"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Regina frets as she slides into her pea coat, lingering between the foyer and the living room.
"Mom, we'll be fine," Henry grumbles from his seat on the couch, his fingers moving roughly all on their own against his controller.
Kara pauses the game, eliciting a little groan from the teen beside her as she sets down the controller. She strolls across the room and steps directly in front of the woman that has been spending every waking moment taking care of her since she woke up. Her own personal hero. It's as if this beautiful creature thrives on being needed, thirsts for love and devotion. Kara doesn't mind though, she's really enjoying the extra attention to keep her mind from obsessing over how lonely and scared she truly is.
"We will be just fine," she assures Regina, effectively stopping the woman's fingers from buttoning up her coat. "Pizza is ordered and really, we are just going to be lazy couch potatoes, stuffing our faces and playing video games all night. There's nothing to worry about," she promises, reaching forward to fix Regina's collar that's standing upright.
"If you need anything-"
"We will call," she promises through a toothy grin that shows off every one of her pearly white teeth and it does the trick, instantly relaxing the mayor. "You act like we are going to be attacked or abducted by aliens," she giggles, hoping to lighten up the mood but she notices how Regina stiffens right away and Henry groans from somewhere behind her. "What?"
"Nothing, dear," Regina quickly waves her off. "Don't let my son take advantage, if you grow tired of that game, turn it off," she strictly orders.
Kara smiles softly from the concern, her eyes shyly sweeping down to hide her blush as she nervously fiddles with her glasses. "Same goes for you, don't let work consume you."
"Hopefully this won't take long."
"It always takes long when Emma calls," Henry mumbles mostly to himself from the couch but Regina hears him, her big chestnut eyes rolling dramatically.
"I'll see you soon," Regina softly whispers, her voice extra thick with rasp, inspiring Kara's heart to do a little happy jig.
Kara nods, following Regina to the door so she can lock up. A moment later, she's collapsing back onto the couch with a suspicious teenager eyeing her carefully.
"You ready to get your butt whooped?" She teases, adjusting the glasses perched on her nose as a distraction from his intense glare.
"Yeah, right," he scoffs, rolling his eyes so hard that Kara would have to be blind not to notice the resemblance to his brunette mother. Henry starts the game back up again and it's almost instant when his interrogation begins. "Um...how are you feeling?"
Her nose scrunches up, forcing her fingers to shove her glasses up once more. "Fine, why?" She plainly answers, knowing he's sniffing around for more information that she doesn't have answers to.
"I don't know, I just...are you scared? Not having your memories and living in this house with strangers. I mean, don't get me wrong, we like having you and you seem to have adjusted pretty quickly but um...are you scared?"
Her fingers automatically desist from jumping around the controller while her heart picks up the rapid pace instead. "I-yeah...well, I am scared, it's actually terrifying not knowing who you are or where you belong in this world and I kinda feel like I'm walking around with a big gaping hole in my chest, like my heart is missing or maybe missing someone but I can't pinpoint it and then it just makes me panic and-"
"I get it. That's exactly how I felt for a while when I first found out I was adopted. I like...didn't feel like I belonged here even though I grew up here because I didn't know where I came from and it made me question who I was. It was really scary and super lonely."
"Yeah, I remember feeling that way too when I was adopted-" Kara's words immediately die upon her tongue, her eyes blowing wide from the subconscious admission.
"Oh my god, do you remember?" Henry excitedly investigates but she's already shaking her head in the negative before she can even process what is occurring in her brain.
"I," she stammers, slamming her eyes shut in an attempt to focus on the new piece of information. She tries to hold onto that feeling of loneliness and fear while she repeats the word, adopted. She desperately tries to search her brain for an image of a parent, hopefully a sibling, but she comes up empty-handed. "I can't, it's all...blank. I just said I was adopted like it was a reflex, but I can't remember anything," she complains, flopping back against the couch with a heavy heart and an even heavier gaping hole in her chest.
"Oh...well, that's alright. It will come back, it's just going to take time. This was a good sign, right?"
"I guess," she groans, more petulant than the raging hormonal teen beside her.
Luckily, their depressing topic of conversation is interrupted by a doorbell.
"Pizza," Henry enthusiastically sings, his eyebrows wiggling around with excitement. "Come on, pizza always puts me in a better mood."
And just like that, his goofy smile lightens her mood. "Your mom better have ordered a lot because I swear
I could finish an entire pie all by myself," she teases as they race toward the front door.
XXXX
The minute she hears Kara lock the front door, she flicks her wrists and transports herself to her vault.
"Holy shit," Emma gasps when Regina lands directly in front of her, the surprise provoking her to drop the dusty book in her hand and crash into the cold cement below.
Regina huffs her annoyance, sweeping down to snatch up the book. "Do you want to turn yourself into a frog?" She snarks. "What have I told you, time and time again about this vault?"
"Don't touch," Emma petulantly replies, reminding Regina of not only their son but a certain new blonde that has been her shadow as of lately. Emma shoves her hands into her back pockets and glares, ready to challenge her. "But a frog? Really, Regina? Aren't you being a bit over dramatic about just reading a book?"
"It's a spell book, Swan. Someone as powerful as you, whispering any of this out loud could be catastrophic."
Emma rolls her eyes and chooses not to comment but Regina can feel the agitation pulsating from the blonde in angry little waves. Regina neatly places her book where it belongs before pivoting on her heels and leading the way to the back of her vault.
"Your mood has been rather...sour lately," Regina points out the obvious but Emma doesn't mutter a single sound. "Are you and the pirate still fighting?"
"We aren't fighting," Emma states with conviction.
"Then what is the issue? You were chipper the night Robin left, ready to do shots at Granny's like we were trying to get over some high school love," she bitterly remarks. "And then Supergirl showed up..." she trails off, her feet coming to a halt so she can inspect the sheriff's mood more closely.
"I told you, I just don't need another threat to this town."
Regina pauses, taking a moment to really analyze the Savior's angry brows pinching together to that pitiful pout around her mouth. Even when she's stomping her foot and acting far worse than their bratty teen, Emma is still the most beautiful woman her eyes have ever landed upon.
"Weren't you the one preaching that we are friends now and nobody understands us like we know each other?" Emma's emerald eyes morph into an olive hue the moment she narrows them upon Regina. "Why don't you stop acting like a brat and just tell me what's really bothering you?"
"It's nothing, I'm fine," Emma rebuttals as if her mouth is programmed to always repeat that mantra.
"Fine, have it your way," she scoffs. "Why did you want to see the super suit?" She inquires as she opens a secret door and flicks on a light switch.
Emma barges right in and Regina feels a scorching heat burning a fiery path up her neck to paint her cheeks because nobody besides her mother has ever seen this secret room. She's slightly embarrassed by the mannequin's dressed in some of her best dresses from the Enchanted Forest, especially when Emma's attention is stolen by a certain blue velvet dress.
"Is this like some fallout shelter? It looks exactly like your living room." Emma questions as her feet mindlessly shuffle closer toward the dress that has stolen her attention away from the whole purpose of their outing.
"I needed a backup plan in case the citizens of Storybrooke wondered what my head would look like on a spike," she sardonically quips.
Emma grimaces, shaking her head free from the unwanted image tormenting her brain. "Gross, Regina. I think you keep forgetting, we are in my world now and I would never let that happen."
And as much as Regina wants to maintain her strong, independent persona in front of Emma, she softens just a little bit, flashing the faintest of smiles.
"Thank you," she shyly whispers because she still can't wrap her mind around having a friend that truly cares for her wellbeing and safety. "So..."
"So..." Emma parrots, sauntering closer toward Regina with a type of confidence she hasn't seen in the sheriff since she first rolled into town.
She swallows thickly from the rapid spike in her thumping heart. Sometimes she forgets, honestly it's only whenever that one-handed pirate is around (which seems to be all the time now), but she forgets how attracted she was to Emma Swan in the beginning. There was something about the way she carried herself, so sure, so damn cocky with her hideous leather jackets, stomping around in those clunky boots. There was a fire in those stunning green eyes that lit Regina's cold, dead soul on fire and warmed her broken heart. She wanted to touch but was horrified by the notion and was certain she would end up burned.
Now, Captain Guyliner is always around and his presence has dampened those roaring flames. He somehow subdued Emma's personality but on those rare occasions when he's passed out from his rum and it's just Emma and Regina, she finds herself distracted by Emma's beauty once again.
