YEAR 1982

LOCATION: FLORIDA

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The clock behind the counter mocked Kara, as the quiet sounds of the contraption echoed in her ears. This wasn't how she expected to spend her Friday evening, let alone Christmas Eve. Kara had become fond of this holiday, but staring at the pasty off-white wall wasn't exactly the best way to spend it – there were a million other ways she could have celebrated the night but her stubbornness had resulted in her sitting in a dingy booth in a small diner.

Christmas was a religious holiday on this world, about the birth of the son of God. Friends and families gathered together to celebrate the anniversary of his birth, and spread cheer and joy, and give each other presents. Kara knew better though, having lived on this planet for more than two centuries, that the gifts, parties, and other unique attributes associated with Christmas nowadays was an afterthought, conjured up by people wanting to make money off the season of festivities. Kara occasionally took part in the holiday, though not for any religious reasons. Rather, she gave gifts to her co-workers, and friends she had made throughout the years, and sometimes even drank and partied like any other red-blooded American during the festive season.

Currently, she was on quest to re-start her life. She had lived in Seattle for almost twelve years and she couldn't keep the charade of having an amazing skin regiment, or genetics to the fact that she never aged. It was once again the time to restart her life, and her new destination was Florida for more than one reason. But now she was discovering reason that she didn't even know about.

Rao always has a plan, a voice echoed in her mind.

A plan? If this was Rao's plan it must have been the most convoluted, messy, and disastrous plan he had ever concocted. Otherwise, why would she sitting in a diner – alone – with a cup of coffee that was turning cold by the second, listening to the infuriating sound of time passing as she watched Mon-El walk around and serve customers with a stupid fucking smile while he refused to give her a second look!

The entire diner was almost empty, but Mon-El still refused to talk to her, let alone look at her. He was happily serving the only other customer in the diner while skillfully avoiding her. He would walk past her booth occasionally to refill her cup of coffee, but wouldn't say a goddamn word. And if he wasn't going to say anything, she wasn't going to either. Two can play at this game!

Kara had been sitting in this booth since noon, and it was almost nearing midnight. Other customers, and even some of the staff had given her questioning looks throughout the day, but once she saw Mon-El she had made up her mind that she wasn't going to leave this establishment without giving him a piece of her mind. What she hadn't been expecting was him being a stubborn fool and refusing to even interact with her. Kara was half tempted to leave, but she already committed to this task, and was going to see it through.

"You stupid bastard," she murmured under her breath, and for the first time this entire day Mon-El actually looked at her. Annoyance and anger pulsed out of his eyes, and his glare intensified. Good. She was glad he heard her, "you know it's true," she whispered again while holding his gaze.

Mon-El composed his face again and started talking to the last customer in the diner.

"How was your meal Winn?" she picked up their conversation through her enhanced hearing.

"Wonderful as always Mike!" her eyebrows perked up. Was it Mike now? "Although I am still looking forward to those crepes you promised me!"

Mon-El laughed, and Kara began to seethe in her booth. He was happy without her, how dare he?

"When Megan lets me in the kitchen again, I will definitely make you those crepes." He can cook now?

"Well, I best be heading home. Lena had to work the late shift tonight so she could get Christmas Day off. And we have to go to her house for Christmas morning. More snide comments from Lilian and Lex. And us working overtime doesn't work well the family. They don't see the beauty of the Challenger yet, they just expect another failed mission. You should be happy you don't have in-laws yet."

"Don't worry Winn, they might not see it, but I definitely do. And so does the rest of the world."

"Ya…ya Mike. I don't need another Space the final frontier speech from you."

"Well, you will keep getting it until you begin to believe you."

"Trust me, Lena and I see it. It's just the rest of Luthors that are a problem. See you tomorrow night?"

"Of course!"

"Make sure you bring some Christmas cheer! And tell Megan to not make the dipping sauce spicy again…only Jon can handle that spice."

"No guarantees Winn. Good night…and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas."

