Kara wanted nothing more than to repeatedly go over and apologize to Lena again. Leo talked her out of that decision, he thought it best to wait until Lena cooled down. Their last conversation was heart-wrenching and Kara had lost her appetite. She was kind enough to let Leo sleep on her couch since Lena had kicked him out on the street.
Leo walked into Lena's office and immediately Lena frowned as she saw him. "I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again."
"You did. I decided not to listen." He clicked his tongue before heading toward the liquor cabinet and began to pour himself two fingers of scotch. "You want some?"
"Get out before I call security and have you thrown out." Lena snapped as she walked toward Leo only for him to hand her a glass of scotch that he poured for her. "You are infuriating. After interfering with Project Non Nocere, when you promised to help me, what do you want?"
"You know deep down that Non Nocere would always fail. You've deluded yourself into believing that people could be fixed. People are imperfect, they make mistakes, but we also grow, we strive to be better. We learn from our mistakes, trials are what makes us who we are today. What you've gone through, your strength, makes you the woman you are today. You're a billionaire in charge of one of the largest tech companies on this Earth. You're a powerful woman in a world where men have always dominated this industry." Leo took a sip from his drink but Lena did not make a move to have him thrown out.
"And what would you have me do, Leo? Did you come here to make some glorious speech, hoping I'd keel over and forgive Kara?"
Leo smirked, "I never mentioned Kara. Thinking about her a lot aren't you?"
Lena turned sharply and set the glass of scotch down on her desk. "If you have something to say, I suggest you say it."
Leo slowly swirled the liquor in the glass. "What you do now, that's your choice. You can forgive her or not. Forcing your will on humanity even if you thought you were helping was something Lex would do. He'd brainwash humanity. He never saw himself as wrong with whatever he decided, he was always the hero and never the villain. You're better than that. You're much more than your family name."
Even though she would rather not admit it, Leo's words held truth in them. She'd been so hurt from Kara that she was willing to do whatever it takes to make the pain go away. It only became worse and she suffered alone. Leo downed the rest of the scotch. "You have a good night, Lena." He set the glass down before exiting her office.
Had she fooled herself into believing what she was doing was just? Lex had believed he was saving the world from Superman when he'd turned the sun red. So many innocent people died that day. It was unnecessary, and she had tried to desperately stop it, but it was too late. Was she turning down a dark path all because she'd felt betrayed? Betrayed by the one person who she'd sacrifice anything for?
Her eyes veered to the large glass window of her office, it was a pretty view. National City's towering skyscrapers glinting against the bright sun. For the first time, she realized that she was utterly alone, she had no one. She'd pushed everyone away and was left standing alone to enjoy a pretty view. There was no one to share anything with, except herself. She wasn't living, she was just surviving. Barely surviving, with her emotions unraveling her insides.
It'd been a few days since Leo had gone to see Lena and she hadn't made any attempt to contact her. "I'll be back. I'm going to go pick up some food."
"I'm not really hungry." Kara admitted, the truth was, she didn't have the appetite.
Leo rolled his eyes. "Kara, you have to eat. That's one thing that you and my Kara have in common. One, you either don't eat, or two, you eat too much."
Kara sighed. "Can you pick up some wine too?"
Leo nodded, "Sure thing. I'll be back." He headed out the door, leaving Kara sitting on the couch leaning against the large pillows with a blanket wrapped around her. Why was she so upset? She should just be able to push on and accept that Lena and her were never going to be friends again. Never. That word echoed in her mind, it shouldn't end like this. She heard a soft knock on her door and sat up.
Did Leo forget something? Strangely enough, even though she didn't know the man for long, she felt at ease with him. It could be the fact that because he was Lena's doppelganger, that she felt a connection with him. She walked over toward the door and began to open it. "What'd you forget?" She began to say only to freeze as Leo wasn't standing there. Lena was. She almost thought she was dreaming. She didn't even hear Lena the first time she said her name and it was the second time when it actually registered.
