HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARBARA! This one shot is dedicated to my Luthor mother, Barbs! And the other beautiful babies who also celebrated their birthday this past days, Patry and Tabitha :* love you gays!

Disclaimer: The CW and DC own my soul

Only for the pretty ones

Kara was a little nervous, she can admit that. Getting a tattoo was a serious business, a tattoo was something that would stay permanently on her skin. For ever. She had the number dialed on her phone, it had been like that for the last ten minutes, but she still hadn't pressed the call button.

Alex was getting tired of watching the blonde pace around her apartment. "Don't be a baby, make the call."

"I'm not a baby, Alex… it's a serious decision." Kara tried to justify herself.

"If you're not sure, then don't do it." The redhead replied as she walked to her sister's fridge to get a beer. She needed some alcohol to deal with Kara's nerves.

"I am sure, but it's a little…" The reporter sat down next to her sister on the couch, but couldn't finish her sentence.

"… scary?" Kara nodded at Alex's word. "Don't worry, I'll be there to hold your hand, okay?" And she did just that with her free hand. She placed her beer on the coffee table and snatched the phone from Kara's grasp. "Now, let's make the call." She pressed the call button and put it on speeker.

"'The Morrigan Tattoo Studio', this is Eve, how can I help you?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded overly cheerful – and that was saying something if Kara thought so.

The blonde didn't speak for a few seconds, earning a soft push from Alex. "Uh, yes, my name is Kara and I wanted to make an appointment for a tattoo."

Alex gave Kara thumbs up and winked at her.

"Of course, have you taken a look at the work our tattoo artists do? So that you can decide which one is better for the type of tattoo you want."

"Yes, I have seen some… I'm fine with whoever is available, I just want a small phrase, nothing big." The tattoo studio was small, it only had two tattoo artists but their work was amazing.

"Okay, let me check the agenda… We have a spot for you on March 5 at 3 pm, if that's alright. With Sam."

"March 5 it's perfect, thank you." Kara confirmed, reaching out for her sister's beer despite her complaint.

"Have you thought of the placing of the tattoo?"

"The ribs." Kara decided to ignore her sister's mockingly painful expression.

"Okay, but just so you know, that is one of the most painful areas for a tattoo. We recommend you use an anesthetic cream at least half an hour before the session so the area can be a little numb. It will not be painless but the pain should be a lot less."

Kara swallowed a little hard, making her sister laugh under her breath. "Thank you for the advice."

"You're welcome!" Eve's smile could be heard from the phone. "Since you're getting a phrase, you can send it to our e-mail with the size and type of font you want so Sam can have some designs ready for you when you arrive.

"I will, thank you very much Eve."

"Lastly and just for confirmation, can you give me your last name so I can add you to the agenda?"

"Sure! The name is Danvers, Kara Danvers."

"Kara Danvers, March 5 at 3 pm. We'll be waiting for you."

"And I'll be there. Thanks again Eve."

"Have a nice day Kara." And the call ended.

"Well, James Bond, it looks like you're getting a tattoo." The redhead couldn't help but tease Kara.

In retaliation, Kara grabbed a pillow and smashed it into Alex's face. "Shut up."

::::::

Kara pushed the door of the little studio, making the little bell above it ring. It was just before 3 pm and, truth to be told, Kara was still nervous.

"Hi! Welcome to 'The Morrigan Tattoo Studio'." The chipper sound of another blonde's voice was what greeted Kara.

"Hello!" Kara answered with as much enthusiasm. "I'm Kara Danvers, I have an appointment at 3 o'clock."

"Right! We were expecting you. Let me just go get –" the short blonde started to stand up but before she could finish her sentence, someone came out the door beside her.

"I'm here, Eve. No need for you to stand up, that baby is about to come out." A raven haired woman completely dressed in black interrupted the receptionist – who Kara just noticed was pregnant –, making her sit down.

"You must be Sam." Kara greeted the woman – who had the most piercing green eyes Kara had ever seen by the way – extending her hand towards her.