She saw Winn slam some money down on the counter, and pick up his coat and head off. He had friends, and he had life here in Florida. A life without her. Granted, she had a life without him in Seattle, and in Rio, and in New Zealand…. but seeing that he moved on as well hurt a lot more than she thought.

With no left in the diner besides Mon-El and one other server, he had to talk to her, even if it was 'We are closing soon, you need to leave'.

But the minutes went by and nothing happened…. He swept the floors, bused the tables, wiped the counters all while whistling a tune that Kara had never heard of. Listening to the clock tick was bad – but this unknown tune was literally setting her ears on fire.

"Hey Mike!" another server came out the back room, "It's pretty dead tonight, and it's Christmas Eve, I don't think the diner needs the both of us. I'll finish up cleaning, and maybe even close early. Why don't you head out?"

"Megan, it's no trouble at all," huh, so this was Megan, "I don't mind staying…"

"Mike, I'm being serious. It's literally dead. Just go home," she playfully slapped a towel at him. And tried to shoo him away with her hands.

"Well in that case. Why don't you go home, and spend Christmas Eve with Jon and the rug rats and I'll close up shop," his eyes snapped to Kara for a brief second, "and I'll maybe shut down the place an hour early or so…?"

"Mike, I can't –"

"You can, and you will!"

After some very good insistence on Mon-El's part, Megan finally relented and gathered her stuff and left. But not without telling Mon-El how exactly too close up the diner: make sure the dishes are clean, the open sign is turned off, and the meat is placed out to defrost, and so on. It certainly gave off the impression that Megan was the owner of the diner, based off the way she fretted over it. Mon-El finally placated her, claiming he has closed the diner many times and she had no reason to worry. And now that Megan was gone, Kara was sure they were the only ones left in the entire establishment.

"Oh shit, I forgot to tell her about the dipping sauce," Mon-El bemoaned, "Winn's going to have a fit."

"It's not the only thing you forgot," she hissed at him. Not even bothering to whisper, they were the only ones left, who cared?

"Do you have something to say?" he shot back.

"Me, have something to say?" she said incredulously, "What-ever made you think that I do? Was if me sitting in this diner for fucking twelve hours your first clue? If not, you Daxamites must be really daft!"

Mon-El crossed the room towards her in a rage, ready to give her a piece of her mind. He was pointing an accusatory finger at her and his body was visibly shaking, and Kara could practically feel the pure fury that he was emitting off of him. Finally, she thought. But no words were spoken again. His jaw clenched down, and he pushed his accusing finger back into his fist, "Not worth it," he gritted and turned to walk away.

Now it was Kara's turn to be irritated. Not worth it? What the hell was that supposed to mean? All of her pent up irritation finally came bursting out, and she chucked her completely filled coffee mug in his direction, missing him and hitting the counter in front of him.

"What. The. Hell. Is. Your. Problem!" Mon-El clenched his fists tighter, and Kara could his arm muscles ripple and strain due to the additional tension he was exerting.

"My. Problem. Is. You." she responded in kind.

"Right. I'm the problem. Just doing my job, and I'm the problem. Whatever helps you sleep better at night, Kryptonian," his words cut her deep, reminding her of the day they crashed landed. Whatever helps you sleep better at night, Kryptonian? It was like they were the old Kara and Mon-El back in 1754. Strangers. Enemies. Not the ones who had spent 150 years together building a strong friendship that Kara hoped would lead to more one day. Well, it was so close to leading to something more. That 'something more' was almost in her grasp, it was so close and she still let it slip away. And now? All the progress, all the memories they had created together were slowly disappearing in front of her.

Mon-El began cleaning the glass shards of her coffee cup from the counter and the floor, "Why are you even here?"

How was she supposed to answer that? She felt like the biggest idiot right now. Twelve hours she had spent in this diner and she hadn't even thought about what she was going to say to him. So she did the only thing she could when people are losing an argument, "Why are you here?" she mocked him.

He chuckled. He actually chuckled. But it wasn't the laughter she was used to hearing, laughter that was usually jovial, sweet, and warmed her heart. It was a cruel laughter, and she felt ridiculed by it, "Why am I at the place I fucking work at?" Her eyes bulged, in all her time of being with him she had never once heard him curse out loud, "Are being serious right now Kara?"

