I want to apologise for the delay in this chapter. Uni has been kicking my ass, but finally, we're here! And to make it up to you guys, here's an extra long chapter and there is a lot of Karry. Enjoy!
N.B to the guest who linked me to the Superflash vid on YouTube, it was A+!
…
"Whoo," Barry started as he made his way through he halls of STAR labs. Feeling a rush come over him was nothing new, in fact, it was something he always experienced it when he was off fighting Metas, but ever since Supergirl had started helping him, he always found himself getting a little more into the action, and trying harder to take his enemies out.
It was definitely better than being on his own, that was for sure.
Of course, as she always did, she had left him shortly after their defeat, but he had been anticipating that. She was no stranger to leaving. But as he walked through the STAR labs hallways, he knew now that he was determined to get her to stay a little longer.
Besides, he was more sure now than ever, he needed to get her name.
Turning a corner, he took off his cowl and outstretched his arms as he stepped into the main room of their den and smiled. "Did you guys see how awesome that was? I think Supergirl is giving Oliver a run for his money. She's an awesome teammate! And hey did you see that-"
The speedster paused, quickly realising that the room was almost empty. No Caitlin, or Cisco, not even Harry. Letting his eyes drift around the room, the only person who actually occupied it, was Kara. A little strange seeing as she didn't stay here often, but still.
Noting that she had headphones on her head, and considering that he could hear the music blasting from all the way to the door, he knew she couldn't hear him. Shaking his head with a smile, he noted the donuts that were set across her lap and the sugar that was set across the corner of her lips. She was reading. And for a second, he caught himself staring. He was doing that a lot with the new women in his life and realised, he needed to maybe tone it down.
Putting his hands on his hips, he stepped forward and reached for the left headphone. Jumping back slightly, Kara felt the back of her eyes begin to heat up before she quickly lifted her head up to see Barry. Thankful that she hadn't brought herself any further, Kara offered a smile to him.
Sitting up, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and pulled the headphones off of her head. "Have you read this before?" She gestured, lifting the book that had been sprawled across her knees.
"Alice in Wonderland?" Barry quizzed with a lift of his brow. "You don't have that on your Earth?"
Shaking her head, Kara looked back down at the pages before putting in her bookmark. She of course, hadn't really had the time to settle down and read it properly, given the fact that she wanted to get back here before Barry did. But there was something very appealing about this Alice in Wonderland.
"No, but I can somewhat relate to the idea of getting lost in a place that is so foreign to you," she offered a smile again before looking up at Barry. "And I may or may not have a thing for a rabbit wearing a waistcoat."
Turning her looked around the room. Guilt still consumed him in the fact that he had brought Kara here, and the idea of her telling him that she related to something as out there as Alice and Wonderland wasn't helping that.
"Uh- where is everyone?" He questioned, trying to change the subject. It wasn't like them to be noticeably absent.
"They went to Big Belly Burger. Said they didn't need to stick around after you and Supergirl defeated the meta."
"Very unlike them," Barry remarked with a chuckle before finally facing Kara again, "you didn't go?"
"I walked in as they were leaving, and I kinda-" she lifted her box of donuts with a smile, "I was fine."
Chuckling, Barry gave Kara a small nod and smile before lowering his head and taking a seat next to her, "yeah speaking of, you kind of have a little something right here," he pointed to the corner of his lip. "It's not too bad, but it's there."
Kara bit her lip, almost sure that if she could blush, she would be right now. Embarrassed, she lifted her finger to her lips and gently wiped at it. "Got it?"
"No.."
She tried again, "now?"
"Yeah.. No," Barry laughed.
With one last go, she tried again, missing it all over again. Barry laughed at again at how she was attempting to find the sugar thaws on her face, finding it almost too adorable to even concentrate properly. Leaning forward, he took off the glove that was on his right hand before placing his thumb on the corner of her lip and removing the sugar.
"Good as new," he nodded, finding himself staring at Kara's face a little longer than he supposed he should have. Staring at the different features that were there. More notably he picked up on the tiny scar that was placed on the corner of her brow. It was almost as though he recognised it.
"How'd you get that scar?" He pointed, concern laced through his voice.
"Uh," Kara began, lifting her hand to her eyebrows, "when I was younger, I was playing with my dog, Krypto," she smiled, "he was kind of fond of chasing stones. Well, I was seven, we were outside, I threw a rock and well," the blonde girl chuckled and pointed to her brow, "he swept me right off of my feet." Smiling, she lifted her eyes and smiled. There was story she hadn't told in forever, or at least she hadn't talked about Krypto since Alex had asked her if she had had any pets on Krypton when she first arrived on Earth. Of course, Barry didn't know the entire context, but she was happy to be telling someone on this Earth something.
Barry leant back in the chair and laughed. Picturing a very small version of Kara being swept off of her feet by a rock loving dog. "Sorry," he held up his hand, "I shouldn't be laughing."
Kara shook her head, "it's quite funny actually. My father thought it was hilarious, my mother not so much. I remember her fussing, and yelling at the dog."
"What do they do?" Barry then went on to ask, now fully invested in actually talking to Kara. Invested in knowing about her life. Her family. That was something he hadn't really tried to do since he had brought her here. He wanted to distract himself from that. And maybe, that was why most of his attention had been focused on Supergirl, and for that, he felt slightly guilty. Kara deserved his attention.
"My mother was kind of like a judge? My father a scientist. They were brilliant. honestly. Hard to believe that they made someone as ditzy as me," she chuckled. "They were amazing."
"Were?" Barry started slowly.
"They died. When I was thirteen.. In a fire. But before you say you're sorry, which everyone seems to say, I was lucky. I was adopted by a wonderful family who didn't treat me as anything else but theirs. And I got a sister. I always wanted a sister. I'm not saying I don't miss my family, but I am lucky."
Barry stared at Kara for a few long moments, his hands folding across his knees as he listened to her, relating to almost everything she was saying. How was it that he failed to talk to her alone before this? Of course guilt was at the threshold, but the longer they sat here, the more he was realising he shouldn't have let that stop him from at least talking to her.
Nodding, he licked his lips and offered a very small smile. "I get that," he whispered, almost too scared to start talking to her. "I.. Lost my mom when I was eleven. She was murdered. My dad, he went to jail for it. He didn't do it though," he nodded. "I knew that he didn't. But you know, I thought I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. I lost my family. But then suddenly, I had gained a new one.."
"Iris and Joe," Kara nodded.
"Yeah," Barry mimicked before setting a smile across his features. "Like you said, I got lucky."
Sitting there for a few long moments, the pair of them sat in silence and simply took in the fact that they were very similar. Both in their childhood experiences, and as Kara mentally noted, in their need to save people.
Barry on the other hand, couldn't help but keep lifting his eyes to Kara. Staring at her for moments at a time before looking away. She intrigued him, more than he would admit to the rest of team Flash, but she did. She was carefree, and lighthearted and honestly, he enjoyed her presence and the dynamic she had brought to their lives. Especially given her circumstances.
Kara hadn't missed it either. The stares Barry was giving her. They were the same kind of stares he was always giving Supergirl, and to some extent, she was a little worried that maybe he had picked up on the fact that they were the same person. But being the optimist that she was, that idea was quickly pushed to the back of her head, and she instead claimed that the speedster was in fact simply trying to work out. And so, the silence continued.
It was Barry picking up the sound of music that seemed to capture his attention again. Laughing he pointed to the iPod that was at Kara's side and pointed. "You got one of those already then, huh?" He asked with a smile.
"No, no. It's Caitlin's. I wanted to go to the library earlier. She said I could borrow it. I gotta say, I love some of her music. Or maybe I should say, some of this Earth's music. Like- Ooh, Taylor Swift! You know, on my Earth, she had a go at punk? It didn't last very long. But this? I love this," she lifted Caitlin's iPod and and pulled out the earphones and let the song begin to play.
