it so deep it would never be finished.
The attack came as the day was finishing and the aliens attempted to sneak in with the next shift of workers, when that didn't work they threw subtlety out the window and went with a full-scale attack. Kara who had been upstairs with Lena quickly moves to defend the building, but even she is becoming overwhelmed by the sheer numbers she faces, never has she encountered so many fort Rozz escapees, and she is flagging under the strain of fighting them. Luckily the D.E.O and J`onn show up just in time to tip the scales and they manage to defeat the alien force, although not before they do enough damage to the towers superstructure to make demolition necessary.
As soon as the last of the aliens is headed into the D.E.O vans and the last employee is safe and the labs within secure Kara practically falls the fifteen feet to the ground as her powers finally give out. She had been fighting for near on 5 hours non-stop, and the last of her powers were used fusing enough of the buildings support beams to keep it from toppling until it could be emptied and rebuilt.
The press immediately surges as they try to take pictures of Supergirl falling from the sky, but they are quickly stopped when the nearby J`onn quickly shifts into Supergirl and flies over their head drawing their attention long enough for Lena to pull Kara away from sight to where she can get changed.
When they finally make it home, it is to Kara`s apartment, even though Lena`s was heavily reinforced it was destroyed when the aliens attempted to bomb it in the hopes of killing Lena although the fortifications meant that the rest of the building managed to survive mostly intact. When they enter the apartment, they are unsurprised to see a D.E.O medical team installing one of the solar radiation chairs that Kara uses at the D.E.O in her spare room.
Apparently, Alex had decided it wasn't worth the fight trying to get Kara to stay at the D.E.O even if she managed to persuade Lena to help her and had arranged for the drop off the chair so Kara could stay at home and recover.
She spends all night in the chair as Lena sits not feet away from her as she begins the paperwork to tear down and rebuild the building with a few improvements. It is barely morning before they are being hounded by the media for a statement and the response is short, Lena condemns the actions of those responsible, she is sorry about the danger to her employees, matters are already under control, and when one of them asks about where Kara is and why she wasn't there with Lena, (insinuating maybe Kara had left her) Lena tells them she was injured during the battle, and she was spending the next few days helping Kara get better.
It takes almost a week of Kara under the sunlamps for 12 hours every day before her powers return and even then, she feels weak. Lena for her part manages to arrange to work from her laptop allowing her to stay there and care for Kara. Many of those from the city's elite send flowers and get well cards for Kara, they still know to fear her political skill after all.
All week she sends her time with Lena, when she isn't in the sunbed or sleeping in her arms at night, she is doing some other domestic activity, like cooking or watching TV snuggled into her side. As she does, she begins to realise something Lena doesn't have an apartment at the moment, but even more than that Kara doesn't want her to go.
She doesn't want Lena to go back to her apartment she wants her to stay there, she wants this every day, she wants to wake up in the morning Lena`s hair in her face, she wants to come home every evening and Kiss Lena before they sit down to dinner, she wants to hold her every night when they fall asleep. She wants all of this, she wants Lena to live with her, permanently.
When she tells Lena the smile she gets lights up the room and causes butterflies in her stomach, Lena loves the idea, she had been dreading moving back into her apartment sterile as it was with all her things destroyed, she wanted to be here with Kara, she loved her and didn't want to be apart from her anymore, she had several times that week been nearly caught by Kara as she browsed through jewellers and looked at ring designs, but had narrowly managed to avoid Kara finding out each time.
Notes:
