As soon as they teleported into Alex's lab, Lena knew she wasn't going to be the focus of Kara's attention for quite some time, so she stepped back into a corner, and watched things unfold.
Alex turned around slowly, and froze, dropping and shattering her cylinder in the process. "Kar!" She called out tearfully before she rushed across the lab and engulfing her in a tight embrace. "I missed you so goddamn much." She cried.
Lena watched Kara smiled, as tears cascaded down her cheeks. "I missed you too, Alex. I missed you all so much."
Lena watched the sisters with a contented smile until Sam walked up to her. "So, did you get the girl?"
She averted her eyes, too saddened by her next statement to make eye contact with her friend. "No. And I never will."
Sam's face fell. "She doesn't feel the same? After everything you did to get to her?"
Lena scoffed. "I didn't do all of those things to guilt her into being with me, and I didn't even tell her… not really at least."
"What do you mean you didn't tell her?!" Sam asked incredulously. "You traveled over four lightyears to get to her, and you didn't tell her."
Lena glared at her friend. "It's complicated, and I'm sure you'll figure out why in a little bit, but let's allow Kara to tell Alex first."
XXX
Lena laid down on her bed for the first time in over three months, she let out a breath of relief, knowing that she'd successfully given Kara the world, when she heard a loud bang on her door.
She sighed in exasperation and stood up, prepared to let whoever it was know precisely how she felt about being disturbed at such an untimely hour.
When she opened the door, she didn't even get a word in before the intruder pushed her aside and walked in uninvited. "You're letting my sister marry a guy she barely knows?! You didn't even tell her that you love her!"
Lena leaned against the door and folded her arms defensively. "She didn't want to hear it. She likes Kell-Ur, and she's excited to follow her planet's customs."
"Fuck Krypton's customs!" Alex snarled agressively. "If she marries him she's going to regret it. Even if you're too scared to tell her how you feel about her, you have to at least talk her out of marrying a stranger."
"Her parents did it. Kalel's parents did it. Their grandparents and their grandparent's parents did it. The Matricomp has never been wrong. She'll eventually fall in love with him. Their score is the highest in generations."
Alex clenched her jaw. "Then put yourself in the Matricomp. Trick her somehow, get her to show you where the Matricomp is held, and figure out a way to get her to prick her finger on it, then prick your own. Or get a sample of her blood and match her against yourself. If you're at least an 80% match, according to the Kryptonian law she can choose you."
Lena wanted to consider it, wanted to agree to it, wanted to risk it all and hope for the best, but she knew that if behind Kara's back to do that, and she wasn't at least as compatible to her as Kell-Ur was, she would be devastated. "I can't."
Alex groaned. "You honestly make no sense. When Kara's around you, your face lights up brighter than the northern lights, no matter where you're at. You could be at a funeral bawling your eyes out, and the moment that you saw her face you'd be smiling like a fool… S why can't you just tell her that?"
Lena gritted her teeth. "BECAUSE I WANT HER TO HAVE EVERYTHING SHE WANTS!"
Alex's irritated expression went away and was replaced by one of saddened understanding. "And what if she really wants you?"
Lena's heart froze… She'd been dreaming about that what if since the moment she laid eyes on Kara, but the odds were stacked against her favor, and she didn't dare hope that now, after Kara was betrothed to another... Someone of her kind. There was no way that Kara would pick her.
"She doesn't," Lena replied. "She's got Kell-Ur."
Alex sighed. "Fine, Lena. But you have no idea just how disappointed I am in you right now. You were willing to risk getting blown up, or getting lost in space just to get to her, and now you're going to let a man stand in the way of you and the woman you love?"
Lena bit her cheek. "He's a good man."
