"You can make this easy or you can make this hard." Rhea said from her throne aboard the flagship of her invading fleet. "But there will be a wedding, and you will produce an heir."
"Did you not hear us." Lena interrupted. If she weren't so angry this whole ordeal might have actually been frightening. She was aboard an alien spaceship, being held captive by an alien queen who saw her entire race as nothing more than pests to be exterminated or domesticated depending on their usefulness to her. She had been used and manipulated by this woman, this alien carbon copy of her step-mother. Again, if she weren't so angry at Rhea and more so at herself she would be terrified by the thought of there being another person out there just like Lillian Luthor. "We're not getting married and we're certainly not giving you an heir."
"She doesn't need us for anything." Mon-El said from beside her. "She just needs our generic materials. Daxamites can generate a child using just locks of hair."
"Which I collected while you slept." Rhea said with a smug smile.
The scientist in Lena was in awe. Imagine what a breakthrough such as that could mean to couples who struggled with infertility or same sex couples who wished to have a child of their own who shared in both of their genetics. The feminist in Lena raged, talk about taking away a woman's right to choose. Who the hell did this woman think she was taking Lena's genetic material with plans on using it to create a child Lena didn't wish to have. Not that she never wanted children, maybe, having children was a complicated topic for Lena, but she knew for sure she didn't want them now. And she certainly didn't want them with the alien boy toy who'd been monopolizing all of her best friend's time, not that she was jealous of Mon-El, at least not much anyway. The small spiteful child in Lena snorted. Wouldn't Lillian just love that, a half alien bastard child, maybe her step-mother's head would actually explode.
Lena opened her mouth to say something sarcastic but nothing came out. In fact all the noise of the ship and the talking faded away and the bridge was suddenly filled with an insistent beeping that sounded a lot like…
The alarm on her phone. Lena groaned softly as she pulled the down filled duvet from over her head. She glared at the device on her nightstand that would not stop making that damned noise. Slipping her arm out from under the covers, she finally reached out and silenced the beeping, then pulled the covers back over her head. She'd had that dream again. The one that forced her to relive those moments aboard Rhea's ship all those months ago. Lena simply didn't understand why, of all her experiences during that time, that was the scene she remembered so perfectly, so vividly, and so consistently. Truth be told, with everything that had been happening since the Daxam invasion Lena had forgotten about that moment. It wasn't until about a week ago that her dreams were plagued by it.
A music box version of the Harry Potter theme was the next sound to come from Lena's phone. It pulled Lena from her thoughts as well as out from under the covers again. This intrusive noise did not make the dark haired woman groan or scrunch her nose up in annoyance. This sound made her smile. Reaching for her phone she held it so the face recognition software would catch her face and unlock the device. Her smile brightened when the text message appeared.
The little circle at the top of the text had the Hufflepuff badger in it. Lena's smile grew warmer as she read, 'Back from Midvale. Breakfast? I have coffee and cronuts at my place.'
She tapped out a quick response before throwing off the covers completely and heading for the bathroom. Across town Kara was getting a text with Ravenclaw's raven as the icon. 'Be there in twenty.'
Lena took a quick shower, threw on a pair of jeans and a dark green blouse, pulled her hair back into a high ponytail, and then made her way to Kara's apartment. When her best friend answered the door Lena couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. Stepping into Kara's presence was like stepping into a warm ray of sunlight. The pair greeted each other with a tight hug, one that said that even a few days without seeing each other or hearing from one another was far to long to be without contact. "How was your trip?"
"It was good." Kara said as they pulled apart and she led Lena to the sofa. "I think it really helped Alex. She isn't better, but I think she's in a better place to start getting better."
"That's good." Lena said as she accepted a cup of coffee from Kara. It was just the way she liked it, just a little bit sweet and clouded with fresh cream. "And what about you?" She watched the blonde closely while Kara served up the pastry and then settled beside her on the sofa. "You look as if you have a lot on your mind."
"Is it that obvious?" Kara asked, looking generally unhappy that she was so easy to read.
Lena reached out and pressed her index finger right between Kara's eyes. "Crinkle."
Kara's soft but brilliant blue eyes went cross eyed as she looked at Lena's finger. She grumbled softly. "Stupid tell. I'm starting to understand why Ms. Grant was so fond of botox." She said it with a soft huff and then instantly looked horrified. "Oh my god Lena don't ever tell anyone I said that! Ms. Grant would kill me!"
When Lena was with Kara like this her smiles, her laughs, were all very genuine and real. She laughed softly at her best friend and said, "Don't worry, Kara. Your secrets are safe with me."
