hooray, i survived! sorry this took so long, friends and lovers, i was doing some hard-core adulting that took up a bunch of my time, but it should be mostly calmed down now so hopefully the next chapter won't take three months.
so this chapter got away from me a bit a lot and i had to stop it sooner than i meant to, but on the plus side that means the next chapter is sort of a little bit written! hooray!

i love you guys enjoy don't kill me

Romance Rekindled on Set?

Is there romance in the air on the set of Dusklight? Behind-the-scenes pics uploaded anonymously to several social network sites yesterday would seem to indicate yes. The leaked images appear to show the series leads, Mike Matthews and Lena Luthor, locked in a passionate embrace. The pair were in a relationship before Matthews' well publicised affair with a guest star led to a very public breakup almost eighteen months ago, though the unhappy couple continued to work together closely.

Reports from the set are confused, with some claiming that the pics are from an upcoming episode and the actors are in-character, but given that Luthor's character is already in a relationship on the show, we here at Starfeed find that hard to believe. Other reports are claiming that the co-stars never actually split up, and the scene on the red carpet was merely a ploy to draw viewers to the show and deflect attention from rumours of an engagement.

Starfeed reached out to the production and the actors, but all declined to comment. We'll keep our readers updated as this story unfolds.

…

The first time Kara woke the next morning, it was because she was overheated and in a tangle of too many limbs. She cracked an eye open blearily and glanced over her shoulder, relieved to find that the arm wrapped around her stomach belonged to Lena, but there was something digging into her chest and what felt like another hand fisted in the fabric of her shirt. She blinked slowly, but it took her a second to recognise the other two blurry lump in her bed. The closer one was Alex, and it was her shoulder that was jutting into Kara's boob, while the other one was Lucy, who was curled against Alex's other side with her arm flung across her stomach.

"When did Lucy get here?" Kara croaked, her memories fuzzy with sleep and alcohol, but Alex just shifted slightly without opening her eyes and brought a hand up, aiming for Kara's mouth but covering most of her face instead.

"Shh, still sleeping," she mumbled, before rolling over and wrapping her arm around Lucy's stomach. Lucy murmured something unintelligible and released Kara's shirt to cling to Alex's instead.

Still confused but more comfortable now she was no longer sandwiched between two bodies, Kara snuggled back into Lena's embrace, smiling softly when the arm around her waist tightened gently. The light outside the window was still an inky grey, and sleep was tugging at Kara's eyes, so when Lena murmured soft, sleepy sounds and nuzzled into her hair, Kara relaxed and let herself drift off again.

The second time she woke to fingers trailing across her cheek, brushing the hair from her face, and she opened her eyes to find Lena leaning over her and smiling softly.

"Good morning, darling," she murmured, tracing a pattern down Kara's jaw as Kara blinked sleep from her eyes. There were muffled sounds from outside the bedroom that Kara hoped were Alex making breakfast and not Lucy destroying her kitchen, but she was too comfortable and warm to check.

"G'morning," Kara said, her voice rough from disuse. "Are you leaving? What time is it?" she asked, noticing that Lena was showered and dressed.

"It's not late, but I'm due on set," Lena said as Kara shuffled into a more upright position. "I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

Kara smiled, then reached up and curled her fingers in Lena's jacket, tugging her gently forward. Lena hummed softly and Kara deepened the kiss, grazing Lena's bottom lip with her teeth. Lena indulged her for a moment, then pulled away.

"I've gotta go," she said admonishingly, but there was amusement in her eyes and Kara pouted.

"One more?"

"One more," Lena agreed, trying to look stern but unable to keep the smile off her face. She leaned down again to brush their lips together, but when Kara threaded her free hand into her hair she made no move to pull away. Emboldened, Kara trailed her hand down from her jacket to wrap around her waist and gently tugged Lena down onto her lap.

"Kara…" she started, but Kara leaned in to capture her lips again. "You're gonna make me late," she breathed between kisses, but she made no move to escape Kara's arms.

"They can start without you."

"No they can't," Lena said, amusement dancing in her eyes, but she threaded her fingers through Kara's hair and pulled her closer anyway.

Lena was well on her way to missing her call time, working her way down Kara's throat with her lips as Kara's hand crept up her shirt, when the door creaked open behind them.