"Kara…can I come in?" Lena asked her voice soft. Kara nodded and stepped aside letting Lena inside her loft. Lena walked in, her hands shaking slightly and she had to clasp them together to try and calm her nervousness. She turned to face Kara as she heard the door click shut. "I have made a terrible mistake. I was hurt. I was so consumed by the pain that I-I thought I could get rid of the hurt. I thought that I knew better, that I could make the world a better place. But I was wrong. I know you didn't want me to get hurt. That you were protecting me but I did get hurt. I pushed everyone away until I was utterly alone and I suffered for it. I was horrible to you, Kara. I was blind to what I was really doing. And I am very sorry it took me so long to realize what I've done and I am hoping that you'll understand. That you'll forgive me." Lena's voice was shaking as she spoke. Her voice cracking as she stood in front of her best friend and admitted her mistake.
"We've both made many mistakes, and I am so sorry. I promise I will never lie to you ever again Lena. No more secrets between us." Kara took a step forward and pulled Lena in to hug her. "I will always be your friend. I forgive you." Lena gripped Kara tightly, a few tears of joy escaping her eyes.
For the first time, in a long time, Lena felt the weight of emotions lift off of her. For so long, she had felt as though she had been drowning and Kara. Kara with her huge heart had always been there and never gave up on her.
Now that Kara and Lena had taken the first step toward forgiving each other, Lena was finally willing to make good on her promise to Leo. She was going to get him home. Building a portal to another Earth would be a massive undertaking, well unexpectedly, Kara was full of surprises.
The trio was in Lena's lab at L-Corp and Kara pulled out the small device Cisco had given her. "What's this?" Leo asked.
"Well ummm I met some heroes from another Earth and they gave me this. It can open a portal to their Earth." Kara explained.
Leo took the small metal device, it fit in the palm of his hand and for once he felt outdone. Completely outdone. His portal was massive compared to this. The small circular device with a single power source in the center. "Do you think we can scan this?"
Lena nodded. "I'm sure we can, we can even open it up without breaking it to see what makes it tick. Between us, I'm sure we can manage to build one." Lena and Leo began to take various scans of the device and it was an amazing work of engineering. He was sure they could easily replicate the technology.
Before they could even get started on making plans to duplicate the technology, the lab began to shake. "Is this the earth bending man? I thought we handled him?!" Leo began as his eyes frantically searched the room of the lab. A moment later a green portal emerged in the center of Lena's lab. The portal was cloudy and thick, it looked like water. However, the portal was clearly fixed and hovering just above the floor, what emerged from the portal was Supergirl.
Leo grinned he'd recognize that face anywhere, and it wasn't Lena's Supergirl, it was his. The only difference between the two women was Leo's Kara had no bangs. The portal collapsed after Supergirl had emerged and now stood in the lab. Lena and Kara were stunned and watched as Leo ran to meet Supergirl.
"Leo!" Supergirl embraced Leo in a tight hug.
"It's really you." He pulled back the huge smile plastered on his face as he rested his hands against her cheeks. "I've missed you so much…"
She leaned forward pressing her lips against his. "I'll always find you." It was then that she realized they weren't alone. She pulled back from Leo only to take a hold of his hand.
"Sorry, this is, my Kara." Leo began to explain to Lena and Kara. He motioned to the two women. "This is your doppelganger and this is Lena Luthor, my doppelganger."
Supergirl smiled at the two women. "Nice to meet you both." When her eyes rested on Lena she looked at Leo. "Huh, I wasn't expecting that."
"Lena and Kara have been helping me since I landed here weeks ago. If it wasn't for them I'd be completely lost."
"That's an accurate fact Leo." Lena stated a grin forming on her lips.
Leo clicked his tongue."Admit it, you'd be lost without me too." Lena shrugged, but in truth, they'd helped each other. Leo felt more like a brother than Lex, and he was her doppelganger.
"So, are you two together?" Supergirl asked as she motioned between Kara and Lena.
Kara's eyes widened and let out an uneasy and awkward laugh. "Us… together? No, ummm we're just friends actually."
Lena forced an awkward smile. "Just friends."
"Ohhh, I'm sorry I just thought that... My mistake." Supergirl tried to recover from the awkwardness she just let into the room.