"Long Live?" Barry nodded with a raise of his brow and a nod of his head. Noting how Kara was chuckling, he cleared his throat. "Iris listened to her a lot growing up."
"Uh-huh," Kara laughed with a bite of her lip. "You're a Taylor Swift fan Barry Allen, it's okay to admit it," she pointed, her smile never fading.
"Shut up," the brunette replied before looking around the room and clapping his hands against his knees, "come on," he finished before getting to his feet. Speeding off, he returned in his normal clothes before offering his hand, taking the iPod out of hers and and placing it beside her. Once Kara was on her own feet, he gently placed his hand on her side and held the other up.
With one small step, he began to move her to the words that were being sung. The music was low, but he appreciated that they could still hear it.
"We were the kings and the queens
And they read off our names
The night you danced like you knew our lives..."
Kara smiled slightly as the two of them swayed with the music, simply laughing at how Barry had seemingly brought about the first real moment of comfort she had had since she had arrived to this Earth. Not that she hadn't been settling herself here, but this, this felt like the first time the worry of returning was starting to disappear. Feeling him lead her into the centre of the room, she followed, smiling.
"You held your head like a hero
On a history book page..."
Kara lifted her finger to Barry as the words continued to be sang, only for him to shake his head slightly, laughing. He enjoyed this. It was nice to relax. Even it was with something as small as dancing around the STAR labs rooms. Especially if it was with Kara. She was making him smile, and appreciated that with the amount of stress he had been under lately.
"Long live the walls we crashed through
All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming, "long live all the magic we made..."
Spinning Kara on her spot, Barry laughed as she smiled. Her skirt twirling as she did so. He realised, this must have been a good thing for her too. He knew she was the kind of person who seemed to always be smiling, but this was the first time, he'd honestly heard her laugh. In two weeks.
Grinning, her turned her back to him, coincidentally making her trip, only slightly. Landing in his arms, the two chuckled as she tried to get back to her feet as he helped her up. Laughing, Kara lowered her head, only slightly embarrassed, but at least reassured that Barry was laughing too. Resting her hand on his shirt, the blonde regained her balance and finally lifted her eyes to him.
Barry paused as he looked upon her, how she was staring at him like he had been staring at Supergirl. How he had been staring at her. He knew that look, he'd practised it too much as of late to not know what that look meant. Feeling her hand gently scratch across the fabric of his shirt, he almost lost his breath.
He hadn't taken in how beautiful Kara actually was until this very moment. Of course, he'd picked up that she was attractive, but this was the first time he was actually realising how beautiful she was. The music in the background quickly became zoned out as the man tried to catch his breath. No longer laughing, or smiling, but standing there, his mouth open.
Kara wasn't different. She wasn't smiling anymore either, instead just watching him. She hadn't been this close to him since she had arrived here, and now that she had taken up the mantle of Supergirl on this Earth, she had been trying hard to make sure they weren't relatively close to begin with. But now standing here, and staring into Barry's eyes, that idea had been abandoned.
She was struggling to catch her breath and really, before she could even realise it, she was leaning closer to him. Her hand tugged on the fabric a little tighter, and she inhaled. She could feel everything with him. Her heart rate escalated and her gaze wondered. Her eyes flickering to his lips.
"Hold on to spinning around
Confetti falls to the ground
May these memories break our fall
Can you take a moment.."
Coincidentally, Barry was mimicking her, his hand tightening around her hip just a little. His heart picking up. His palms almost sweaty. Leaning closer, he could feel the tip of Kara's nose, a small smile coming across his features as it did. Her eyes stared into his as he did so, and or a second, he swore he almost stopped breathing. He'd never seen anything like them. So blue, and so clear, and they were looking right at him. Licking his lips, he lifted his eyes to look at hers, his hand that had been holding hers moving to cradle her cheek. With one sweeping movement, his thumb moved across her cheeks, and her hair was being pushed out of her eyes. Closing his, he leant closer, almost feeling Kara's breath against his skin.