"Get a room," Lucy called from the doorway as the broke apart, and Kara twisted so she could shoot her a look as Lena rolled her eyes.

"We had a room until you interrupted," Lena pointed out.

"And this is my apartment," Kara added, but Lucy just flapped a hand at them.

"Details. Anyway, get up. Alex made breakfast and I wanna hear the story of why we're shooting a pulp romance novel."

"And I really do have to go," Lena added, stealing one last kiss from Kara. "I'll see you tonight," she murmured before wriggling off her lap and heading for the door, dropping a kiss on Lucy's cheek as she passed.

Alone in the bed once more, Kara groaned and flopped down onto her pillows, wriggling back under the covers. She lay there for a long moment, blissfully comfortable in her cocoon of warmth, until the duvet was whipped off her and tossed to the end of the bed.

"C'mon Supergirl, up. It's time to start the day," Lucy insisted in an obnoxiously cheerful voice, but Kara just groaned and buried her face in her pillow.

"When did you even get here?" Kara asked, raising her head ever-so-slightly so Lucy could understand her.

"Lena called me for backup. Apparently you two were singing. There may or may not be video." Kara raised her head again to glare balefully at her, and Lucy took the opportunity to yank the pillow out from under her. "C'mon, get up. You'll feel better."

Kara groaned again but acquiesced, letting her co-star tug her off the bed and out to the kitchen, where Alex was sitting at the counter, hunched lazily over her tablet with a stack of toast beside her.

"You said Alex made breakfast," Kara said, shooting Lucy an accusing look.

"I did. Toast is breakfast," Alex said, not looking up until Lucy wrapped herself around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. They both had hair damp from a shower, and Lucy was wearing one of Kara's shirts. The fabric hung loose around her smaller frame, dipping low enough that Kara could see what looked suspiciously like a fresh hickey on her collar bone.

"Did you two defile my shower?" she asked, but then shook her head when Lucy grinned wickedly at her. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

Kara slid onto the stool next to Alex and snagged a slice of toast as Lucy retrieved Kara's copy of the script from wherever it had ended up. It looked slightly worse for wear after its treatment the previous night, but still held up fairly well as Lucy waved it around.

"So what's the story with this nonsense? Why am I kissing your girlfriend?"

Kara groaned and dropped her head onto the counter. "The network is being stupid," she said, then launched into an abridged version of the explanation Cat had given them.

"Well that's just idiotic," Lucy declared when she'd finished. "But I could almost let it go if it wasn't so badly written. I mean—" she rifled through the script and opened to a random page, "—'you have someone who cares for you and so we must stop this dalliance.' Nobody talks like that! I could excuse a bad plot but this is just shitty writing."

"I think that's the point. Cat wants it to flop."

"It's gonna work. We'll be lucky if they don't cancel us altogether after this," Lucy said, tossing the script onto the coffee table as Alex snorted.

"It's not that bad. You're being dramatic," she said, and Lucy grinned and wrapped herself around her shoulder again.

"Would you prefer subtle?" she purred into Alex's ear, and Kara blanched and slid off her stool.

"I'm having a shower. Please respect my kitchen," she called over her shoulder, earning a grin from Lucy and a blush from her sister.

Kara took her time in the shower, both because the hot water was doing wonders for her hangover and because she didn't want to walk back into something she couldn't unsee. When she did eventually emerge, she was careful to announce her presence, but the atmosphere she found in the kitchen was very different to the one she'd left.

"Can't you just talk to him?" Alex was saying, irritation colouring her tone.

Lucy had moved to the other side of the room, and she crossed her arms as she replied. "I have, but Alex… there's a reason I keep him around. Annoying as he is, Jim's a good publicist and he does know what he's talking about, most of the time."

"Not with this, he doesn't," Alex snapped, pushing her hair back in a frustrated gesture.

"What's wrong?" Kara asked, moving to stand next to her, but Alex shoved herself away from the counter and stood, gathering her things.

"Nothing. I've gotta go to work," she said, wrapping her free arm around Kara in a short, perfunctory hug before turning to stalk towards the door.

"Alex, c'mon…" Lucy called after her, but Alex didn't turn back.

"What was that about?" Kara asked after a short, painful silence.