She was too stunned to say anything. Oh Rao, where did it go all wrong?

"But you? You come into this diner, you see me working here and you sit your pretty little ass down in a booth for twelve hours. So it seems to me you have something to say more than I do, so why don't you spit it out already and leave?"

"I don't take orders from you," she sneered. How dare he speak to her that way? This wasn't the Mon-El she knew, not the kind and gentle one that literally treated her like the apple of his eyes. But things change, right? And Mon-El definitely did.

"Well then, why don't you sit down in that booth and let me finish my work if you have nothing to say?"

Kara huffed, she had cornered herself into a sticky situation. Damned if she did, damned if she didn't. Her stupid ego had gotten her into this mess, and now there was no way out. She picked her poison and sat down in the booth and watched him continue to clean and re-arrange the lobby by stacking the chairs on top of each other. All the while, Kara thought about her new game plan. The clock ringing in her ears once more.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The more she thought about how she could attack him, the more befuddled by the situation she became. She hadn't even given it a second thought as to why Mon-El was working in a diner. He was held two military positions before, was a sea captain, an ambassador, an engineer, and a stupid journalist…and now his new line of work was a bus boy server at a dingy diner? That made no sense. Kara wondered if she should shelve her anger for just a moment so she could ask him why? And how?

No. No, she couldn't flatter. She came in here with a mission, and she was going to fulfil it. Maybe she could use his new found profession to rouse him, and maybe she will finally elicit the response she craved form him. Finally she could shout at him till her was heart was content. She didn't want a one-sided argument where he could just take the insults she threw at him. No, she wanted him to try defend himself, she wanted him aggravated so when she delivered the final blow it would bring her satisfaction, and he would run away to lick his wounds while she could finally be free from what happened thirty years ago.

"So how is it working at this fine establishment?" her voice filled with malice, hoping he would respond and be caught in her trap and she could attack him like a rabid lioness, with accusations, and declarations and make him feel guilty about his actions.

"It pays the bills," he responded simply, showing no hint of falling in her trap. Crap, she needed to find another way.

"And this is the line of work you picked? What happened to the brilliant mechanical engineering that was my one and only hope for getting off this planet?" she wanted to get under his skin, she wanted to provoke him. Just take the bait dammit!

But he kept continuing with his ministrations. He moved to turn off the neon red OPEN sign by the entrance, and then walked towards the cash register. Kara followed his movements with narrowed eyes, waiting for his response.

"Like I said, it plays the bills," he said after a full two minutes. Mon-El was mulling over whether he should engage her or not. He picked the latter, and choose to repeat his previous answer.

Kara grumbled. But then she picked up on his murmuring – apparently he couldn't hold his anger back either and the words flowed out his mouth and to Kara's ear, "Thought she would be smart enough to know why…"

This was such a childish way to fight, words exchanged in hushed tones, each one trying to get the last word in, and trying to bait each other into a fight.

"Smart enough," she stomped her away to the register. He would have known that she would pick up on whatever he said with her enhanced hearing so he clearly wanted her to respond, "What does that me?!"

"I think you know. Or at least the Kryptonian in you should know, right? Why don't you sit down and give it another thought, huh? Maybe you might be able to figure out why I am working in the diner in the middle of Cape Canaveral Florida!?"

Fucking shit! The entire time she was trying to get him to take the bait, and here she was taking his bait. It had completely blown up in face and she hadn't realized it until it was too late. But the argument had finally started, and at least that was a win.

"So why don't you explain it to me huh? Since I am so dumb, stupid and too much of an idiot to understand," her body was shaking with rage, and she was just waiting for the right moment to unleash it on him. But this wasn't the right time, she needed to hold in a little while longer.

Mon-El slammed the cash register drawer shut, "Kara I know this isn't what you want to talk about. So can you stop beating around the goddamn bush and get to the point, so I can get on with my life. You know, if that's possible for you…."