The woman took it, shaking it gently. "Must I be?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kara looked at her, then at Eve and back at the raven haired woman. "Uh, yes? I'm supposed to have an appointment with you…?" The last part came out more as a question than a statement.

The tattooed woman – because yes, she had a lot of tattoos in the bits of ivory skin Kara could see – smirked, finally letting go of her hand. "Sam had an emergency and a client cancelled his appointment so I'm free to cover for Sam. I'm Lena."

"Oh! Is everything alright with Sam?" Kara may not know her but she cared about pretty much everyone.

Lena waved her hand in front of her, dismissing the whole thing. "Don't worry, everything is fine. Her daughter, Ruby, had a little fight at school and she had to go. I'll be working on you if that's alright."

"Of course. I have no problem." Kara pushed her glasses up her nose.

Lena gestured Kara to follow her with a head movement. "Come on in."

The blonde started walking, smiling at Eve when she passed by her. "You have some really amazing tattoos." She blurted out as soon as the door that separated the reception with the back of the studio closed behind her.

It was true, Kara had never seen such detailed tattoos before. Lena was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves cut of so Kara could see her neck, shoulders and her sides – the shirt also revealed that the raven haired woman was wearing a black lace bra – and much of the skin in display had ink on it. The right shoulder had a beautiful pink lotus and the head of a crow underneath it. She also had some flowers on her forearm. On the other side, Kara saw a cherry blossom tree branch coming out of her left shoulder, kind of like the tattoo started in the collarbone and it probably did. A watercolor hamsa hand below the flowers, in the underside of her bicep there was a cherry with the stalk on fire like a… cherry bomb, that was it; a scorpion in the inner side of her forearm and a skull on the outside. Finally she could see three circles on the underside of her wrist.

Lena didn't answer immediately. She only smirked when Kara realized she had been staring. Lena's smirk got bigger when she saw the blonde flush. "Thank you. But don't let these fool you, I have some ugly ones." She showed her the inside of her right wrist, which Kara hadn't paid attention to before, and showed her a generic infinite tattoo. The green eyed woman then raised her left pant leg to show a 'feather turning into birds' tattoo on the outside of her calf that looked a little faded and crooked. Kara also noticed another tattoo, this one in the back of Lena's calf. It was a pineapple with… interesting characteristics. "Tattoo artists have the worst tattoos sometimes because we practice on each other or even in ourselves." She explained.

"How many do you have?" Kara was curious by nature but there was something about this woman that made her want to know more.

Lena chuckled. "Honestly? I've lost count."

"You also have many piercings." The blonde pointed out. She had counted 5 in her right ear, 2 in the left plus one more in the inside of the ear and was pretty sure there was something shiny on Lena's mouth. "You have one on your tongue, right?

Lena bit her bottom lip. "Aren't you Curious George?" She teased.

Kara's brows almost reach her hairline as she started to apologize. "I'm so sorry! It's very rude of me to ask so many questions, right?"

"No, it's fine. Really. There are people who just reached out and grab you, you, on the other hand, are asking politely. And to answer to your question, yes, I do have a tongue piercing." Lena opened her mouth and showed Kara her tongue.

Kara leaned a little closer without noticing. "Did it hurt?"

Lena moved her tongue back inside her mouth. "Not as much as the nipple piercing hurts. I couldn't take the pain, I only have one pierced." She explained.

Kara's jaw went slack and her eyes traveled south by instinct. She blushed as soon as she realized what she did, only to be meet by a mischievous pair of green eyes. "Oh… oh that's… that sound painful, yes…" She looked around the room, elsewhere was better than Lena's face right now. The room was nice and well lit. It had a few paintings around and posters of bands. Kara also saw the chairs and cushioned table needed for the job and a big mirror in the wall.

The artist cleared her throat to get the blonde's attention again. "Well, yes but at least the tongue piercing is useful." She didn't elaborate on the subject but Kara could only imagine how useful that piercing was. "Sam told me what you wanted, two words in cursive, right?"