"My publicist is being a dick, apparently," Lucy sighed, rubbing her eyes. "It's fine," she added when she caught Kara's concerned expression. "I'll smooth it over, don't worry about it."

"Alex really doesn't like being told what to do," Kara said softly, and Lucy nodded.

"I know. Honestly Kara, don't worry about it. I'll fix it. Now…" Lucy took a deep breath, and Kara saw her make an effort to brighten her own mood, but she'd known her long enough to see the hurt underneath it. "I have nothing to do today, and you have subscriptions to like eight different streaming services, so unless you have plans we're going to stay here and watch Star Trek."

Recognising the unspoken request for company, Kara smiled at her fondly and tugged her over towards the couch. "Fine, but only if we can watch the new Disney film after," she said, and Lucy groaned theatrically as Kara curled into her side and reached for the remote.

…

They finished filming on the current episode and moved on to Ergo Propter Hoc, much to the cast's displeasure. Lena took advantage of their weekend off to continue badgering Cat about changing details in the script in an attempt to make it even slightly less terrible, but she gave up after Cat sent a very pointed message, saying that if Lena didn't stop bugging her, she'd put one of the sex scenes back in.

"'One of'? How many were there?" Kara asked when Lena showed her the showrunner's reply, and Lena just shrugged helplessly, sharing Kara's horror at discovering that at some point, the script had actually been worse.

Kara, for her part, was largely resigned to the fact that the inevitable train wreck of an episode was happening, and had turned her attention to the fallout. She knew the reaction the apparent sidelining of such a popular lesbian pairing would be ugly unless handled properly, and Kara was better positioned within the fandom to address it than Lena. Kara had always been very open about her support for the LGBT community, and was really only in her increasingly-transparent closet because so far, no reporter had been bold – or tactless – enough to ask her directly. Her fans were mostly polite enough to not openly speculate, but Kara knew from her sporadic forays into her tag on tumblr that there was a consensus that she was at the least a very good ally.

It was a sharp contrast to Lena, whom Alex had once described as 'aggressively closeted', which had earned her a frown but no disagreement. Though she adored her fans, and was always warm and supportive with them in person, she rarely spoke about Sizzle publicly unless forced to by the network. Kara knew she had reasons for her extreme caution, but she'd never pushed her to talk about it. Lucy had implied once that it had something to do with her family, but Kara hadn't pressed for details, unwilling to dig into that part of Lena's life without her permission.

Whatever the reasons, Lena's reticence meant that when it came to talking about their on-screen relationship, Kara had a much better chance of getting the fan to trust her when she told them not to panic about the inevitably divisive episode once the promotion began. She began her private campaign by retweeting fan art, liking every Sizzle-related tweet she could find, and answering as many questions as she could. The fans responded positively, and Kara hoped that her new title of Captain of the Sizzle Ship gave her enough capital with the fanbase to smooth over the inevitable anger and confusion once the network began promoting the episode in earnest, doubtless with a focus on the Jaxabel elements.

The premise of the episode was that a group hunting Mike's character, Jax, hit Sara with weapon that essentially removed her from the timeline. It was completely outside the established logic of the show, and Kara was fairly sure that the concept alone would confuse the general audience, even without the relationship shenanigans. For Kara it was a fairly boring week, acting wise, because she spent most of the episode as a 'ghost', present in the scenes but invisible to the other characters, and therefore had virtually no lines. It did mean that she avoided having to recite most of the incredibly tacky dialogue, some of which was so bad that most of the cast had to take breaks to compose themselves so they'd stop ruining the takes with laughter.

The only cast member who wasn't constantly breaking was Lena. She'd dropped back into her Luthor Ice Queen act, and most of the crew were smart enough to give her a wide berth. The one exception to that was the director for the episode, Chet Miner, a first-time director to the show with only a couple of other credits to his name. Kara knew why Cat had gone out of her way to get him for this episode – nothing like a green director to pour more fuel on the trash fire – but given how uncomfortable this episode was going to be, Kara almost wished they'd tapped one of the regular directors for it. Miner was a perfectionist control-freak, and Kara got the impression he'd be difficult to work with at the best of times, let alone on an episode so universally disliked.