"No! You started it, so why don't you tell me what I don't understand right now. Clearly I can't understand it myself, so why don't you help me?"

Kara knew that how immature this fight was getting. It reminded her of the arguments she and her cousin Kal would frequently get into, where they would shout anything and everything at each other until something finally stuck. And once something stuck, neither of them would move on until the argument got bigger and bigger and root of their problems was uncovered.

"Kara, I don't have time for this," he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Clearly, Mon-El was more evolved than Kara and her cousin were. Whereas they loved to egg on the fight, Mon-El was trying to diffuse it.

"You were the one to call me stupid, so don't start something you can't finish," and then Kara murmured, "Although it seems to be a wonderful habit of yours."

Again, with the words muttered under their breaths.

"Cape Canaveral, Florida, Kara? Where the goddamn Challenger is supposed to launch at the Kennedy Space Center. Ring any bells? This 'brilliant mechanical engineering that was my one and only hope for getting off this planet' is trying to keep his ears opens to learn how far these humans have progressed. And this 'dingy diner' is a lovely hangout for those scientists, and I even made friends with a couple of them. So now that you know why I lowered my standards and became a fucking server could you please leave? And the next time you see, I would appreciate it if you just walked in the other direction."

Kara cowered away. She was an idiot. The reason she had picked Florida as her new location was because it was slowly becoming a hub for space exploration, and the second challenger was due for takeoff next month. That was the reason, well primary, reason why she had decided to settle in Florida. And if she hadn't let her ego get in the way, she would have known that Mon-El was thinking the same. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassed.

"Oh, and don't worry. Once I get the right technology to fix our motherboards, I'll find you. Cause unlike you, I like to keep my promises," he remarked snidely.

All the embarrassment and humiliation she had felt a moment ago had vanished. His steel-gray eyes cut her like shards. The allegation that she wanted to make, the allegation that she was trying to build up to, he had said them. But what standing did he even have to say that? What promises did she even break? It was Mon-El who did the breaking, not her.

The rage built up in her again, "I don't keep my promises? You're the one to talk. You're the one who broke his promise. Don't try to make yourself the victim, when you really are the villain," she seethed.

"Me? Me?" he asked shocked, "I kept my promise Kara. But you were too busy making money and getting fame to keep yours. Now I know what matters to you. Fame and fortune, so don't worry, I'll stay out of your path. "

"What the hell does that mean!?" she yelled. Mon-El wasn't even making sense. It was like he was trying to manipulate the entire conversation to his side, but she wasn't going to allow that, "You're the one you didn't come back! You're the one didn't come back to me! You're the one you didn't keep your promise! I waited. For Rao's sake, I waited for two years! Every day after the war ended I waited for you to come through those door. I waited to see again. I waited for your touch again. I WAITED! And you never came….for two years. I felt like an idiot, the most gullible naïve girl in the universe. You used me, and you never came back. And now, after all these years I can finally tell you how much you hurt me, how long it took for me to move on, and how there is this dulling pain in my heart, and you're standing there saying was all my fault? How dare you!?"

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

"You really know how to paint yourself as a victim Kara. Bravo," he clapped his hands, insulting her even further, "I never fulfilled my promise? The moment I got off that ship, the moment I came back to the States, I went to that small little club in the North Carolina port to see you. To hold you, to touch you, to kiss you again," Kara's breathe hitched, "To keep my promise. After months of not seeing you, after months of dreaming about you, I went back to the club to see that you weren't even there Kara. You left. You were gone. So I thought, maybe you went to work somewhere else in town, maybe you found another job? Letters get lost in the war so many times, maybe I missed the one telling of your new profession. So like a fool I searched the entire city for you. I mean, how hard could it be to find a Kara Danvers. It was a unique enough name, right? For months I looked, and I came up empty handed. And then years later I heard of this beauty in New York City that was headlining for a popular club, and she had the most wonderful voice in the world, and her name was Kira Dixon. I didn't even know that it was you until I saw your photo Kara! You had found money and fame and forgot me."