"Yes," the blue eyed woman confirmed, pushing her glasses up her nose once again. "'Stronger Together'."

Lena nodded and walked to a table that had many drawings in display. She grabbed a few small pieces of paper and showed them to the blonde. "I have a few designs here for you to choose. I can also change anything if you want to."

The fonts were really pretty. Once was really neat, like one you'd see in a wedding invitation. It was pretty but… not enough. Another was a lot like a girly handwriting looked like. You know, the type of letter the popular girl in high school uses when writing her diary in every cheesy movie in existence. It was nice but, again, not enough. The last one looked promising. Thin lines, curvy. Like the perfect autograph of your favorite movie star. This was it.

"I like this one." Kara pointed at the piece of paper.

"No changes? The size is fine?" Lena didn't like to disappoint her clients.

"It's perfect." The blonde smiled.

Lena grinned in return. "Alright. It's gonna be on the ribs, right?" She tilted her head.

Kara nodded, "Yes, right here." She pointed just below her left breast.

"You know it hurts a lot on the ribs, right?" Lena had to ask. She's had her fair share of clients who have quitted mid-tattoo because they couldn't handle the pain. She started working on the stencil.

The blonde shrugged. "I know but I have a high pain tolerance." Still, she was nervous.

The green eyed woman parted her lips slightly, brushing the tip of her tongue on her teeth. "And it's your first tattoo?" A girl as sweet looking like Kara didn't seem like one for tattoos, not big ones at least, maybe a few minimalistic ones at best.

"Yes, it is." Kara confirmed.

Lena lifted a brow, looking away from her work for a second. "General Kenobi, you are a bold one… or maybe a fool, who knows?"

The blonde laughed at the Star Wars reference. "I guess we'll see, General Grievous."

Returning her gaze to her now finished stencil, Lena spoke again. "Take your shirt off, please."

Kara flushed at the bluntness but did as she was told. She first removed her baby blue coat and folded it neatly, placing it on a couch near Lena's drawing table. She lifted both hands to take her glasses off and then proceeded to grab the hem of her pink long-sleeved shirt and lift it over her head, a sports bra was the only piece of clothing on her upper half.

Lena had to hold a gasp when she saw the barely outlined six pack abs the blonde had. This girl keeps getting more and more interesting, she thought.

"Are you keeping your bra?"

Kara's eyes went round as she opened and closed her mouth, trying – and failing – to speak. "Uh…"

"I meant it could get stained by the ink, are you okay with that? If not, you can take it off and we'll cover the necessary bits with tape." Lena explained with amusement on her voice.

"I-I don't mind if it gets stained." She tried to distract herself fiddling with her glasses in her hands, waiting to place them in her face to delay watching the gorgeous face of the artist.

Lena's smirk might as well be permanently painted on her face at this point. She tied up her hair in a high ponytail that – in Kara's opinion – highlighted her neck in an incredible way and put on a pair of black gloves. "Lay down then, let's place the stencil." She patted the table as she sat in a round stool.

The blue eyed woman did as she was told. The leather beneath her skin felt cold due to the air conditioning but inside she felt like she was on fire. The artist leaned closer to her, her breath barely touching the skin of Kara's exposed abdomen. The gloved hands touched Kara as a Lena slid a disposable razor blade over her ribs. It felt weird since the area was a little numb. Then, she smeared a little bit of vaseline, Kara suspected was meant to clean the area. After, the raven haired woman wiped the skin with some solution and placed the stencil on the skin, pressing her left hand on Kara's ribcage, almost like cupping the underside of her boob.

Lena removed the piece of paper after a few seconds. "Go take a look."

The blonde stood up and walked towards the mirror. She saw the now purple letters on her skin. "It's perfect." She turned around to see Lena who was looking at her intensely.

"Perfect." She repeated the blonde's words. She took off her gloves to replace them with a fresh pair, breaking the eye contact. "You put on the anesthetic cream before coming, right?" Lena started preparing her station.

The blonde answered with a nod as she walked towards the table. "Yes, I did." She laid down again.