There were three kisses in the episode, all of them involving Lena, much to her displeasure. The first was the much-disputed cold open scene between Jax and Isabelle, which remained steadfastly in place despite both the leads' attempts to get it cut from the script. The second was a scene halfway through the episode between Isabelle and Amara, Lucy's character, though that scene had a note to shoot versions of the encounter both with and without the kiss, to give the editors more options. The third was in a scene added to the script the day before they started filming, a touching reunion scene between Isabelle and Sara that had Cat's fingerprints all over it, and Kara appreciated it for the tacit apology it was, both to them and their fans.

…

Lena banned her from set the day they shot her scene with Lucy.

"It's going to be weird enough already, and if you're there she'll make a threesome joke and I won't be able to look Alex in the eye for weeks," Lena said, and Kara agreed, because Lena was struggling with the episode in general and these scenes in particular as it was, and Kara was doing everything she could think of to make it easier on her.

She didn't have that luxury the day they shot the cold open. Both the opening scene and the reunion between Sara and Isabelle were set in Isabelle's apartment, and were scheduled to be filmed on the same day. Because Lena was in almost every scene of the episode, her time was tightly budgeted to avoid violating SAG regulations, which meant not only that they were shooting both scenes back-to-back, but that Lena would be doing it after being on set for fifteen hours the day before. They'd allocated her the shortest legally-allowable break between the two days, and while Kara didn't want to disturb what little rest she'd get, she was also too wound up and anxious to spend the night by herself, so she went to Alex's.

"It's not the kissing thing," Kara insisted, pacing behind the sectional couch Alex was sitting on and keeping her voice low, mindful of the fact that Lucy was asleep beside her. She and Alex had made up, judging by the way Lucy had her head in Alex's lap and Alex was absentmindedly carding her fingers through her hair.

"I know."

"It's what the kissing represents."

"Yeah."

"Sizzle is the only main-text, slowburn, canon lesbian relationship on prime-time television-"

"Yeah."

"-because most of the others are either totally sub-textual or a blatant ratings grab-"

"Yeah."

"-and this stupid network guy wants to derail it in the name of chasing ratings from a demo who tuned out ages ago by dangling a boring heteronormative cliché in front of them and…you're not listening to me, are you?" Kara realised, glancing over at Alex and halting her restless pacing when she noticed her sister's attention was spilt between the television and the tablet she'd rested on Lucy's shoulder.

"Not really," Alex admitted, looking up. "But in my defence, this is at least the third time I've heard this rant and I still don't know what half those words mean. And I can't take you seriously when you get all passionate about something called 'Sizzle'."

"I didn't name it," Kara pointed out, pouting. "And that's not the point. It's important, and the network doesn't get it."

"I know. C'mere," Alex said, patting the spot beside her. "You just gotta trust that Cat knows what she's doing."

"People need to see themselves," Kara muttered, ignoring Alex's eye-roll when, instead of sitting, she opted to fall backwards over the back of the couch, landing upside-down with a huff. She froze for a moment and glanced at Lucy, but when she didn't stir Kara continued, "How much sooner would you have worked yourself out if you'd had something to compare it to?"

"You mean I might have figure out the lesbian thing in college like a normal person instead of having Maggie spell it out for me in my early thirties?" Alex said sarcastically, but her smile took the sting out of her words.

"No, I mean… I don't mean it's bad, you worked it out when you were ready and that's good, but it's just…"

"It's okay, I know what you mean. But you just have to trust that Cat knows what she's doing and trust that your audience knows the difference between network bullshit and stories with actual substance."

"Yeah …" Kara sighed, feeling her anger drain out of her slowly.

"And then you have to start sitting on couches like a normal person," Alex added, and Kara narrowed her eyes playfully.

"Never," she declared, nudging Alex's shoulder with her knee. Alex just rolled her eyes again and dropped a throw pillow on her face.

…

Kissing Lena on set was always weird. As much as she tried to separate Kara-kissing-Lena from Sara-kissing-Isabelle, there was always the lingering feeling of voyeurism whenever the script called for an intimate moment between them. Kara's discomfort was only amplified in this case, because while their regular directors were mostly content to just call 'action' and let their natural chemistry do most of the work, Miner seemed intent on micromanaging every aspect of the scene, from hand placement to when they should pause for breath.

