Chapter - 34

It had been really late that night when Kara got called for an emergency downtown. When she had flown in after taking care of the accident, she saw Kai walking into one of the rooms. Winn had left a while ago, but J'onn was still around.

"You did good, Supergirl," the Martian said. "Don't you have to be at home?"

Home. Mon-El. They had been watching a movie together when he crashed on her couch.

Kara gave J'onn a small smile and told him that she forgot something here and wanted to grab that. J'onn nodded and went back to work. Kara quickly changed out of her uniform and then made her way towards the lab where Kai was seated. To see him working with the chemicals of this planet was weird. Despite his protests, J'onn had him wear protective gloves and goggles. And Kai swore he looked ridiculous.

"You gonna stand there gawking or are you going to come in?" Kara heard him ask. Sometimes she forgot he had super hearing too. Smiling, she made her way towards him. He pulled a chair out for her and went back to work.

"Hi," Kara said when he didn't look up at her. Kai looked up then, gave her a nod and got back to work. "What are you working on?"

"A temporary cure for your Kryptonite allergy," he muttered.

Kara raised a single brow. "Seriously? You're making a cure for me?"

"Red Kryptonite," Kai added. "I found a piece earlier. Broke it, saw what it was made of; I reversed it and added a couple of stuff from the Fortress. Rue and salt water. Who would have thought?!"

"Why?"

"Why what?" Kai set down the beaker and removed his gloves and took off the stupid goggles.

"Why are you trying to make a cure for me? After all that happened… I—"

"If you have forgotten I'm a part of DEO, Supergirl, like you, which makes us colleagues. I'm just doing my part, and I get paid for it, FYI."

"No. You're lying. I know when you are lying."

"Like you do?" Kai looked up at her and saw her crinkling.

"I'm not lying about anything."

"It was just a one-night stand. Nothing more. I don't want it to be anything more," Kai repeated the words she had said to him. "You were lying."

"I… I wasn't, I just—"

To Kara's surprise, Kai took her hand in his. Caressing her palm with his thumb, he spoke softly, "Sometimes truth is better however harsh it is. You are in love with me. I can see it in your eyes. But you just can't let go of Mon-El. Kara, I always wanted to belong with someone. All my life… I have been so lonely. And when I came to this city that is exactly what I saw in your eyes. The same loneliness. You are not alone."

Kara moved closer, cupping his face with a hand. "Neither are you. But you pushed me away."

"And you lied about your real feelings. Whatever happened between us, it meant something to you. Why can't you just accept it?

"Kai, please. Don't do this right now." Kara moved away from him and sat down on the chair, waiting for him to speak.

"Why must you lie, Kara? Life would be so much easier if you just said the truth."

Kara frowned at that. It wasn't like Kai was torn between having feelings for two people. He was simply asking her to choose. And choosing would break someone's heart, and she wasn't ready for that.

"What truth, Kai?"

"Do you care about me?"

Kara was quiet for couple of seconds. She finally gave in and nodded. "I do."

"But you worry what Mon-El would think when he finds out you care for me?"

"No, I don't."

"Don't lie," Kai said sternly, making Kara look away. "Here's something I want you to do. Forget everything for now. If you had met me before meeting Mon-El, would you have considered being with me?"

Kai was making this hard for her. Could she just accept the fact that he was right about everything?

"Probably. I'm not sure. You are the Prince of Daxam." She didn't mean it as an insult like she always did, but Kai glared at her and moved away.

"You really have to stop doing that and get past the whole Prince of Daxam thing, Kara. I cannot change my past. If you keep insulting me like this, I swear I will never talk to you again."

Kara's eyes widened as she saw him turn away. She jumped down the chair and grabbed his hand and made him face her. "I'm sorry! I really am. I just said that to… to keep you away from me. That is a touchy topic. And I didn't mean to insult you. Look, it's crazy, okay? My feelings for you… Yes! I like you. I more than like you. But you need to understand that Mon-El means something to me. We were together and we were happy. I didn't know that I would fall in love with someone else and I—" Kara stopped herself when she realized what she had blurted out.

Kai smirked as he moved closer, cupping her face with one hand. "You love me."

Kara hesitated, but she finally gave in and buried her face against his neck. "Yes, you big jerk! I can't believe you made me confess!"

She heard a hearty chuckle as Kai wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "I can't believe I let you go before."

"What do you mean?" Kara pulled away and looked up at him. He still had his arms around her waist, holding her tightly, afraid that she would run away if he let her go.

"It's nothing, Kid. Don't worry about it." As he was about to move away, Kara grabbed his hands and shook her head.

"I'm not a kid. And tell me what's going on!"

Kai sighed and took a seat. "Do you remember the time you came to Daxam? For our blood bond?"

Kara gave him a small nod. "I remember Mon-El and Aermy. And of course, stomping your foot." Kara lowered her gaze, feeling a bit embarrassed. He was the Prince after all and she had behaved like a—

"Brat," Kai said before grinning. "I'll never let you forget what you did." He pinched her cheek and laughed when she pouted. "So, you deserve to know the truth, but where should I begin?"

"From the beginning." Kara grinned.

"Wanna get out of here? I really don't want anyone hearing what I'm about to tell you."

Kara nodded but didn't move. Kai was busy putting away the things he was working on earlier. When he was finally done and gestured for her to lead the way, she looked down and said, "Mon-El is crashing at my place."

Kai wasn't surprised by that. He simply nodded and said, "There's a 24 hours ice cream place near my home. Dad has been trying some new food. He loves Italian and ice cream."

"He should be trying Chinese soon. Potstickers!"

"I'll make sure he does." Kai placed a hand on her lower back as they walked out. His hand dropped before entering the control room. J'onn was still there, so they wished him a good night and flew out of DEO.

Kara knew Mon-El loved ice cream. He would often grab one after work and try new flavors from different places. But to see his twin get a single scoop of vanilla made Kara raise a single brow.

"What?" Kai asked once he finished paying for his single scoop of vanilla and Kara's strawberry and cream sundae. When he saw Kara shrug, he said, "I only prefer vanilla when it comes to ice cream. Not in bed."

Kara choked on a mouthful of ice cream she was eating and Kai laughed out loud before patting her back. She mock punched his shoulder and walked away. Kai was still laughing as he caught up with her. He grabbed her hand and led her towards a bench.

"If you're not going to be serious, then I'm not staying," she warned him before taking a seat. Kai nodded and sat next to her.

"What I'm about to tell you, even if someone else had told you the whole story, you wouldn't have understood. Because no one knows what exactly happened. Except for me…" Seeing Kara give him a small nod, Kai continued, "It was true that I drank a lot and partied all the time. But it was also true that I wanted to be King. It was my birthright. Rhea never thought of it that way. She wanted to make sure that the next King was someone she could control and manipulate. Sadly that wasn't going to happen with me, oh she knew that all too well."

"So she wanted Mon-El to be King?"

Kai nodded. "I know my brother would have made a great ruler. But I also knew that he didn't want anything to do with the crown. He was happy with his life. And I was ready to take my rightful place too. There was a lot of planning and plotting going on. Rhea wanted me dead, so Mon-El would immediately become the Crown Prince. That was the only way to get rid of me.

"One day I overheard her talking to my guard, her wretched lover, about bringing Krypton down to its knees. By torturing you, the daughter of Krypton. I didn't know you back then, Kara, but for me you were a little child you deserved much better. I had promised myself that when I took the throne and married you, I would stop seeing other people. That I would be faithful. That was something Mon-El kept telling me. And there was no way I was going to let you suffer in the hands of Rhea. So, I decided to call off our marriage. I knew there would be consequences, but I didn't realize it would be Rhea trying to murder me in my sleep. I managed to escape with a nasty cut on my back. There's a scar, an ugly reminder of just how crazy Rhea is. When she realized she couldn't kill me, she gave Father and Mon-El a potion, the same one I made a cure for. That potion messed up with their heads, so they never completely understood what was happening. All Rhea had to do was take advantage of that situation. She accused me of things I would die before even thinking of doing."

"What did she accuse you of? Trying to hurt her?" Kara's voice was soft. She had finished eating her ice cream and was now holding Kai's hand, caressing the palm with her thumb lightly.

"Well, that. Since I pushed her away when she tried to kill me. She hurt her head. But… I'm just so ashamed to even talk about this." Kai took a deep breath and his hold on Kara's hand tightened, afraid that she would leave him. "Rhea accused me of having incestuous relationship with my brother. She had guards as witnesses who saw me going into Mon-El's room at night… many times. And the fact that Mon-El never had a relationship… Rhea tried to prove that I forced myself upon Mon-El and when he finally summed up the courage to say no to me, I tried to kill him. I just… I…" Kai's voice broke as he looked away. "It's true I used to go into my brother's room at night. He was my brother for Heaven's sake! We talked. I ranted all night. He told me stories of his travels! I would never even dream of touching Mon-El like that… It's just so cruel, Kara! They locked me up. Chained me. And I saw him… I saw Mon-El. He visited me once before he was summoned to the court. He was so confused that he didn't understand what was going on. And before he realized, I was being sent away to the Phantom Zone. Mon-El changed the course to Earth, but it was too late."

Kara shook her head and pulled him closer. She patted his head softly as he rested it against her neck. "It's never too late, Kai. You aren't a bad person. You didn't do anything wrong. Rao sent you here to have a better life. This is your second chance, and I promise you, you are never alone."

He nudged his nose against her neck and muttered, "I'll kidnap you if you're lying, woman."

Kara couldn't help but chuckle. She kissed his forehead before promising him that she wasn't lying.

A/N: So, I made Rhea more evil than she was shown on TV...

Review and Comments are much appreciated!

And don't forget to click those little 'Favorite' and 'Follow' buttons. You will get a notification whenever the story is updated!