Lena and Kara were sitting on the floor of Lena's office with an empty bottle of wine laid out on the floor between them. Lena's shoes were off and her hair uncharacteristically disheveled. Kara was frazzled too but for an entirely different reason to Lena.
"God, I think I've had too much too drink…" Lena Luthor, the CEO of National City's largest corporation said.
She felt a burp coming up, or maybe it was vomit, but being the lady that she was, managed to keep it down.
"Uh, yeah… Me too, I'm so… Not myself, ya know?" Kara forced on a chuckle, entirely sober.
She had abandoned the idea of acting tipsy once she had realised that Lena was too drunk to tell the difference, which was a little while ago.
Kara had never been in a situation like this with Lena before and if she were being perfectly honest, she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Of course, seeing Lena drunk, she found her as adorable as ever, if not even more so now that a funny sort of accent came to the forefront every time the CEO opened her mouth to speak, or rather, every time she opened her mouth to slur… However, being put on the spot while interchanging identities every couple of minutes was certainly not adorable, Kara realised, dismayed.
"I mean, why are people obsessed with birthdays anyway?" Lena frowned and the burp escaped her after all.
She put a hand over her mouth all shocked-like.
"Whose turn issit?" she asked.
"Uhh, that would be um, S-Supergirl's," Kara replied and cleared her throat.
She shifted uncomfortably in the spot, working hard to keep her agitation at bay.
"Can you believe that Supergirl, Girl of Steel, rrrole model to little boys and girls, embodiment of Girl-Power herselves, is a chain-smoker?" Lena exclaimed, bewildered.
"Nope. Never would've believed it," Kara shook her head and pressed her lips into a flat line.
"I mean, please don't tell her I sedso, but with the rate at which she keeps flying-off to have a smoke," Lena's eyes turned large with disapproval, "She must have a serious addiction!"
Kara had no choice but to disapprovingly nod along.
"Although… No offence, Kara…" Lena frowned, causing her eyes to naturally close from drunkenness, "But at the rate you keep running off to the basroom too, I think you could have a serious bladder infection…"
Kara was tempted to say something in her own defence but quickly came to the conclusion that anything she could say would likely only make things worse. She pressed her lips shut against every instinct that urged her to justify herself and reconciled with the fact that she simply had to let Lena believe she really could have a bladder infection.
"I really think you should haveitt checkedout…" Lena added, her speech slow and soft. "'Cause, as your busymate, I think I need to tell you that maybe Mike gave you something, y'know?"
She leaned forward towards Kara as though about to share top-secret, classified information with her. Kara hesitantly leaned forward too.
"Like, I remember, boarding school," Lena's breath smelled like a drunken old man's and yet, sweet and more intoxicating than wine ever could be to Kara, "Roulette was constantly complaining of it 'burning when she peed'… And it turned out that she had—"
"—Oh, look! Supergirl's back!" Kara interrupted, prompting Lena to abandon her story and look towards the balcony. "And I have to run off to the… To the… Uhhh, yeah, bathroom," she cleared her throat, "'Cause possible… Possible… Chlamydia… Calls. Yup."
Lips pressed into a downward arch, Kara jumped to her feet and disappeared in the direction of the bathroom, while almost simultaneously, Supergirl landed on Lena's balcony and entered the office, her expression as grim as Kara's was only a few seconds ago.
"Supergirl!" Lena exclaimed as though she hadn't seen her in months. "I can't believe you're here… You savoured my life! I mean, before. Like sooo many times…"
Supergirl sat down in Kara's spot, silent, disconcerted.
"You don't knowdis," Lena swivelled the remaining bit of wine in her glass in Supergirl's direction, "Bur I kiss my poster of you every night."
Lena giggled in a girly manner, entirely unbefitting her usually cool, calm and collected character, drained the last bit of the rosé from her glass, then hiccupped.
"I… Think you've had enough to drink, Miss Luthor," Supergirl said in an authoritative tone, though her heart thumped hard in her chest.
"Ughh," Lena made a disgusted face, her school-girl giggling ruined, "How many times do I have to say, call me 'Lena'… Suppey!"
Supergirl, very unimpressed at this butchering of her name, clenched her jaw and used the best of her superpowers to resist the urge to say something.