Leo was the first to try and change the subject as Lena and Kara looked as though they were going to die from embarrassment. "How'd you get here and how are we going to get back?"
"Right, most of the technical jargon flew over my head but Brainy did fix the portal and managed to find the last frequency it had used to send you here." She pulled out a small block about the size of a paperclip. "This is a tracker, when we're ready to leave I just press this button and Brainy will open a portal up and we can go home."
"So we can head home then…" His voice trailed off as Supergirl however took the tracker and placed it in Leo's shirt pocket.
"Well, we could or we can stay a little bit longer. I've only been to another earth before, I think I need to at least compare a few things. Do they have a Big Belly Burger? If they do, are they the same, maybe ours is better."
Leo smiled, "Ahh yes these are very important questions. Where do you want to go first?"
"Well, this is a Kara only trip. You can stay with Lena." Supergirl gently placed a kiss against his cheek. "What do you say, Kara?"
Lena's Kara seemed to perk up and at the suggestion. "Sure, I'll show you around."
"You're leaving me?" Leo blinked in surprise.
"Doppelgangers only trip honey." Supergirl smiled before she followed Kara out of Lena's lab.
Leo sat next to Lena who was currently sitting down in an office chair. He leaned backward placing his feet on the lab table. "Feet off." He let out a sigh and slid his feet off.
"You're going to miss me when I'm gone."
"Don't flatter yourself." She handed Leo a small cardboard jewelry box.
"What's this?" He mused before he opened it up to find the transmatter portal watch he had borrowed from Lena. He smiled. "You are going to miss me."
"I had a spare." She rolled her eyes. "I will miss you a bit. You've been like a brother to me, more than Lex ever could."
"Thank you." He placed the watch on his wrist. "I'll miss you too. You're like family to me now. Who knows, maybe I'll come to visit and bring Kara along. She'd love that."
"You two certainly make a cute couple." Lena had to admit that they seemed to just fit well together. It'd be hard to imagine Leo not being with his Kara.
"Thanks… well it wasn't always easy. For a long time, I actually didn't think we'd get together." Leo admitted. They'd started off as friends but it was a journey getting to this point.
"Why?"
"She was dating Lana Lang for one and I was just a friend." Leo saw Lena's mouth drop and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?"
"Kara, was dating a woman?"
"Yes, of course. Why? Does your Kara not?"
"Well, she's only dated, men."
"Huh, I… thought she, that they were the same in that regard." That was his impression when he'd met Kara. Seeing Lena and Kara interact together was deeper than any friendship he witnessed.
"You did?"
"Well, I honestly thought you and Kara were a couple." Leo admitted.
"Did you?"
"I don't know how you feel Lena but I mean if you did have feelings or wanted it to progress into something more then go for it."
"Kara and I are just friends. Best friends, that's all." Of course, now that Leo had brought the topic up it was all that was on her mind. He'd seen something that made him believe they were closer than friends. Even his Kara thought so and she didn't even know them. Was there something more there? More than she realized? "You want a drink? They'll probably be gone for a while." Lena stood up then with Leo following her back upstairs to her office.
National City was slightly different, there were a few buildings that she did not recognize. Aside from that detail, the city was identical. Big Belly Burger was exactly the same on this earth as her own. She had practically inhaled the burger and fries, the past few weeks she'd been completely stressed. She hadn't known if she'd see Leo again.
Kara had taken her double to her loft and as the two of them entered Supergirl grinned. "We definitely have the same taste in food and clothes."
Earth 38 Kara suggested and part of actually enjoyed meeting a double who wasn't evil. The last one she encountered was Overgirl. "Well, you should come back and visit. I'm sure Leo would be willing to bring you back here."
"He would, he's a good man."
"How'd you two meet?"
"Well, I was assigned to interview him for CatCo. Luthor Corp was releasing a new way of harnessing solar energy. Everyone thought he was going to be like Lex, just with more hair. He always wanted to help people and part of that drew me to him. We became friends and it wasn't until much later that I realized I had feelings for him. Lana understood my decision and after we broke up she moved to Metropolis."
