Falling In Love With Love
Rating: 'T'
Characters (In order of Appearance): Oliver Queen, Kara Danvers, John Diggle, Thea Queen, Quentin Lance, Curtis Holt, Dinah Drake, Rene Ramirez, Alex Danvers, Hank Henshaw/J'onn J'onzz, Winn Schott
Summary: When, in the aftermath of Prometheus's defeat, Team Arrow receive a visitor from Earth-38 their entire world is turned upside down. For Oliver and Kara, though, things will never be the same.
Author's Note: Until further notice this is exclusively a one-shot, as I already have one multi-chapter story on the go as well as all the stuff I need to do for university, but it will hopefully evolve into something fully formed soon. For plot convenience reasons that I will explain as the plot progresses, this story takes place after 5x21 for Team Arrow (and Earth One as a whole) but after 2x10 for Supergirl (Earth-38).
Also, credit to Nightwing Panther 2017 for beta-ing this story, I couldn't have done it alone.
Chapter 1
Oliver Queen had only ever been sure of a few things in his life, right now though, he was pretty sure time was slowing down. What should have been a short walk down the hotel corridor was making his goal seem further away than it really was, and the aspiration he'd felt after stepping off the elevator was quickly slipping away.
Could it be? Was he…nervous? No, it was just a little mild anxiety, it had been a while since his last date after all, and that had ended pretty badly. He knew he couldn't kid himself forever; was Oliver Queen afraid?
Impossible…he couldn't be.
That thought made him even more uncomfortable. Sure, he was glad, of course he was, getting that phone call from Kara made his evening but he was still, somehow, nervous. Oliver Queen did not do nervous. He regularly dealt with pressures that most people would collapse under, stood his ground in fights that would kill almost anyone else…hell he led an entire life as the mayor of a whole city while fighting crime at night!
Rolling his shoulders to try and release some of his tension, Oliver came to a stop before the room he was looking for. The door looked like all the others; rich white paint, authentic oak, shiny brass handle, but uniquely, just below the peephole, was the number '245'. Forcing his mind to stop panicking quite so much Oliver zoned in a little more.
Immediately he heard the muffled music blasting from within the room, though completely unaware of how he hadn't noticed it earlier, it made Oliver grin a little. It seemed a little redundant, to him at least, that someone with super-hearing would need to have music playing even remotely close to the volume that was emanating from Kara's hotel room.
With a smile now on his face, Oliver raised a clenched fist and rapped on the door with his knuckles, certain that Kara would hear him. In fact, Oliver was a little surprised that she hadn't heard his heartbeat or his breathing (or whatever else that super-hearing of hers could pick up) and opened the door to him already.
Hardly a second passed before the door was pulled open, undoubtedly aided by super-speed, revealing the room behind it and, more importantly, Kara. Oliver quickly ran his eyes over her appearance, a little surprised at how different it was to her usual attire. Gone were the bright blouses and skirts, in their place was a pair of tightly-fitted black jeans and an equally form-hugging black tank top. As taken aback by this change as Oliver was, he didn't register the dishevelled state of her hair.
"Glad you changed your mind about that drink." Oliver smiled, dragging his eyes up to meet her own.
"Come on in." Kara's breathy reply washed across Oliver's ears.
He was hardly through the door when Kara began closing it behind him, though again Oliver neglected to notice it, still distracted by both Kara's clothing and the music, which he had now identified as some kind of Electropop. On hearing the click of the door closing Oliver snapped back into reality.
"You should get changed, there's this new club opened up near Verdant that looks…"
Oliver didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Before he fully registered what was happening Kara had taken him, albeit lightly, by the lapels of his leather jacket and backed him up against the wall beside the door. When his back collided with the wall, Oliver was beyond confused. The tip of Kara's nose lightly brushed against his and for a moment Oliver could meet her eyes, some dim thought in the back of his mind registering that she must have been levitating, before Kara's lips were pressed against his own.
The sensation of the contact completely shut down the vast majority of Oliver brain, he was actually seeing fireworks, or at least he did for the brief moment that he allowed his eyes to drift shut. The kiss wasn't fierce or rough, it was light, almost passionate, and it was like nothing he had ever felt. Opening his eyes again, Oliver briefly managed to break his lips from Kara's, hardly a second later her hand tangled in the hair at the back of his head and her lips were once again on his own.