"Good, we can begin then. Can you lift your arm? Rest your head on it."

"Sure." The blue eyed woman did as asked.

The artist put on a face mask and proceeded to fill a little cup with black ink. Then she plugged the regulator of the tattoo machine and connected a few wires. She grabbed the pen like machine and stepped on the pedal, the buzzing sound filled the studio for a second, making Kara flinch. "Are you nervous?" She asked, her voice a little muffled by the mask.

The blue eyed woman took a deep breath and let it go. "A little."

"I'd hold your hand if I didn't need both of mine to work." Lena joked a bit as she applied a new coat of vaseline to the blonde's skin.

Kara laughed softly. "Alex was supposed to be here to hold my hand but work called so…"

"Is Alex your boyfriend?" Lena pried as she charged the tip of the pen with ink.

The blonde corrected Lena quickly. "Nope, I don't have a boyfriend… Alex is my sister."

"Oh… tell me about her." Lena placed her left hand bellow the area of the tattoo as she usually did. Her arm was practically resting on the blonde's abs and she felt her flinch once more when she stepped on the pedal.

"Won't it make it harder for you to work?" Kara's famous crinkle appeared in her forehead. "You know, cause of my chest will be moving if I'm speaking…"

Even through the mask, Kara could tell Lena was smirking due to the glint in her eyes. "Not at all… I'm that good. Besides, it will be easier if you're relaxed and talking about something familiar does that."

"Okay… well, her name is Alex." Kara stopped herself from flinching when the buzzing sound started again and the raven haired woman leaned closer. "She and I didn't get along at first…"

Lena chuckled softly. "Who gets along with their siblings?" Kara's abs tensed beneath her arm as the needle pierced her skin for the first time.

"You're right but… it was different for us. I was adopted by the Danvers family when I was 13."

The raven haired woman looked at Kara's face for a second and back to the tattoo. "I'm adopted too." She confessed.

"Oh, wow, that's… a big coincidence." The blonde's surprise was easily recognizable in her voice.

"It is… tell me more about your family."

The blue eyed woman clenched her teeth when the needle made contact again. "They're the best… my parents died in a car accident and the Danvers just took me in. They knew my parents and knew that I had no one else to take care of me so they did. Alex was upset to say the least… she had been an only child for 15 years of her life and now she had to share a room, share a bathroom and share her parents with some girl she didn't know."

"That sounds tough… my brother Lex wasn't like that, he was very welcoming. I was 4 when my birth mother died, he was 11 when I met him… he taught me to play chess the first night I spent at the Luthor mannor." She cleaned Kara's skin with a disposable towel.

Kara laughed softly. "Alex taught me how to throw a punch but that was after we started get along… it took a few months but we grew closer. She became my best friend, she made me feel at home again."

"She sounds amazing."

"She is… she always has my back, through thick and thin. And I try to do the same for her, as much as I can."

"Is this tattoo for her or…?" Lena charged ink in the pen again.

"Yes and no." The blonde answered.

"Care to explain?" The artist asked with a laugh.

"It's something my dad, my birth dad –" Kara quickly corrected herself, "used to say. Stronger together. You're supposed to be there for your family no matter what, family makes you stronger. Once I joined the Danvers, those same words kept me going. So I'm strong for the family I had and for the family a gained after the tragedy. But most importantly, I'm strong for the family I want to have in the future."

Lena nodded in understanding. "You'll be stronger together."

The blonde nodded slowly. "We'll be stronger together." She said with longing.

Lena cleaned the now reddish skin again, smearing a little bit of ink and making Kara tense her jaw as the needle continued its work. "Do you want a big family?"

"Not too big, just what anyone else wants… a boy and a girl… and a cat and a dog." Kara would have shrugged if she could move.

Lena laughed lightheartedly. "That's not big at all but… aren't you forgetting the husband?"

The blonde snorted. "I don't want a husband, I want a wife."

The green eyed woman bit her lip under the mask. "That's good to know."