Kira Dixon. She had forgotten that when was 'discovered' in the small club in North Carolina, they had told her to ditch Kara Danvers for a different, stage appropriate name, and Kira Dixon was born. But if that was Mon-El's explanation of the events, then he had lied to her. And once again was trying to manipulate the events in his favor.

"Don't lie to me, Mon-El," he was adding insult to injury. Taking pride in rubbing salt in her open wounds, and he thought she wouldn't notice, "If you had really gone to the club we wouldn't have been in this position."

"Kara. I'm telling you the truth. And if you can't handle your mistakes, I'm not here to coddle you. I don't even know why you are even here? You left me, so why do even care anymore?"

"NO YOU DIDN'T! I didn't leave you, YOU LEFT ME! If you had do gone to the club, like you claim you did, you would have found me!?"

"YOU WEREN'T THERE KARA! HOW WOULD I HAVE FOUND YOU?"

"I LEFT YOU A LETTER!"

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

"I left you a letter," she whispered as the burden of her feelings that she had been carrying over the last thirty years tipped over, "I knew letters got lost in the mail. Sometimes you would respond to every third letter I sent you. I would go months without hearing a response and I didn't want to risk telling you about my new job for it to only get lost in midst of the war. So I told the owner that when a Michael Matthews stops by, to give you the letter telling you where I was so you could find me again. But you never did, Mon-El," her heart was shattering, and the dulling pain began to pulse red hot over her skin, and it felt like pins and needles all over. It had taken her years to glue herself back together, and now it was taking just minutes for her too fall apart again, "but you never did."

"I never got a letter…."

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Kara couldn't breathe. I never got a letter. He never got a letter. He was lying again, he had to be lying again. No. No. No. His steel blue eyes looked softer now, his face less strained and his demeanor shifted to look like a defeated man: shoulder dropped, and head down. No. No. No. He was lying again. Lying. But his voice held such sincerity, and the change of his behavior told a different story. He wasn't lying, he wasn't the vile man she had painted him to be for thirty years. Her heart didn't ache, she hadn't felt so lost and broken because he had left her – no – it was because of lack of communicate. A small little mistake that had cost them both more than she could have imagined. It had cost them a life together.

All that hurt, rage, and pain that she had held onto for all these years, all of which fueled her to confront Mon-El, all of which gave her the courage to speak to him again, so she could finally lay it to rest felt so inconsequential, and disconcerting. She had nothing more to say. She had no more cards to play, no she didn't even have a hand to begin with.

She had sat down in this diner holding onto something that wasn't even real, and she lashed out at him. She had started it, she had accused him, she had ruined what they had. What was left now? At this moment, she wished the earth would open and swallow her whole because those soft steel blue eyes that help such contempt for were now melting, but she couldn't face it. Not after humiliating herself like this. So she did the only she could think of, she turned to walk away.

She heard Mon-El shuffle behind her, "KARA WAIT," his voice the most kind it had been all night. Definitely not pleasant, but there was no animosity, "don't go."

Kara gripped the handle of the door tightly, thinking whether she should stop and hash things out and fix what was broken. Oh Rao, she really wanted to fix everything.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

She opened the door and walked out, ignoring Mon-El calling after her.

Her heart was screaming at her to turn around and walk back through that door. It was tugging, pulling at her, but her mind wouldn't listen. After that entire debacle it was ashamed, mortified and she didn't have the courage to turn around and face him. The anger she had held onto for thirty years taunted her now. She had acted like a fool, duped by her own emotions. So she continued walking, and after she was clear of that one yellow car in the parking lot, the tears began to pool out of her eyes and she super sped away, without even looking back.

She tried to zone in her ears to listen into what Mon-El was saying – if he was saying anything — in the diner but all her ears could focus on was the rackety clock that was hung being the counter on the pasty off-white wall.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

She was too afraid to listen, she lacked the bravery, the valor to face the consequences. How do you move past a thirty year old grudge, one that she instigated?

Coward, her heart yelled. Yes, she was a coward.

Hope you guys like it :) As always - please ignore mistakes and an edited one will be posted soon :)

One more chapter left!