"Wow!" Came the sound of someone behind them and quickly the two jumped apart. Turning to the doorway, Cisco, Caitlin and Iris stood. Each with a Big Belly Burger bag in their hands. The former hand one hand across his eyes as he stood there, his mouth almost shaped into a frown. "Please we didn't walk into anything, did we. Did we?"
Barry and Kara, who had been standing next to each other were pulling apart, fast and looking anywhere but at the three friends who stood with their food. Kara quickly moved to turn the music off and look at the floor whilst Barry moved his hand to scratch the back of his neck.
Iris was the first to step in, nudging Cisco for his idiotic behaviour and shook her head. If anything, she was glad to see Barry opening himself up to Kara. He'd been having a tough enough time of it lately.
Moving towards her best friend, she rested her hand on his shoulder and leant closer to him, a smile tugging at her lips. "Unlucky," she chuckled. "We've never been the best at timing." Offering him another smile, the woman held up the bag she had been holding and shook it, "we brought you guys burgers." She turned to Kara and smiled, "because by now we've all noticed those donuts were not going to fill you."
Caitlin chuckled behind Iris, "we had a long talk about how jealous we are of that."
Cisco, who had still been standing in the doorway with his hands over eyes, peeked through his fingers at everyone else who occupied the room. "We leave for half an hour and you two just.." he shook his head, "how'd the Meta fighting go Barry?"
Barry licked his lips and turned his head to Cisco and nodded. "Huh? Yeah, uh yeah." His eyes wondered to Kara momentarily before he cleared his throat and closed his eyes. Shaking his head, he looked over at his friend, "it's gotten better since Supergirl started helping. And I know it probably feels like I'm always beating around the bush about it, but I was serious in what I said earlier, I wanna know her name."
…
"So, what was that?" Caitlin began as she looked over at Kara, she, Iris and the blonde finally getting some alone time. "That thing, with you and Barry," the brunette grinned and puckered her lips. "I didn't think you had a thing for him.." She looked into the glass room that Barry and Cisco now stood in, chatting.
"Neither did I.." Kara mumbled, not exactly sure of herself as to whether or not that was the complete truth. She sometimes found herself thinking about him. Or maybe she was thinking about him as The Flash. Or just Barry. She hadn't settled her mind with that just quite yet. And the more she was thinking about it, the more it was confusing her. They'd been caught up in the moment. That's what it was. It had to be that..
"Hey- you okay?" Iris asked, sitting on Kara's other side and resting her hand on her knee with a smile. "You disappointed we walked in on you?"
"We could all go and leave you two alone?" Caitlin chuckled, with Iris giving her a small nod.
"We can drag Cisco with us."
Resting her head in her hands, the blonde chuckled and then lowered her head before looking over at Caitlin and Iris. She didn't mean to look as though this were tearing her up inside, but how else should she have felt. She was lying to them. Lying to all of them. About who she was, where she was usually going. What she was doing with her nights. And the guilt of that was overwhelming.
Scratching her nose, the blonde lifted her eyes to her new friends and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't want to complicate anything."
...
"Dude, I cannot, cannot, believe you almost kissed Kara, what were you thinking?" Cisco started, slapping his friend's chest with the back of his hand.
"Wha-ow?" Barry began, his brows furrowing and his hand going to his chest. "I don't know," he looked over his shoulder and at Kara who was talking to Caitlin, "we were just.. Talking. And then- she has so much in common with me, Cisco. Okay? I've been so focused on Supergirl, so distracted by her, that I didn't even give Kara a second glance, and you know, I didn't think I was going to be able to either. I felt, I felt so guilty about her being here, away from her family.."
He paused again and leant back against the glass wall and let a small smile tug at his lips, "but then I realised, I shouldn't have been doing that. And Cisco, wow, her eyes. I mean.. Wow."