"Lana Lang?" Kara had wondered what Lana Lang had to do with any of this.
"Yes, Lana Lang is my ex?"
"You're...oh!" Kara finally put two and two together.
Supergirl laughed, "Why are you surprised? You've never been interested in any women before?"
"No, I've only dated men." She adjusted her glasses feeling uneasy.
"Not, even Lena? She is a very beautiful woman. If I didn't have my Leo I would definitely be interested."
Hearing her double say that about Lena made her feel defensive. Lena didn't belong to her double. Well, she didn't have Lena to herself either. Why did this bother her so much? It shouldn't bother her, Lena and her we're just friends. Best friends that recently made amends. That was that. Or was it? Did she feel more than just friendship?
"Kara, are you alright?"
Kara looked toward her doppelganger and smiled. "Yes, sorry I just got distracted." She was overreacting that was all. However, she couldn't stop wondering about her feelings now that it was brought up.
A few hours later Leo and Supergirl were back in Lena's lab. "I'll miss you both. I'll be sure to visit in the future, we both will." Leo hugged both Lena and Kara.
Kara smiled. "Thank you for everything Leo. Kara, it was very nice to meet you."
Supergirl smiled and gave her doppelganger a hug. "You too Kara."
"Goodbye to you both. Safe journey home." Lena smiled as she watched Leo activate the tracker and the two walked through the green portal that appeared moments later.
Alone, at last, Lena looked toward Kara before she spoke. "You know when we were apart it was one of the hardest things I've ever been through. I missed you terribly, it tore me apart knowing how much we hurt each other. Knowing how much I hurt you, I can never take that back. If I'm being honest with myself, with my feelings there's, there's something more than friendship Kara." She'd said it and her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
"You're right, about everything. I never really stopped to think about our friendship, that it somehow became something more. I can't imagine not having you in my life, Lena. You are the most important person in my life and I would give anything to keep you safe." Kara reached her hand out and carefully gave Lena's hand a soft squeeze.
"I've never felt this way before with anyone, Kara. I'm not sure how to… or what to do now. With us."
"We'll figure that out. Together. I will always be by your side." Kara smiled warmly and she could feel Lena gently slide her fingers in between Kara's.
When they emerged on the other side Leo was back in his lab. The large portal was still ever-present and he saw Brainy at one of the computer desks. "Brainy, I'm so glad to see you." He hugged his friend.
"It is very good to have you back with us Leo. I did fix the power surge, you won't accidentally be sucked though and to another Earth. I shall take my leave. You two have a great night." Brainy smiled before making his exit.
Leo felt Kara wrap her arms around him. "I'm very happy to have you back home."
"It's wonderful to be back home. While I didn't mind visiting over there I was exhausted. I couldn't sleep without your snoring."
"I do not snore."
"Yes, you do." Leo grinned. "It's super cute almost like a wheeze."
"You want to go back?" She teased. "You as a woman, my goodness Leo. Lena was gorgeous. If it doesn't work out with us I can always go back and try my luck with Lena. She might like having two Karas."
"She wasn't that…" Leo began only for Kara to cut him off.
"Yes, she was. You're jealous."
"I am not jealous." Yet he was just a little bit.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I got fortune cookies for us. Our dinner that you missed because you decided to accidentally get sucked in a portal." Kara lowered her hands and grabbed the fortune cookie off the lab table and handed it to Leo. "Open it, you may have a great fortune."
"I'm so sorry, well I have a lot to make up for." He looked down at the cookie Kara had placed in his hands. "These things are never right…" He cracked open the cookie though and unfolded the paper. As he read the paper fortune a grin soon appeared on his lips. It clearly said, Will you marry me? "Yes, yes I will marry you. Kara Zor-El, I love you. I will always love you. I wouldn't want anyone else, except you by my side." He leaned forward and captured Kara's lips in a loving kiss. "Did you get me a ring?"
"No, you are going to get me a ring. I had everything planned out and you never showed up. You are lucky that portal sucked you in or I would have been furious with you." Kara smiled, her arms wrapping around Leo's neck. "I love you. Always will."