His direction for the current take had been "Lower and slower," and Kara was fairly certain that Lena's hand, curved around her waist and low enough that her pinkie was brushing the back pocket of her jeans, wasn't actually in the shot any more. Miner also apparently had a fondness for long, uninterrupted takes, and Kara felt like they'd been going through the motions of the embrace long enough for it to feel weird.

'Say cut, for god sake,' Kara thought to herself, unable to open her eyes to see what the holdup was without risking glancing into the camera and ruining the angle. The set was almost silent save for the soft rustle of the crew moving around, so she was sure they hadn't missed the call, but Kara was sure the take wasn't supposed to be that long. The kiss dragged on, and Kara could feel Lena getting tenser in her arms until she finally pulled away sharply.

"Are you asleep?" she snapped at the director, who finally yelled for the cut as Lena rounded on him.

"Just trying to capture that intimacy, Luthor!" he replied, his saccharine enthusiasm not quite enough to cover his leer.

"You know this airs on NCB not HBO, right?" Kara pointed out, feeling vaguely uncomfortable with the look on Miner's face.

"Exactly. I'm not gonna grope my co-star for your amusement," Lena spat, and Miner shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the crew tried to pretend they weren't watching the confrontation.

"Keep it classy, Luthor," he said with a sneer, and Lena tensed and started forward until Kara grabbed her arm reflexively.

"Can we just get on with this, please?" Kara asked plaintively, releasing Lena's arm when she was satisfied her partner wasn't going to do something rash.

"Yes, let's," Lena agreed, then rounded on the director again. "You just sit there and watch your screens, let us worry about the acting," she commanded, and Miner sank into his seat and crossed his arms, looking like a sulking child told off by a parent.

"Fine. Again from 'I thought I'd lost you'!" he called, and Kara and Lena took their places as the crew scurried around them.

Usually when the director called action, it was like Lena flipped a switch somewhere inside herself and simply became Isabelle, but this time the transition was less complete. Kara could still see the frustration sparking in her eyes, but Lena had obviously decided to use it, channelling her anger into passion, and without Miner's constant corrections, the take turned out better than any they'd done so far.

"Maybe one more," he suggested, but Lena had had enough.

"No. We're done here," she declared, turning to stalk off the set and ignoring the director calling after her. Kara just shot him a look and hurried after her, hearing him swear to himself and then calling for the lighting guys and set dressers to prepare the next scene.

Kara caught up to Lena halfway between the set and Wardrobe, and tugged her into one of the prop rooms and away from prying eyes.

"This is ridiculous, this script is terrible, that idiot is a sexual harassment complaint waiting to happen…" Lena hissed, pacing restlessly as much as the small room would allow. Kara let her vent, waiting until she ran out of steam and sank against a desk, rubbing a hand across her eyes. "I hate this, Kara," she whispered, and Kara moved to her side and wrapped her arms around her.

"I know," she murmured as Lena dropped her head onto her shoulder and sank into the hug. "It's gonna be okay."

"They'll hate us. They'll think we lied to them," Lena said softly, and Kara didn't have to ask who 'they' were. Lena adored her fans, almost as much as they adored her, and the prospect of upsetting them would be tearing at her. All of them would hate this episode – even the ones who supported the Jax/Isabelle pairing would feel led on and used – and Lena had very little chance of coming of out this unscathed.

"They'll understand," Kara said, but she felt Lena shake her head gently, though she didn't pull away. Kara pressed a kiss into her hair, where the lipstick mark wouldn't show, and Lena let out a shuddering breath that washed over Kara's collarbone. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, but eventually Lena straightened.

"I have to get changed," she said, wiping carefully at her eyes. Kara caught her free hand as she turned to go, and squeezed it gently until Lena met her eye.

"I love you. It's gonna be okay," she murmured, and Lena smiled genuinely, leaning in to press a careful kiss against her lips before turning and heading for the door.

…

Kara headed to craft services while Lena got changed, but found herself inexorably drawn back to the apartment set, led by the same impulse that forced children to pick at scabs. They were just finishing the blocking out when she got there, and Kara picked a secluded corner to lurk in where she wouldn't be easily seen. The only one to notice her entrance was Mike, and he stiffened minutely when their eyes met before his attention was drawn away by the director.