Bringing his hand to his head, Barry bit down on his lip, a smile forming at his lips. "We didn't mean for it to happen, but it almost nearly did.."
Cisco, who had been watching him, lowered his head and walked forward to him, his hand moving to Barry's arm. "That's great man.. But what about when she has to go home?"
…
"Why would you complicate anything?" Iris questioned as she looked over to Kara, concern lacing her features as she looked upon her. She wasn't a stranger to knowing when there was something wrong and to her, this looked a lot more than Kara just concerned about disrupting their group.
Kara who had been listening to Barry's and Cisco's conversation found herself smiling, only slightly before Cisco's statement had hit her. He was right there. About her leaving.
"If you guys find a way to get me home soon, maybe Barry and I should just forget that even happened." Getting her to feet, the blonde turned and ran her hand through her ponytail. Offering a smile to the girls, she paused. "Thanks," she nodded, reaching for her book and then her coat. Pulling it on, she started to turn away from the others, "I just.. Have to go clear my head."
Turning, she left the two girls alone before going to the exit and moving down the hall.
Cisco pointed as she left, causing Barry to twist his head. He'd missed her. Going down the steps, he looked towards the door, "Kara!" he called once, hoping that that would bring her back, but there was no answer. Not that he was expecting one. Lowering his head, he rubbed his face before turning to the girls with a shrug of his shoulders.
"I think she needs to be alone," Caitlin began, looking back at the doorway.
"She's a little annoyed at herself." Iris finished.
"Annoyed at herself? Why? It wasn't just her, I leaned in too."
"I think you just need to let her breathe. Barry, she almost kissed you," Iris got to her feet, "she would've kissed you if we didn't come in. Maybe that scared her a little, you know? This is an entirely new world to her. And she almost kissed you. That's got to be a little terrifying." Walking over to her best friend, she rested her head on his shoulder and squeezed his arms, "you just have to let her breathe a little."
…
Looking down at the stones beneath her feet and listening to the sound of the water to her left, Kara inhaled. This relaxed her, almost reminding her of the promenade she had back on her Earth and in National City. Turning her body, she leant across the bars that separated her from the water's edge and sighed, watching the moon glisten across the water.
Lifting one hand, she rested it against her temple. Things back there had gotten a little complicated. Too complicated. Or maybe, she could call it accidental. Regardless, something back there had happened and her head was almost completely fuzzy about it.
Her mind wondered to Barry for a moment, remembering everything about him. How he felt underneath her hands, how his cologne had filled her nostrils. She thought about his mannerisms and behaviours and how now, she was wondering about Supergirl.
How Barry talked about her, how excited he got when it came to her. Sighing, she lowered her head again. As if this needed to be more complicated than it already was.
Maybe tomorrow, she could speak to Harry, on her own and see if he could help her in terms of getting home. If she could leave all this confusion behind.
But then, she remembered, she had promised to help defeat Zoom. Supergirl couldn't just abandon The Flash now.
Closing her eyes, she let her hands grip the bars in front of her, only enough so she didn't dent them, before she leant on her heels. "You really messed up this time, Danvers." She murmured to herself.
Opening her eyes, she stared out onto the water again, before something caught her eye. Something blue that whizzed across it. Leaning back and letting go of the bars, she lowered her glasses to try and get a better look, but whatever it, was moving too fast.
Looking over her shoulder for anyone around, Kara proceeded to walk, at pace along the waterside and try and catch a better look at it, picking up her pace as she realised she would lose it. Kara groaned, the Metas of Central City were almost worse than her aliens.
Before long, she noted how it stopped, on the other side of the water, and just across from her, with one last effort, she lowered her glasses and looked in it's direction only to realise.. It was staring back. Licking her lips, Kara shook her head and put her glasses back on top of her head. She hadn't been here long, but she had been to enough team Flash meetings to know that this, this was Zoom.