"What about you? You want a big family?" Kara asked back.

"Uh…" Lena hesitated to answer. "Well, I didn't have the most loving family… I mean, I'm so grateful I got adopted and that Lex was such a good brother but… my father was never there and my mother never loved me so… I don't think I'll be a good mom."

"Don't say that… I'm sure your mom loves you even if she doesn't show it."

Lena shook her head. "She doesn't, I assure you. Lillian was always cold… distant. Lex was her child and I was just a whim of her husband. She told me she wanted nothing to do with me after I opened the studio and I haven't spoken to her ever since."

Kara gulped down. "I'm so sorry Lena."

"Don't be… at least now I do what I love for a living and she doesn't have an opinion if I dye my hair or get another piercing. It's a relieve, actually."

"Well, I think you would be an amazing mother because you know what not to do to your kids. Besides, can you imagine having a mom covered in tattoos who is also the owner of a tattoo studio? That would be so amazing!" The blonde's excitement was genuine.

"Well, I guess we'll see… in the meanwhile, you can go take a look of your new tattoo. I'm done." Lena let Kara know as she cleaned here skin for the last time.

Kara sat up, a little sore from the position she was in and for the work done on her ribs. She walked slowly to the mirror and admired Lena's work. "Lena this is… incredible!" She touched the skin around it, it was red and a little inflamed but the phrase looked so good.

The artist removed her gloves and mask as she walked towards her client. "I'm glad you liked it."

Kara turned around and, without a thought, she wrapped her arms around Lena. The raven haired woman was a little shocked and was about to return the hug when Kara pulled back. "Oh God, I'm so sorry I did that! It must be really uncomfortable that a topless stranger hugs you all of sudden…" She backed away a few steps as a blush appeared on her cheeks and down her neck.

Lena shrugged. "I didn't mind at all…" She sighed. "Let's get that wrapped up and I'll tell you about how to take care of it."

Lena cut a piece of transparent wrap film and placed it over the fresh tattoo, attaching it to Kara's skin with some tape. The blonde then got dressed again, pulling her hair out of the collar of her shirt.

"You need to take the film off once you get home. Take a shower but don't apply much pressure to it, be gentle. After that, you should wash it two times a day and apply some cream, is one special for tattoos. We have it in the front store, you can ask Eve when you pay her."

"Okay, that's sounds easy enough."

"That's the easy part. Then comes the itching. Most people think that's worse than the actual pain of getting the tattoo." Lena said with a bit of mockery in her voice. "You cannot peal the scabs or else you'll end up with an ugly tattoo." She explained. "Also, no going to the beach until it heals." She added.

"Oh golly…" The blue eyed woman scratched the back of her neck. "How do I know if it's healing right?"

"Well…" Lena walked closer to Kara, much closer than she would with any other client. "I could give you my number and we could schedule a checkup if you'd like…"

"Uh, i-is that something you usually do for your clients?" The blonde couldn't stop her stutter.

The artist smirked and leaned closer, her mouth just a few inches from Kara's ear. "Only for the pretty ones." She backed away and pulled a card and a pen out of the back pocket of her jeans, writing on it. "Give me a call if you have any doubts or if you want to chat." She extended the card so the blonde could take it. She did.

"That's… uh, t-thank you Lena, I'll give you a call… soon!"

And before Lena could add anything else, Kara was out of the door. Lena heard her talk to Eve, ask her for the cream and pay her. The last thing she heard of the blonde was the bell as she opened the door and left.

Lena laughed under her breath, "Thank you for punching that kid, Ruby…"

Sorry for any typos, it's late and I wanted to post this ASAP. Barbs, I hope you liked this :D

BTW, how exciting it is that Mel is pregnant! She's going to be an amazing mom and that baby will be sooooo loved! Imagine aunty Katie buying dinosaur things for the babe!

If you wanna know what Lena's tattoos look like, here they are twi tter dayana alpuche/ status /1235453 48957010739 2?s=08

In case ff deleats the link, look for me on Twitter as dayanaalpuche