"Go on…" Lena added, oblivious. "Is your turn to spin the bottle. Don't bother waiting for Kara, she'll take forever in the bathsroom."
Supergirl sighed and turned the bottle. However, in her agitation, she neglected to take care to not use her super-strength and thus caused the bottle to spin like a fan for a good minute. Lena stared down at it, mouth open in awe, mesmerised.
"Wow…" she whispered, genuinely impressed, "Thas amazing!"
When the bottle came to a standstill at last, pointing clearly at Supergirl, she asked:
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare," Supergirl replied.
"Again?!" Lena protested, making a face as though L-corp had just lost a cool million in the stock exchange. "No fair! Nothing's too scary for the Girl of Steel to do… You should grow some ovaries of steel and pick truth for once, Supergirl!"
But Supergirl did not dare to budge.
"Fine," Lena conceded.
She took a moment to think of something fun, silly, crazy, spin-the-bottle-worthy for Supergirl to do. When an idea eventually came to her, she turned to look Supergirl squarely in the eyes, eyebrow arched in a mischievous manner.
Supergirl gulped. This did not seem like it was going to be heading in a direction that was beneficial for her. She wondered whether this was, at the very long last, Lena's 'Luthor' showing.
"Supergirl," Lena said in a slightly more sober, slightly more ominous tone. "I dare you… To kiss someone."
Supergirl stared back at her blankly. She gulped again.
"Uhhhh… W-who do you want me to kiss, Miss L—I mean, Lena?"
Her Super-suit suddenly felt a little too skin-tight causing her to squirm uncomfortably in the spot.
"Anyone. Playing. This. Game," Lena's gaze remained fixed on her opponent/mate.
Supergirl gulped again and tried to shrug away the perspiration that broke out all over her body. Why does it always feel so humid in Lena's office?! she wondered.
"You can kiss Kara if you like," Lena suggested, smirking. "If you manage to hunt her down, that is…"
"Actually, I think you were right before," Supergirl forced on a pathetic chuckle. "I think, I think I should pick 'truth' this time."
"Oh, come on!" Lena rolled her eyes. "It's too late now, you already chose 'dare'! Don't tell me Supergirl can face off and defeat monsters from the space-deep but she is too chicken to play 'spin the bottle'!"
"I am not!" Supergirl protested. "But… You are drunk and-and…"
"And what?" Lena gazed at her openly, irritably, adoringly.
The blue of Lena's eyes suddenly took Kara's breath away. Even now, even when she was clearly so ridiculously intoxicated, to Kara Lena appeared as beautiful as ever… And Kara did not know what to do.
Lena, meanwhile, stared back into Supergirl's eyes and thought she saw a flicker of something familiar… Like the stars of faraway galaxies she thought she had seen whenever she dreamed of Kara Danvers.
"You are drunk," Supergirl looked away, "And it doesn't feel right."
"I don't mind…" Lena shrugged casually.
She closed her eyes, stuck out her neck, and puckered her lips at the other, coming dangerously close.
"I… I-I," Supergirl panicked, "Need a cigarette."
In the next instant, she whooshed out of the balcony door and disappeared, leaving a trail of wind and emptiness behind her.
Opening her eyes, seeing that Supergirl was gone, Lena's spirit deflated.
"Who would've thought?" she sighed, disappointed. "Supergirl's kryptonite: Marlboro lite."
She scrambled off the floor and moved to sit on the couch. Head leaning on hand, hair messy, mascara smudged, she took a deep breath in. She was growing tired of playing this game.
When Kara next entered the room, after her 'bathroom' break, she joined Lena on the couch.
"Truth or dare?" the CEO spoke in her cool tone, the one she used with everyone except Kara.
"Truth, I-I think…" Kara mumbled, still disconcerted by what had happened only a moment before.
"When will you tell me the truth that you are Supergirl?" Lena asked.
She looked at Kara point-blank, serious, looking far more sober than she did a few moments ago.
Kara stared back at her in shock. The surprise of Lena's question was too great to illicit anything other than pure silence from her.
Moments passed, the office remained quiet.
"You know…" Kara said calmly, if not a little too calmly.
Lena smirked, shook her head.
