NOTES: It's not that long because I already wrote something similar in the past, so when it comes to Kara taking care of a hurt Oliver, well... there is not many new things to do.
Enjoy!
.
Chapter Summary:
.
14. The Aftermath
Kara lay in her couch, looking at the ceiling as she thought about her miserable and unlucky love life. She spent 6 months suffering, not knowing if Mon El was alive just to find out afterwards that he was married. His wife was such a sweet person, also a hero and beautiful., she couldn't even hate her. She felt like that for a while and then she started to get over him. It was so hard to see them together around the DEO, but day after day, week after week, things were starting to feel a bit better. Her heart was healing. She knew that one day, her heart would feel whole again and at the right time, she would be happy and in love with someone amazing. In the meantime, she would keep saving the world and dedicating herself to her job. But before that, she needed some rest. She needed some fresh air so an idea crossed her mind.
She got up and walked to her bedroom, coming back with her extrapolator. This was the greatest gift she ever won, because it allowed her to be away anytime she felt like it, and this was one of those times. What could be better than a small vacation on another dimension?
She pressed the button and crossed over to Earth 1 flying.
Once there, she kept flying around, having no idea in which city she was in, but glad to be away from everything for a while. She wondered if her friends were doing fine, and thought about stopping by in Star Labs to see at least half of the team since a few of them traveled through time, a really cool thing she would love do one day.
Kara was distracted with her own thoughts and heard a yell from far away. She tried to focus her hearing and heard even more yells and a weirdly calm voice talking to a man. The man seemed in extreme pain. She had to do something, so she flew towards the direction of the sound she heard.
She finally found the place. It was an abandoned building and Kara thought to herself why it was always abandoned buildings. Things were the same even on different Earths when it came to bad guys, she thought.
Kara reached the second floor and walked through a long corridor. To her right, there was a cell and she thought she saw Oliver Queen inside of it, spread on the ground and chained. She looked closer and yes, it was Oliver Queen. For Rao's sake, what was happening? There was the guy with the weird calm voice, standing before Oliver. A few pictures were spread around Oliver and the guy pointed at them. Kara had a bad feeling about the situation, she had to do something. She grabbed the bars of the cell and gave them a strong pull, tearing them apart and throwing them away.
- Who are you? – The guy looked scared at her and ran towards her, trying to fight her.
- Kara? – Oliver whispered weak from the ground, barely able to see her face.
- Kara? – The guys said as he looked at Kara, trying to hit her, but failing – You know Oliver, then?
- Yes! He is my friend!
- Oh great! One more person to be disappointed with you, Oliver.
- What are you talking about? Oliver is a great guy!
- I don't think you know him this well, lady! He is a monster! He is cruel and vicious and he needs to accept it.
- You're a bad liar! – