Kara sat on her couch in her living room, watching a sit-com as she took sips of her hot chocolate. She was still pretty disappointed that nothing had happened for her 13th Earth Birthday. The literal worst way it could've been spent was fighting White Martians which had infiltrated the DEO. The only good that came out of the night was her and Oliver finding out they make a good combination in the field. She heard a knock on her door, and used her x-ray vision to see who it was. She smiled as she got up and ran to the door.
"Happy Earth birthday" said Alex after Kara opened the door, holding a cupcake in her hand with a single candle on it, "Look, there's a K. Go ahead. Blow it out… Gently!"
"Thank you" said Kara, as she took the cupcake and turned back inside.
"You're welcome."
"So was Maggie mad that you missed the concert?" asked Kara.
"Well, luckily, I have a girlfriend that understands when deadly aliens besiege my place of work, that takes precedence" replied Alex.
"Yeah, I'm glad everyone is okay. That last White Martian? Oof! Boy, did it do a good impression of you."
"Uh, speaking of that White Martian, um, when it was me, did you have a conversation? Because I have these memories. They're like a… almost like a dream that we talked. But I'm not really sure if that was real."
"Do you remember?"
"Yeah. So I'm not crazy?"
"Nope. I guess if the White Martian's bond is strong enough, the telepathy goes both ways."
"Yeah, I guess so. Kara. I'm not ever going anywhere. I promise. Just because I'm with Maggie, it doesn't mean I'm not with you. Always."
"I know. I guess I made those big plans because I wanted the day to be extra special. I felt you were slipping away."
"I'm not. Ever. But is that the only reason you made such big plans?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look, sometimes, you know, in our life, when one part is really confusing, we will pour way more attention than necessary into another. And, you know, you looked a bit overwhelmed when you talked to Mon-El. So, maybe the reason that you made such big plans with me was so that you didn't have to think about how you actually feel about him."
"I told him how I feel."
"Mm-hmm. And you really believe that?"
"He's complicated."
"Mm-hmm. Is Oliver making things complicated?" Kara eyes flared up in surprise and shock at Alex's mention of Oliver.
"What? Oliver? No, no, I mean I barely know him, so no, not at all."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, totally" Alex could tell that Kara was being truthful, but she still wasn't completely convinced by her answer, "Look, I'm not going to lie. Oliver is nice, and he is handsome, but I don't see him in that way. Even if I did, that'd even more complicated."
"Is complicated your new favourite word, sis?" joked Alex. Kara acknowledged her joke with a half-smile before continuing.
"It's not just because he's human and I'm Kryptonian, but…" Kara paused for a second, trying to think of the best way to tell Alex, "There's a Kara Danvers on his Earth."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Well, there was", Kara's words drew a look of sorrow from Alex, "She was just a human, not a Kryptonian, and Oliver knew her from when they were kids. He loved her, and unfortunately, she died over three years ago."
"Wow, I can't imagine how awkward your first encounter with him was."
"Yeah, he was really cold, and harsh, but he opened up and now we're cool. Imagine how much more awkward that would be if we tried having a relationship."
"Yeah, I totally understand."
"It's not just about Mon-El either, it is about me. Every time I put myself out there, it backfires. I don't want it to happen again, it's too risky."
"You know, I happened to have taken a rather big romantic risk recently. And I got to say, it pays off. Maybe he's worth a shot."
There was another knock at the door, and Kara used her x-ray vision once again to see who was there.
"Who is it?" asked Alex.
"Speak of the devil… Devils?" said Kara as she opened the door to see Oliver and Mon-El standing together, "When did you two become all buddy-buddy with one another?"
"I remembered that it was your Earth birthday, so I stopped by the bar and got Mon-El to come with me. Happy Earth Birthday, Kara" said Oliver.
"Thanks you guys" replied Kara, smiling, "Wait, what presents did you get me?" teased Kara.
"Presents? My presence is your present" joked Mon-El, drawing giggles from Kara and an eye roll from Oliver, "For real though… we brought drinks" said Mon-El, as he held up a 6-pack of beer.
The previous night at Kara's place was great. Oliver and Alex both noticed and acknowledged the looks Kara and Mon-El were trading one another. He spoke a surprisingly a lot with Alex, and it crossed his mind that Sara would probably like her. He didn't know whether she would romantically involve herself with Sara, but if Sara had the chance, she'd probably persuade her. Oliver was in the training room, waiting for Mon-El to arrive at any second. Kara wouldn't be training with them today, she was busy at CatCo. It astonished Oliver how remarkably similar E1 Kara and her were. They both had the same job, the same apartment number and similar tendencies. It made him wonder if the Oliver Queens on other Earths were like him at all.
He used a bit of his spare time before the session to familiarise himself with the current affairs of National City. Of course, there were grumblings about alien immigration policies, just like on Earth-1, except the word 'alien' was literal here. There was also another vigilante in National City, Guardian. Out of curiosity, he asked Winn for any footage of Guardian, taking note of Winn's defensive reaction. Nonetheless, Oliver looked at the footage, and the guy was clearly an amateur. He was athletic, but he relied on his equipment too much and had a very basic knowledge of martial arts. Good enough to beat street thugs, but he'd be in serious trouble against an experienced adversary. Oliver put two and two together, realising that this Guardian was probably the other person that didn't want help from Kara. He'd worry about that later, because he was focused on Mon-El for now.
"Mon-El" exclaimed Oliver as Mon-El entered, "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah. Woke up with a slight headache, though" replied Mon-El.
"Well, it's about to get worse. Heads up!" shouted Oliver as he quickly nocked an arrow and fired it at Mon-El. Mon-El caught it just as the tip was pressing against his chest, "I see you've actually listened to what I said. That arrow would've bounced off your chest, but you chose to catch it anyway."
"I didn't know whether it was Nth metal or not. Didn't want to risk it" explained Mon-El.
"Good. That's the mind-set you should carry forward for while we train. You should never be 100% certain that things will play out the way you think they will. Always be prepared for possibility of things going the other way."
"So, what next?" asked Mon-El, drawing out a sigh from Oliver.
"I'm sorry for suggesting we do the lead so soon. We can just train like this for now."
"Actually, I'm fine with it."
"Really?"
"Yeah, well, I know I apologised already, but I should actually apologise again. I didn't trust you, which was understandable, but I also didn't respect you, and that was wrong of me. I saw the footage of what you did against the White Martians. That's pretty impressive for a human. I'll do whatever you need me to do from now on." Oliver nodded, acknowledging Mon-El's words. He reached into his back pocket, taking out the remote controlling the lead dispensers and tossing it to Mon-El.
"You choose the setting. I will push you, but we'll go with whatever you feel comfortable with."
Mon-El eyed the remote. He was tempted to put it on the lowest setting possible, but he decided to maybe just go one step further. He upped the notch to the 2nd lowest setting and took one last deep breath in before pressing the button. Once again, he started to cough a bit and his eyes became a little teary. However, it was very mild compared to what Oliver did when they were fighting. He must have cranked it up to the maximum setting. He took several more deep breaths in, acclimating to the new environment without his powers.
"You alright?" asked Oliver.
"Yeah. Let's do this!" said Mon-El, clearly pumped up.
"Whoa, slow down a bit" said Oliver, drawing a look of confusion from Mon-El as he put his bow down and picked up a large bowl of water that was behind him. He placed it on the floor in front of Mon-El, "Sit down."
"Now what?" asked Mon-El, as he sat down cross-legged.
"Hit it."
Kara eagerly ran towards the door to the training room. She hadn't been able to join Mon-El and Oliver for training, but a gap in her schedule allowed to her to just pop by. She was hoping to catch the end of the session. Unluckily, she caught them just as the training ended, being met with the sight of Mon-El and Oliver both in a sweat. Mon-El seemed a little more tired, as he held his hands above his hand.
"Hey guys!" she said cheerfully, "How'd it go?"
"Oliver had me slapping a water bowl for an hour, but after that, it was pretty good" replied Mon-El.
"Oh, that's great to hear"
"He still needs a lot of work, but luckily, he's a fast learner" said Oliver.
"Ok, cool. What are you guys doing now?" asked Kara.
"My shift at Al's bar starts soon, so I'm going to clean up and head there now" replied Mon-El, "I'll catch up with you guys later" he said, smiling at Kara before heading for the exit.
"And you?" asked Kara to Oliver.
"Well, I'm not used to having much time on my hands."
"Hey, I could give you that tour of National City I promised you? I need to head back to CatCo for a bit, but we can do it after. Grab some lunch too?" suggested Kara.
"Sure. I'll come with you to CatCo now, if you don't mind?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Just give me five minutes to clean up."
"You sure you don't want ten? You know, the extra five to brood?" joked Kara. Oliver acknowledged her joke with a half-smile before exiting.