"The super suit?" Emma pipes up after one too many seconds of silence, snapping Regina back to a world where she is forced to distance herself from the one person who brought her back to life.
"Of course," she murmurs, leading Emma into another room that's the exact replica of Regina's bedroom at the mansion.
"Is this what your bedroom looks like?"
"Yes, why?" Regina fires back, her throat extra hoarse from the want crawling its way to the surface.
"Clean," the Savior awkwardly squeaks.
"Clean?"
"I don't know. What do you want me to say?" Emma defensively rambles back.
Regina simply rolls her eyes and gestures toward the suit. The sheriff quickly gathers the suit and begins inspecting every inch, forcing one of Regina's eyebrows to skyrocket.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't know...looking for something. There has to be some kind of tracking on here or a way for Supergirl to communicate with whoever she works with," Emma exasperates, fumbling to check the lining inside the suit.
"It is rather beaten up, whoever did this to her must have been quite powerful," Regina sadly sighs, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with the thought of losing Kara after spending so much time with the girl.
"Hey," Emma softly whispers, abandoning the suit to place a comforting hand upon Regina's bicep, "thanks to you, you were there to heal her and save her life."
Regina offers a small smile, one that motivates those inquisitive green eyes to drop down and pay very close attention to the curve of her lips and every tooth on display. There goes Regina's battered heart again, banging with lust like it wasn't put through the ringer two weeks ago by her supposed soulmate. She instantly averts her eyes, she refuses to set herself up for torture and heartache again.
"Maybe I can clean it up, revert it back to new," she thinks out loud as her hand hovers over the powerful suit.
A small sigh escapes Emma's lips before she turns her attention and watches in awe as Regina's fingers wiggle, pouring all her magic into fixing anything that might be wrong with Supergirl's suit. Hopefully, repairing some undetected tracking device.
Fingers crossed.
After a few seconds, the dingy super suit seems to shine and glisten with hope. In a haste, Emma gathers the material and begins surveying every inch again.
"There has to be something," the sheriff grumbles, feeling around the back of the S-symbol for any clues.
"Emma, it's just a suit," Regina defeatedly declares, slowly taking the suit out of Emma's hands and carefully placing it down upon the bed.
"Then maybe it's time we tell her who she really is, maybe it will jog her memory."
"I don't think she's ready," Regina reflexively answers, shaking her head and moseying toward the door.
"She's not or you're not?" Emma argues, chasing Regina up the stairs and out of the vault.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She incredulously inquires, glaring at the blonde as she closes the door to her vault.
"Nothing," Emma slowly exhales, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and Regina follows the action, knowing damn well it's a nervous tick. She raises one eyebrow in questioning which forces her friend to declare even more. "I just don't want you to get attached to Supergirl. Eventually, she will go home."
"I'm an adult, Swan. I can take care of myself. Clearly, since I just went through losing another happy ending with Robin," she bitterly snaps and Emma at least has the decency to look guilty since she did go back in time, save Robin's dead wife from death and bring her to the future. "I enjoy Kara's company, she is a nice distraction from everything that's been going on around here."
"Regina-"
"No, Sheriff Swan," she sternly cuts her off, knowing that name will snap the woman's mouth shut, "I know Kara better than anyone right now and I know she isn't ready to be told she's some superhero who has powers. I don't know why you hate the girl so much but I suggest you get over your childish issue and focus on something more important, like for once turning in your paperwork on time," she strictly orders before she disappears in a cloud of purple smoke.
"Great," Emma huffs, kicking the vault to release some of the pent-up tension reaching boiling point.
XXXX
Another Earth. Another dimension. Another universe. A parallel world. All things Lena can comprehend because she is a genius and spends most of her free time in a lab developing devices that can defend this planet from aliens while simultaneously working on projects to protect Supergirl from Kryptonite. So, she wasn't shocked when Brainy said he checked every piece of technology across the globe and never once encountered Kara, which lead him to believe in the possibility of another Earth.
She's simply overtired from the stress of worrying about her best friend and this unknown Earth, that's why she doesn't realize she has fallen asleep across a keyboard in the DEO.
"Lena," James whispers so delicately before she feels his lips connect with her temple.