"Yeah." Alex nodded. "I'm sure he is a good man. HE was matched with Kara, after all… But you're a good woman. So just think about that before you go and give up your chance at happiness. Remember, Lena. Kryptonian marriages are life binding… Divorce isn't legal there, so if you let them get married without at least telling her how you feel, you really will have lost her forever. I'm not saying ruin her bounding if that's truly what you want. I'm not telling you to ruin her happiness if she really is happy, I'm telling you to at least tell her how you feel. Show her that you're an option. Do something, before you lose your chance forever and regret it for the rest of your life."
Lena sighed, she knew that Alex was right, but she wasn't sure that she could handle the inevitable rejection that she would face when she did tell Kara.
"I'll think about it." She declared, "but right now, you should be with your sister."
"She's asleep right now," Alex informed. "I'll be back before she wakes up, I just want to make sure that you're not letting her go without making sure she doesn't feel the same way."
Lena sighed and tilted her head downwards. "I said I'll think about it."
XXX
Three days later, Kara had gotten into a fight with a Martian… a large Martian, and although she came out on top, she had been out of practice, and her combat skills were a bit rusty, so the villain had managed to get quite a few good hits in… Which meant that Kara had a bloody nose.
Lena hated herself for it, but she couldn't stop herself from taking a sample of the blood as she
XXX
Kara had been going back and forth to Argo for the past week that she'd been back, and she seemed to be happier than she'd ever been.
She brought Alex to Argo the first time she went back, and then came back with both her mother and Alex, the second time she went she brought Eliza, and this time; she was taking Lena with her again… to spend quality time together.
Somehow Lena had convinced Kara to show her the Matricomp machine, and she was exceedingly grateful that she had.
Kara walked around the machine, pointing to certain aspects of the device and explaining the process of the Matricomp system, what all the machine took into consideration, how long the process took, etc. Lena listened intently while fidgeting with the vial of Kara's blood that she held in her pocket.
"So basically, all you have to do to make it work is put your drop of blood and another drop the person you want to be bound to, it takes about three minutes to test, and then right here." She pointed to a little receipt slot. "Is where the results come out. If it's an 80% or higher, you can legally be wed, if not… you have to find someone else."
Lena nodded as she processed the information. "And if you test with two or more people, and are matched with more than one of them, you're expected to marry the one with the highest compatibility. Right?"
Kara made a so-so hand gesture. "It is more socially acceptable to marry the higher matched person, but you can still technically choose the lower match… It's just frowned upon, and it's usually seen as disgraceful to our culture. The mentality behind that is 'We strive for the best, and if you don't choose the best for yourself, how can they trust you to choose the best for your planet?' I get both sides, but I'd never wish that choice on anyone."
Lena frowned, not liking her chances. "Has anyone married someone that wasn't a Matricomp match?"
Kara shook her head. "Nope. It's illegal to do so. Punishable by fifteen cycles in prison."
Curiosity took over her. "Cycles… is that Krypton's version of years?"
Kara smiled and nodded. "Yep. I-," Her sentence was interrupted by a buzzing sound coming from the waistband of her dress. "Sorry, that's Kell, I have to take that. I'll be back in a few minutes." She said before excusing herself.
As soon as Kara was out of sight, Lena took her chance. She pulled a pin out of the underwire of her bra and pricked her finger.
She grimaced as she squeezed a minute amount of blood onto the designated tray, and then opened the vial and poured a small sample of Kara's blood onto the plate next to hers.
She pushed and pulled all the buttons and levers that Kara had showed her, and then waited, hoping and praying that Kara wouldn't return for at least three minutes.
The machine activated, and started revving, causing Lena to worry that Kara would hear and come in to check on her. The Matricomp lit up soon after that and continued to whirl.
Lena kept biting at her nails. Willing the machine to work faster… She didn't want Kara to catch her doing this…. Just in case.
Finally, the machine wound down, and spit out her results. She walked over to the side of the contrivance, holding her breath as she reached for the paper.
Please be 95 or higher. Please be 95 or higher. PLEASE be 95 or higher.
She slowly released her breath, shook her shoulders, and then read the results.
But what she found was something that devastated her… She and Kara hadn't gotten 95%... not even close.