This time, Oliver was far more aware of himself, and managed to separate them hardly a second later. While Kara's lips never strayed more than a few centimetres from his own, it was clear she wanted to continue. While Oliver wanted nothing more than to do the same, he knew something wasn't right, Kara was never this brazen. Looking into her eyes again, Oliver noticed something, his brain finally connecting the dots.
"Are…are you high?" He managed to stumble out.
Kara's lips brushed against his own before she replied. "Uh-huh."
Oliver was so distracted that he didn't really register Kara pushing his leather jacket off his shoulders until the he heard the faint thud of it hitting the floor. Turning his head slightly to think, Oliver racked his brain for how an alien from another planet (not to mention another dimension) would managed to get stoned, all while doing his best to ignore the feeling of her lips against his cheek. Then it hit him.
"I thought you sent the drugs back to your Earth?" Oliver managed to ask.
Kara lightly tugged him away from the wall, pressing her lips to his again. "Not all of it."
The moment Kara's lips came to his again, this time a little more forcefully and with a purpose, Oliver lost enough of his control to kiss her back, relishing in the way she tasted. The sensation completely fried his brain, and Oliver began working on instinct. Oliver would, much later, try to convince himself that was why it took him so long to realise that Kara had almost finished unbuttoning his shirt.
Snapping back a little focus, Oliver gently took her hands in his own, holding them up to his chest while pulling back from her a little.
"Uhh, slow down…" His words came a little more breathless than he had hoped. Letting go of Kara's hands, Oliver took her shoulders so he could look into her eyes easier. "Your pupils are dilated! You're not…"
Kara had quite clearly grown impatient of Oliver's excuses and finally broke out her super-strength, tearing the shirt from his torso. Oliver was more than a little taken aback by the action, yet at the same time found himself all the more attracted to her for it.
"Come on, Oliver; don't turn into a good guy on me now."
Her words made something in him snap, Oliver had been fighting the attraction for long enough, didn't he deserve to just give in every now and then? With an unexpected passion, Oliver captured her lips with his own, and Kara, who was definitely levitating now, began to lightly tug them both toward what Oliver hoped was the bedroom.
XXX
3 Months Earlier – Earth-1
"What about you Oliver?" Diggle asked with a smile. "I know you've got City Hall and all, but…"
"Yeah it keeps me busy but I…I need to buy some socks." The amused and bewildered looks of his friends almost brought a smile to his lips. "Everybody has their thing, I need socks, bad."
The round of laughter that came from the group then finally brought out his smile, Oliver knew he had every right to celebrate and he was going to enjoy it. Adrian Chase was safely behind bars, in A.R.G.U.S. custody where he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone, and the city was safe, it felt good. Sure, Black Siren was still out there, Evelyn was bound to turn up eventually and Talia would undoubtedly be out for revenge now Chase had failed but, for now, they had peace, and peace felt good.
Oliver's smile widened as he looked around the room, all these people who had been brought together by his crusade. Felicity and John - his two oldest allies and most trusted advisors, Thea – his baby sister and, as it turned out, political genius, Quentin – his once enemy and now right-hand-man as mayor, and finally Curtis, Dinah and Rene – the new recruits and yet just as much a part of the family. To think that this had all begun with his father's notebook and a bow provided by Talia al Ghul, in that dark and damp foundry, when Oliver himself had just been a man full of hate and rage, was almost inconceivable.
Oliver Queen was happy. Which meant, by a fundamental law of physics as agreed throughout the multiverse, karma was about to mess something up…big time.
XXX
Meanwhile – Earth-38
"No, Alex, this is the right thing to do." Kara sighed.
For the last 10 minutes, she'd been locked in a seemingly unwinnable argument with Alex and J'onn about her decision, and she was getting tired. If, for a moment, she was being totally honest, Kara would admit that her mind had been made up from the moment she stepped into the D.E.O. so regardless of what the other two said her plan was not going to change.
"Kara, we can handle this, we don't have to go jumping across the multiverse begging for help." Alex shot back.