"Of course I know, Kara," she replied.
She covered her eyes with her hand, obviously hurt for being taken for an idiot by her most favourite person in the world.
"How-how long have you known?" Kara asked, her voice and expression somber, breath suspended in her lungs.
Lena scoffed. She knew that this would be Kara's, Supergirl's, next question.
"How long do you think?" she responded blankly. "Since the very first time you saved my life as Supergirl, of course. I mean, no offence Kara but your disguise kind of sucks. After you pulled me out of that helicopter, I remember thinking: 'Either that cute 'CatCo' reporter has an identical twin who's a super-alien or she really thinks that glasses are an adequate disguise.'"
Her lip twitched into a small sad smile. She looked down at her lap to better conceal her heartbreak.
Kara swallowed. A sore lump arose in her throat.
"Are you mad at me?" she whispered.
She held her breath while Lena deliberated how to answer this. The CEO had known that this question too would follow from her 'best friend'.
"Mad? That you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth?" Lena's eyes watered. She tried to keep her voice steady. "No… I'm not mad, Kara. More like… Disappointed. And, huh, yeah. Kind of hurt."
She looked away and briefly wiped her eyes with her fingers, smudging and ruining her mascara entirely.
Seeing Lena so crushed, knowing that she was the cause of it, Kara's own heart just about broke in two.
"Lena…" she said gently, her voice full of remorse. She sought to catch the other's gaze. "It's not that I didn't trust you… It was never ever about that. I-I really need you to know that, okay?"
Lena looked at her briefly and gave a small, dismal smile, unconvinced.
"The truth is, I couldn't expose you to all the potential risks that come with knowing my true identity. I mean, think about it… It's not like people haven't tried to kill you often enough as it is! Imagine what kind of a target you'd become if the wrong person found out you're friends with Supergirl…"
Lena stared into her lap. She considered Kara's words carefully.
"Lena… I promised I would always protect you," Kara added, shuffling closer, desperate to make the situation better somehow. "So please know, this was my way of keeping that promise."
She placed her hand over Lena's and squeezed it tightly to reassure her.
Seeing Kara so close to her, feeling her touch, Lena's heart beat fast, lips parted…
"Well…" she said and took a deep breath in, "To be honest, I'm more upset that you've just confirmed I have fifty percent less friends than I thought I did."
"Oh... uhhh… Sorry!" Kara's voice turned all nervous once again.
She wasn't sure whether Lena was joking or not. She sat back on her heels once again to give her friend some space.
"Do you know how hard it is for me to make friends?" Lena continued in the same streak. "Most people want to be friends with me either because I'm the CEO of National City's biggest company… Or because of my distracting jawline."
"I am so sorry Lena… I really am," Kara replied earnestly. "You have my word that from now on I will always tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me Rao."
Hearing this, seeing how much Kara genuinely cared to reassure her, Lena's expression relaxed a little. Her features shifted into a small, hopeful smile.
"You promise?" she asked, looking up sideways at Kara.
"I promise," Kara replied, gazing back into Lena's eyes.
Reaching up with both hands, Kara removed the glasses from her face and folded them away.
"And…" she added, her voice gentle, "If you'll let me… I'd like to make it up to you."
"Oh yeah? How? Are you going to take me flying on a National City bus?" Lena chuckled, amused, having waited a long time to be able to call Kara out on this.
"Better than that," Kara replied, undeterred, sincere.
She held Lena's gaze as she worked up her courage. Her heart swelled with all the things she had been dying to say to her for the longest time.
"You were always more than a friend to me…" she admitted, shifting closer to Lena.
Kara gently lifted her hand and tucked a stray strand of dark hair behind Lena's ear, smoothing out her usually-smooth, tousled tresses, adoration radiating from her eyes. Her hand landed to rest on Lena's cheek, soft and warm.
Lena blinked back at her uncertainly, hardly able to believe what was happening. Her eyes flickered between Kara's eyes and her lips, her own lip quivering.
"Happy Birthday… Lena Luthor…" Kara whispered.
She leaned forward and slowly pressed her lips against Lena's, seeking to calm them at once, to dispel all of her fears and to declare, for the both of them, that from that moment on, she was home at last.