Kara had seen Lena turn on her smoky-eyed come-hither aura before, had been on the receiving end of it more than once, but watching her do it to Mike was weird in a way that Kara couldn't really describe. She could tell she wasn't the only one who felt that way; Mike had his back to the camera when they were shooting Lena's coverage, which meant he didn't have to keep his discomfort off his face. His eyes flicked over to Kara more than once, and when it came to filming the actual kiss, Kara lasted exactly half a take before she fled the set, unable to stand the sick feeling clawing at her stomach.

She headed to Lena's trailer almost automatically, and punched in the code on autopilot. She dropped onto the bed and curled around herself, trying to ignore the ache in her heart, and eventually slipping into the weird place between almost asleep and not quite awake. Kara stayed like that, lost in her own head and dimly aware of the scent of Lena's shampoo on the pillows beneath her head, until the bed dipped behind her.

"That was weird and I hated it," Lena murmured, and Kara rolled over so she could wrap her arms around her. They lay there, twined together in their own private bubble as the light faded from the windows, but eventually they rose and left the lot hand in hand. Lena led her back to her apartment and into her bedroom, and the tight feeling that had slipped between Kara's ribs melted away under her touch. And if she whispered 'mine' against every inch of skin she kissed, Lena was polite enough not to mention it.

…

The remainder of the episode dragged on, but eventually it was done. Kara was sure that once it aired, it would be the hopeless, flaming bellyflop that Cat designed, but until then she was happy to forget it existed. The others seemed to share her opinion, and Lucy dragged them all out to get gloriously drunk once they'd wrapped for the week. Lena was uncharacteristically uninhibited when it came to being drunk in public, matching Lucy drink for drink, and at the end of the night it fell to Kara to usher them all into Ubers. The videos that popped up on Instagram the next morning – more than half of them on Lucy's account – were all either reasonably tame or too blurry to make out details, and once the hangovers wore off the cast were happy to put the whole thing behind them until it aired.

Then, perhaps inevitably, pictures of Lena and Mike kissing ended up on the internet.

Kara woke up to a slew of messages late one morning, almost three weeks after they'd finished filming Ergo Propter Hoc, and ventured onto twitter to find the fandom in an uproar.

KaraDanvers wtf? you said good things for sizzle this isnt good its bullshit

what the actual fuck that's Iz's apartment wtf is going on?!

no way that's real. it's photoshopped, kiddies

Are they seriously going with a cheating storyline? Lameeee

So either Sizl is dead or Lena still has shitty taste in men =/

LLuthor32 WOOOOO get it gurl

Her phone rang in her hand as Lena stirred beside her, and she answered it to catch Lucy already mid-rant.

"—and whoever posted them is obviously trying to start something, because they picked the most ambiguous angle possible."

"Good morning to you too," Kara said, easing out from under Lena's arm and wriggling into a sitting position. Lena frowned in her sleep and snuggled against Kara's hip, but didn't wake.

"Have you seen…?"

"Literally just now. What happened?"

"Someone leaked it. Cat's furious and the network's on the warpath. There's a meeting tomorrow after filming. They're—" Lucy broke off and spoke to someone on her end, then came back. "I've gotta go, but I'll message you. Don't let Lena freak out."

"I'll try," Kara muttered, but she didn't like her chances.

The next twenty-four hours were hectic. Lena lasted until early afternoon before she thrust her phone at her assistant and refused to take it back, cutting herself off from the online storm, while Kara tried for a while to placate her fans before she realised she couldn't actually tell them what they wanted to hear without knowing what the network's line was going to be, and eventually she gave up.

Filming ran long the next day, and as a result, Lena and Kara were both late to the meeting. They entered the room to find all of the cast, as well as a number of the crew that had been on set on the day they filmed the scene. Cat was also there with a man in a suit and a woman that Kara recognised as Miranda Crane, an executive from the network, and she was the one addressing the assembled crowd.

"You will surrender your phones to our legal team," she said, as Kara and Lena manoeuvred their way over to the rest of the cast. "Only the photo gallery will be searched, and anything not pertinent, including anything illegal, will not be recorded or acted upon."

"I assume if we point out you have no legal right to do that, it'll be interpreted as a sign of guilt?" Lucy asked, having both retained some of the legal details she parroted on screen every week and pick up a fair bit from Alex.