Feeling her heartbeat pick up slightly, the blonde pushed herself away from the bars beside her and turned her head, she needed to go back to STAR labs. She hadn't had enough to time to understand this villain to know she could take him. And she especially didn't want to have to try in her normal clothes.
Grabbing at her bag, the blonde turned before feeling her body hit into something, strong. Lifting her eyes, she noted the tall, dark figure that loomed over her, blue sparks bouncing off of their body. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before, terrifying one small step back, she cleared her throat, "I suggest you move out of my way," she began, her voice clear and strong and not at all reflecting the feelings she was having inside.
Zoom cocked his head slightly as he looked upon the woman who stood before him. She was so like the Kara that he had met on Earth-5 that he could almost have been fooled that she was the real deal. But alas, he knew that wasn't true. This iteration had decided to help The Flash. Had decided to be good.
He stood, still in his place before noting how she made her first move to pass him. Standing in her way, he remained silent, only for the blonde to look frustrated.
"Out of my way," lifting her hand, she went to hit him, only for blue to fill her eyes again and for him to be next to her rather than in front. She tried again. And again. But Zoom was fast, almost faster than Barry. In desperation, she found her shoes leaving the ground and her arms falling to her side in a bid to launch herself into the air.
But he grabbed her foot and pulled her down again, almost throwing her to the ground. Leaning on his knee, the speedster lowered himself to his knee and removed his mask, a smirk resting upon his lips. "You haven't been doing this hero thing too long, have you Kara Zor-El." He questioned, cocking his head slightly, "you'd put yourself to shame."
Lifting his hand to her cheek, the man licked his lips and squinted, "gotta ask, why the glasses? You think the people of Central City are as dumb as the people of National City?" Laughing, Hunter got to his feet before playing with the mask in his hand. "I've got something ready for you, Supergirl. O-oh, it's amazing, definitely took me a while to get it going, but it'll eventually work. And when it's done? Well, that's when the real fun begins," he winked. "I came here for The Flash, but two is always better than one."
Slipping on his mask, he cocked his head once more before zipping off, blue lightening trailing behind him as he did so. Kara stared as he left, her body not quite over the complete shock she had been in just moments prior.
He knew her name. He knew her real name. He knew she was Supergirl. He knew. A single tear tripped down her cheek as she contemplated that over in her mind. How everything he had said was simply looming and repeating and repeating.
He knew her.
…
"Should I go talk to her? I mean, go find her. Go do something? I didn't mean to upset her. I mean, obviously, I think she knows that. I think. We just.. you know, it kind of just happened. And I should definitely go find her and tell her it's okay, right guys?"
"Well, first of all, you gotta breathe," Cisco began with a shake of his head.
"Barry," Iris started at her best friend, "Kara hasn't been gone that long. Like I said, you have to give her some head space. Twenty minutes is not head space."
"We have to let her think this over. She's our friend, yeah. But she's also a girl we only met two weeks ago. We have to leave her be on this one."
Barry nodded before biting at his thumb. Why was it that he suddenly cared so much about what was going on with course, this involved him, but suddenly, it was like, all he wanted was to make sure she was okay. That they were okay. Wiping his face, he lifted his head and looked at the other's as he heard a distinct sound of boots coming through the hallways.
"Maybe twenty minutes was enough," Cisco shrugged as he looked at the three others.
Getting to his feet, Barry wiped his hands on his trousers and took a small step towards the door and towards the sounds of the boots, "Kara.." He murmured, waiting to see her figure come around the corner. "I wanna-" He paused, realising that this wasn't the girl who had left just moments before. But instead, it was Supergirl.
Supergirl was physically in STAR labs.
Kara looked at him, trying to ignore the fact that guilt had suddenly consumed her and instead try and show Supergirl's tough exterior. She couldn't hold off now. She couldn't get distracted. Zoom was coming for her. And she needed to know there was a definite way she could help stop him.
"I need you to tell me more about Zoom," she started with a nod, trying very hard to not look Barry in the eye. "And by more, I mean everything. All of it. No holding back."