The look on Kara's face shifted instantly at Lena's words. The look of surprise and amazement that had been there a second before suddenly became a look so serious, so vulnerable, that it actually hurt Lena's heart. "Kara?" She said gently while catching Kara's gaze and making her look into her own jade eyes. "Kara, what's wrong? Talk to me."
Kara sighed softly. "The trip to Midvale was meant to help Alex, but it turned out to be more emotional for me than I'd expected."
Lena listened as Kara talked about how her adoptive mother had reminded her that she couldn't just run away, that she couldn't just turn herself off and stop being human. It hurt Lena to see her friend in pain, this hurt more than it had seeing her with Mon-El. She had never felt that the alien slacker was good enough for Kara. Kara was this strange combination of adorkable wide eyed puppy, the most perfect diamond one could imagine, and something Lena hadn't quite figured out how to put into words yet. Her beautiful friend deserved someone a million times more worthy than Mon-El.
"It sounds like Eliza is a very wise woman." Lena said gently when Kara was finished. "I think you should listen to her. That big heart of yours is to precious to box up and stash away."
Kara smiled a softly beaming smile at her friend, who'd taken her hand as she spoke, and then continued. "I realized something else while I was home." She bit her lip for a moment and then began telling Lena about Kenny Li. "Remembering Kenny helped me realize that I can be pretty thick sometimes. I've spent so much time being careful, being guarded, and hidden that I don't always pick up on things. Kenny saw me, he saw all of me, and he was my friend anyway." Kara took a deep breath, steadying herself, steeling herself for what she was about to do. "You know, don't you Lena? You know who I am."
Lena had wondered when this moment would finally happen. Now that it was she was feeling a little overwhelmed because she'd been totally blindsided by it. She'd imagined something a little more dramatic than sitting on Kara's sofa eating trendy pastry and suddenly having Kara confirm that yes she is Supergirl. Lena's response was to simply smirk at Kara and give her a look that said, yes, I know.
"How long have you known?" Kara asked. "How did you…"
"Supergirl kept rushing in to save me from actual physical danger." Lena said softly after taking a moment to think through what she wanted to say. "Kara Danvers kept rushing in to save me from myself. Supergirl stood as a shield to keep me from harm, while Kara cut at those who tried to hurt me like a sword. The first time I realized the two were working together for my greater good was when Lillian set me up and everyone thought the worse of me simply because of my name. Everyone except for you and Supergirl." Lena snorted a soft laugh. "What was the likelihood that both of you would believe in me so strongly, so unwaveringly. Especially Supergirl. That's when the seed was planted, what if my two white knights were actually one in the same. Then after Jack died, you came to my office and you held me and said you would always protect me, that you would always be there for me. That's when I realized just how true those words were. Between Kara and Supergirl, one of you has always been there when I needed you."
"You never said anything." Kara said, a little stunned that she'd been right. Lena had figured it out. Of course she had. Outside of her family, Cat, James and Winn, who all knew, Lena was the only other person who spent so much time with both Kara and Supergirl. Kara's feelings for Lena had allowed her to be less guarded around her, which meant Lena saw her, all of her. "Why?"
"Because, you promised to protect me." Lena answered. "And once I realized that's why you hadn't told me, I could wait it out until you realized you didn't have too."
Kara was absolutely floored. "You're not angry with me for not telling you?"
"I was." Lena answered honestly. "Before I realized you were trying to protect me I thought it was a trust issue, and every time you would say you trusted me or that I could trust you, it burned a little thinking that trust only went so far. But like I said, I came to the understand that it had nothing to do with you trusting me. It was about you wanting to keep me safe. Especially after losing Mon-El."
"Losing Mon-El hurt, not knowing what happened to him hurts more." Kara admitted. "But losing you would hurt the most. I don't think I could bare that." She'd dropped her head to stare at her hands which she twisted nervously in her lap. After a long moment she looked up and dared to ask. "Lena. Do you hate me for keeping this from you?"
"What?" Lena replied, her voice going up in pitch and her jade eyes growing wide. "Kara! No! Why would you think…"
"Lillian." Kara answered. "She said when you found out about my secret you would hate me for keeping it from you."
"Kara." Lena scolded as she took Kara's hands in her own and held them tightly. "Why on earth would you ever take anything my Mother said to you to heart? Why on earth would you listen to her?"
Kara sighed softly and shrugged. "She's your mother."
"And yet she doesn't know me at all." Lena said. "But you, Kara, you know me better than anyone ever has. Kara. I could never hate you." She pulled the blonde to her and hugged her as tightly as she could. "You're my best friend, my family, I love you."
"I love you too." Kara replied as she closed her eyes and returned the hug.