"Alex is right, Kara." J'onn's voice cut through the brief silence that had befallen them. "I've got our best people on this."
"Then your best people aren't good enough J'onn." Kara bit out, albeit a little angrier than she had intended. "And I wouldn't be begging for help, these people are my friends."
The looks that Alex and J'onn were giving her confirmed that she was most definitely on the backfoot for this argument. Kara was a little confused as to why they were both so strongly against her plan, it was a pretty good one after all. When Cisco had given her the breech device after the Dominator invasion it had been to call for help if she ever needed it, and this definitely qualified.
Then again; friends might have been a strong word to describe Oliver and his team. She was friends with Barry, definitely, and she and Oliver had shared…a moment…before they'd gone their separate ways, but describing Oliver as a friend might have been a little bit of a leap. Not that Kara was concerned about that, she knew that, if she asked, Oliver would be there to help her. After all, that was what heroes did, they helped people.
"My mind is already made up." Kara said a little more assertively. "We need help and this is the best way to get it."
"Kara…" Alex tried but she was swiftly cut off.
"Alex, this is Jerimiah we're talking about, if there's any chance we can get to him sooner we need to take it. I don't get why you're so against this."
When her sister responded only with an exasperated sigh, Kara gave in. Turning on her heel, Kara took to the skies and returned home, heading straight to the drawer where she'd hidden the breech device.
XXX
Earth-1
"Whatever," Thea laughed. "Nothing will ever beat you and Tommy filling Malcom's pool with beer."
The incredulous looks Oliver received from the recruits at that only made him laugh louder, he sometimes forgot they had no idea of what he'd been like before the island. In the four hours they'd all been sat in Felicity's apartment, the whole group had managed to consume a little too much alcohol, not that they were drunk, but it definitely wasn't safe to drive. Quentin had decided to take his leave when they'd broke the third bottle of champagne open, knowing that he wouldn't want to be around to see the group get wasted.
Oliver himself was still on the safe side of sober, he'd picked up the crafty trick of drinking ginger ale and letting everyone assume it was champagne, though he couldn't quite remember where he'd got the idea from in the first place. Out of the group only Diggle was wise to the trick, he'd known about it since Oliver had begun using it nearly 5 years ago. As far as he'd been able to tell though, Diggle hadn't noticed he was doing it tonight.
"Wait, you filled a whole pool with beer?" Rene asked, astounded. "Damn, Hoss, that's cool."
"It wasn't exactly one of my finer moments," Oliver rolled his eyes. "But it was pretty awesome." He finished with a smirk.
The group exploded in another round of laughter at that, and Oliver had to shake his head a little at how comfortable he was around these people, it wasn't something he ever could have imagined for himself 5 years ago.
Before anyone could say another word, a faint pulsating sound rang out through the room as the air in the living space was torn apart. The whole group was on their feet before the breech had even finished forming, each of them prepared to handle whatever it was that came through. After a few moments, there was still no sign of movement from the breech, and it was putting the team even more on edge.
"What's the plan, boss?" It was Dinah who spoke up. "What'd we do if this thing isn't closing."
After examining the breech a little more intently than necessary for a moment, though why he did so he had no idea, Oliver turned and addressed the team.
"Felicity, get onto S.T.A.R. Labs, this stuff is their speciality. Curtis, get some tech set up in here, let's see if we can figure out where this thing leads. Everyone else, be on alert, we've got no idea what might come…"
Oliver's next question was answered before he could even finish asking it. The breech shifted a little and a blur of red and blue leapt from it, the breech snapping shut behind the blur. It took a moment for them all to realise that had just happened, but before them stood Kara Danvers, Supergirl.
"Hey guys," The blonde chirped. "How are you?"
With the whole group in a sort of stunned silence it was up to Oliver to speak.
"Kara? I…what're you doing here?"
For a moment, it looked as though Kara was about to reply, but her expression quickly changed as she took in the room and the decorations.
"Wait, it's your birthday?" She asked, meeting Oliver's eyes.
"Well…yeah." Oliver answered, a little thrown by why she'd decided to bring that up. "Now, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you didn't hop the multiverse to drink champagne and celebrate with us. So, what can we do to help?"