"It may give us cause to revisit your contract, yes," Crane said, unruffled.

"This is ridiculous," the man in the suit objected. Kara hadn't caught his name, but judging by his presence and the anger in his eyes, he was new network idiot who'd pushed for the episode in the first places. "Ms Luthor has objected to the leaked scene from the beginning. Why don't we start with her?" he suggested, and Lena went rigid.

"I didn't leak it. I didn't," Lena insisted when Network Suit raised an eyebrow, disbelieving. "I'm in the photos, I obviously didn't take them."

"You could've easily had someone else take them," he pointed out, but Lena shook her head incredulously.

"The top three stories at the moment are 'Lena Luthor Torpedos Popular Lesbian Pairing', 'Lena Luthor Rekindles Romance With Cheating Ex', and 'Did Lena Luthor Lie About Breakup For Ratings?'. Why would I possibly want that?"

"So it wasn't an attempt by you to embarrass the production?" Network Suit asked, and Lena rolled her eyes.

"If I wanted to embarrass the production, I'd release the video of our stunt co-ordinator almost decapitating himself with his own wire rig," she said, her tone biting, and there was a smattering of laugher from the crew. "This—" she motioned towards the pictures on the tablet, "—only hurts my fans and my reputation."

"And there's already someone in this room with a history of leaking photos," Chet Miner pointed out, shrinking slightly when all eyes turned to him. "What? I'm just saying. Maybe ask Ms Grant where her assistant was."

Eve paled and shifted behind Cat in what looked like a subconscious move as Mike rounded on the director.

"Leave her out of this, she didn't leak anything," he snarled, starting forward until Demos and Vasquez each grabbed one of his arms.

"Ms Teschmacher was with me when the pictures were taken," Cat said icily, pinning him with a glare. Then she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Interesting that you're so quick to pass the blame, however."

He bristled, but in a room full of actors, the fear he was trying to cover was easy to spot. "I don't like what you're implying, lady."

"No, I imagine you don't." She looked over at the two executives. "Perhaps you should start with him, Miranda."

"I think we will. You, come with me," she said, heading for the door, and two security guys that Kara hadn't noticed detached themselves from the wall and moved to follow her, snagging Miner as they passed him and 'escorting' him after the executive. Network Suit shot Cat a look sparking with anger, but Cat just curved her lips into a feline smile as he followed the others out of the room.

"Don't you all have work to be doing?" Cat asked after a long, silent pause, and the room emptied quickly.

…

The network eventually settled on a 'no comment' approach, which protected the plotline and prevented spoilers, but didn't leave the cast many options for calming their enraged fanbase. Lena and Mike came under a renewed hail of scrutiny, with interest in their personal lives at an all-time high. The paparazzi followed them everywhere, and Kara found herself, for the first time in a long time, feeling somewhat sorry for Mike, who had to deal with not only the cameras and the online storm, but also an increasingly annoyed Eve, who was not taking the implication that her boyfriend was with another woman well. Kara and Lena were far more practised at being discreet, but even they struggled to find time together while the press was watching their every move.

The production and network went into damage control mode, and Kara got a call from Winn late one night, letting her know that she was booked to appear on a news-slash-lifestyle show early the next morning.

"You set this up, you're coming with me. And then you're buying me breakfast," Kara demanded, and Winn laughed and agreed.

…

True to his word, Winn showed up the next morning with a coffee in one hand and a pastry in the other, and Kara devoured both of them as he drove her to the studio.

The interview was on Mornings on NCB, one of the top-rated morning news shows in country, and was conducted by one of their regular hosts. Kara waited in the wings of the studio for him to finish her introduction with Winn beside her, whispering encouragement.

"Just remember, be yourself, stick to the talking points, don't talk about the leaks," he muttered, nudging her forward as the host announced her name and the studio audience applauded.

Kara strode out onto the stage, smiling out at the cheering crowd. She spotted two girls in the front row, no older than late teens, both wearing shirts emblazoned with the Dusklight logo on a rainbow background, and waved at them, eliciting a pair of delighted grins.

The host, whose name Winn had told her was Jerry, stood as she approached him, and they shook hands and kissed cheeks before settled back into their seats.