She jerks awake, cringing at the feel of his kiss lingering upon her skin. She doesn't mean to display her true emotions, however, she is balancing on a very thin tightrope between dreamland and reality, so she's not entirely in control of her body. That's why she grimaces and quickly rolls away from his unwanted touch.
"Uh..."
"James, what are you doing here?" Her groggy voice barely croaks out while she struggles to plaster on a fake smile. The expression comes off more as a scowl instead.
"Checking up on you. You haven't returned my calls or texts and Winn said you've been sleeping here-"
"You knew too, about Kara," she quickly pieces together, since he's standing before her at the DEO, washing away any residual tiredness from her cat nap.
"Uh..."
"Wow," she disbelievingly breathes, standing up from her chair to gain some authority. "So, I was the only person in Kara's life who didn't know," she states more than questions.
"Lena-"
"After all that I shared with Kara, how dare she continue to lie like this to me. I trusted her, she knows what I went through with my family and growing up-" she unexpectedly stops, the tears building in her eyes and becoming too much to resist.
She refuses to cry, she refuses to grant someone that type of power over her, she swore she would never succumb to weakness like that again. She quickly spins around to hide her blushing cheeks and glossy eyes. She folds her arms across her chest to protect her heart from any more heartache and curls in on herself.
"Lena," James tries again, tentatively clasping his strong hands upon her shoulders but she's quick to shrug him away. "She wanted to tell you. It was eating her up inside but she didn't want to put you in danger. She didn't want someone to find out and use you as bait to get to her-"
"But she didn't mind putting you at risk," she explodes, the bottled up stress finally popping off like a cork to her favorite champagne bottle. She violently spins around on her heels and stalks toward James with determination. "She didn't mind putting her sister at risk, or Mon-El, J'onn, Winn! I'm a hell of a lot scrappier than Winn!"
"I know," he gently agrees to calm her raging temper. "Maybe because of your name, she thought it would put you at a higher risk?" He sheepishly suggests, shrugging so innocently but that only seems to infuriate her more.
"More like she doesn't want the public to know how close a Super and a Luther truly are," she sarcastically retorts.
"Lena-"
"Lena, James," Alex breathes as she rushes into the room, wide eyes and a hopeful smile on full display that settles Lena's blood pressure. "Winn, I think he found something," she reveals, charging right back into the hallway.
Lena doesn't even think twice, doesn't even acknowledge James calling her name as she runs to catch up to Alex. She follows the agent with James hot on her heels until they are in the main lobby. Right away, she notices the small gathering behind Winn's chair and just like that, her heart skips a beat.
"What is it?" She investigates, slightly out of breath from the adrenaline of anticipation coursing through her veins. "What did you find?"
"Her suit," Winn vaguely responds, pointing to a picture of Supergirl with her hands upon her hips.
A faint smile tugs at the corner of Lena's mouth while her eyes soak up the image of her best friend. Her heavy heart sags in relief from the familiar face grinning back at her. Her body feels hot, itching to reach out and hug this foolish woman but sadly, it's just a picture that the DEO took of Kara for their files.
"Where is she?" Alex demands with such urgency, it causes Lena to panic all over again because she knows something is wrong. "If her suit is active again, why isn't she showing up on the radar? Where's her location?"
"Because she's not on this Earth," J'onn acknowledges barely loud enough for anyone to hear.
"It's what we feared," Brainy chimes in, "Supergirl is in a parallel universe."
"But we can find her, right?" Alex hopefully interrogates. "I mean, Supergirl has crossed between different universes and dimensions before. I even have! We were just at Flash's wedding a few weeks ago and that's another Earth."
"Flash? Who's Flash?" Lena questions, one skeptical eyebrow arching, fishing for more information.
"Oh, just another superhero," Alex waves her off as if it's no big deal, "on a different Earth. One that doesn't have a Supergirl," she rambles, persuading both of Lena's eyebrows to skyrocket. "Oh! Please tell me she's on Flash's Earth."
"I just need my ship and I can track Supergirl down on whichever Earth she has landed upon," Brainy informs the group before walking off without another word.
"And how are we supposed to travel to this other Earth?" Lena very seriously questions.
"What if she's not even on Earth?" James curiously asks. "What if she's on Mars in a parallel universe."
"Brainy will be able to get us there," Alex confidently says before they venture on toward Brainy's ship.