Kara paced back and forth outside Oliver's room in the DEO. She was really excited to show Oliver National City, but she was also a bit nervous. She wanted to make a good impression. She knew Star City wasn't exactly the happiest place, so perhaps it wouldn't take much to impress Oliver. She heard the door unlock and she rushed over to it.
"So I was thinking we could…" She stopped halfway through her sentence, losing her ability to speak as she saw Oliver's back.
"Yeah?" he said, turning around. He looked at her confusedly. She put both of her hands to her mouth as the look of shock on her face intensified. Oliver, realising that he was shirtless, quickly grabbed the shirt on the bed and whipped it around his arms.
"No, wait" she said, rushing towards him and stopping him from buttoning the shirt up. She examined the scars littering his body, not knowing what to say "Oliver, I…"
"Kara, it's okay" he said, taking a step back and buttoning up his shirt.
"Oliver, your scars… they're…"
"Kara, you're the one who told me that hardship makes us stronger."
"This goes beyond hardship Oliver. Nobody should ever have to endure that."
"I'm here now. That's all that matters. Now, you have a city to show me, if I'm not mistaken?"
"Uhh, yeah, of course. Let's go" replied Kara, still clearly shaken up by what she saw.
"So, this is CatCo" said Kara, walking out of the elevator with Oliver. He scanned the area, noting fire exits, stairs and other possible escapes. Unfortunately, he couldn't turn that part of himself off. It was instinct for him. He had told Kara that they should forget that interaction occurred and just carry on like before. He could see how much it affected her, and he didn't want it to make things awkward between them.
"You're supposed to be out there getting me a story, Danvers. Not showing your little squeeze around" remarked Snapper Carr as he walked past Kara and Oliver. She just ignored him and continued walking. He followed Kara to the main office of J. Olsen and walked in after her.
"James" she said, getting his attention.
"Kara. Didn't you just leave, like a few minutes ago?" he asked as he stood up from his desk. Oliver noticed the physique of the man before him. He was definitely too good in shape for an editor of a media conglomerate.
"Yeah, I did, but I just came to show Oliver around. He's the friend that I was telling you about. From Earth-1." Oliver noticed James' slightly conceited reaction before changing to a friendly smile.
"Ah, so you must know Barry Allen?" asked James as he shook Oliver's hand.
"Of course, Barry is a very good friend of mine. I'm Oliver Queen."
"James Olsen. Well, it's nice to meet you Oliver."
"Likewise."
"Anyway, we'll be on our way. See you later James" said Kara, before exiting the office with Oliver. He followed her to her desk where she picked up a few files that she needed for one of her stories. She didn't need to show him the rest of the building, so they headed towards the elevator once again. It was just the two of them in the elevator, so Oliver decided to ask her something that crossed his mind as soon as he met James.
"So, James knows your secret identity?" asked Oliver.
"Yeah, he's a close friend." Oliver nodded before speaking up again about a completely different topic.
"That Guardian guy who's been running around National City, that's the other guy you were talking about who didn't want training?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know him personally? Or did you offer your help as Supergirl?" asked Oliver. Kara looked at him for a second, before glancing back at the floor level of the elevator. They had time, so she took a deep breath before replying.
"James is the Guardian"
"What?" asked Oliver. He was initially a little shocked, but it didn't come as too much of a surprise. His mind clicked it together as he realised James was a very similar size to the man in the Guardian suit, and that James knew Kara's secret identity.
"Yeah. Big surprise huh?"
"Not entirely."
The elevator door pinged and they exited the building onto the streets of National City. Oliver had already realised what a lovely place National City was, and he was actually excited to explore the place.
"Hey, can we get Chinese for lunch?" asked Kara.
"Yeah, sure" replied Oliver.
"Ok, good. I'm craving for potstickers so bad right now" she said, laughing.
"Potstickers?" said Oliver, the mentioning of the word by Kara triggering his memories of his time with his Kara.
"Yeah, potstickers. Is there something wrong with them?" asked Kara.
"No, no, it's just… Earth-1 Kara loved potstickers too" replied Oliver with a smile.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't…"
"Kara, you don't have to apologise" replied Oliver. She nervously smiled back at him, with Oliver sensing the dampening of the mood at the mention of Earth-1 Kara, "The city awaits" said Oliver, smiling at her as they began their tour of National City.
Author's Note: I promised some Kariver scenes were coming soon and there were the first bunch. More will be coming soon! Please a review too :D