The interview was a fairly standard one, starting with questions about her background in Supergirl before leading into Dusklight, and it was designed to give her lots of opportunities to talk about her co-stars and Sizzle without providing context for the leaked photos. It went well, and up until the last two minutes, Kara was happy with her performance.

"And now, just one last question before we let you go: what can you tell us about these set picture that have been floating around for the last few days? Is the show moving away from the gay?"

Kara had to actively stop herself reacting. She could see Winn in the wings, out of sight of the cameras and audience, having a quiet but heated argument with one of the producers, but Kara knew that she'd have to answer the question. They'd been told that Kara couldn't and wouldn't address the leaks directly, but by bringing it up in front of a live camera, they'd left her no option other than to respond.

Plastering her biggest, fakest showbiz smile, Kara looked over at the interviewer from under lowered lashes. "Jerry, you know I can't talk about leaks," she said, trying to play coy despite the fact that she was furious. "Cat would kill me if I spoiled something." She shot the audience a conspiratorial look as they laughed, but her eyes caught on the two girls in the front row. Neither of them were smiling, and the blonde one had her hands tightly wrapped around one of her friend's. The expressions on their faces drove a spike into Kara's heart; the dark-haired one looked resigned, disappointed but not surprised, but the blonde girl looked like she was fighting to hide her heartbreak, and Kara realised that she owed it to them to say something.

"I will…I want to say this, though," she started, knowing the network would probably be annoyed at her for essentially ruining their hook for the episode but unable to stop herself. "We know how much Sizzle matters to our fans. Representation is important for everyone. Everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in the culture around them, and for a long time, the LGBT community has been denied that. We're used for cheap ratings stunts or as cautionary tales, and while that's slowly changing, there's still a long way to go." The two girls in the audience had gone still, but Kara couldn't spare them more than a quick glance, too focused on putting as much sincerity into her words as she could. "What Cat's doing with Dusklight and Sizzle is a big step forward, and Lena and I are both so honoured to be part of something that touches and uplifts so many people."

There was a woman with a headset making a 'wrap it up' gesture from beside one of the cameras, so Kara went on quickly.

"We see how much this means to you, we know how much it matters, and we're doing our best to treat it, and our fans, with the respect they deserve."

"Kara Danvers, everybody! Don't forget, Dusklight airs on NCB, Tuesday nights at 8pm. We'll see you after the break!" Jerry said into the camera as the audience cheered.

"And we're clear!" one of the producers called from the sidelines. Kara and Jerry both stood, and Jerry reached out to shake Kara's hand, leaning in to make it look like he was kissing her on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to ask you that last question," he whispered in her ear, softly enough to elude their microphones. "The producer insisted."

"It's okay," Kara answered, just as softly. "It gave me an excuse to say all that. The fans needed to hear it."

He smiled at her again, squeezing her hand before stepping back and turning to talk to a stagehand that had hurried over, and Kara started over towards Winn, fumbling with her microphone as she went. She was so preoccupied with untangling herself that she didn't actually look at her friend until she reached him, and when she did eventually glance up, it was to see him looking at her with a combination of amazement and horror. He had his phone in one hand and hers in the other, and they were both lighting up with notifications every few seconds while behind him, the producer he'd been arguing with was hurrying away with her phone to her ear.

Kara frowned when she saw him. "What's wrong?" she asked, plucking her phone from his limp fingers.

"You said 'we'," he said, sounding dazed. "Please tell me you meant to say 'we' and just forgot to warn me because that was live and I'm very good but I can't unbroadcast something."

"What are you talking about?" Kara asked, confused but with tendrils of dread stirring in her stomach.

"You said 'we're used for ratings stunts'. Kara—" he reached out and took her free hand as Kara glanced reflexively down at her phone when it vibrated again, "—you just came out on national television."

"I…what?" Kara asked again. The message previews on her phone were all made of all-caps and exclamation points, but her eyes wouldn't focus long enough to read them. Her stomach flipped as she processed Winn's words, and she ran back over her speech in her head. "Oh." She blinked. "Shit."

it's gonna get worse before it gets better, but it does get better i swearrr

also idk if anyone cares, but my tumblr has some fun little background headcanon-y type posts for this story that i wrote because i was procrastinating. they're not really relevant to the plot but they were fun to think about.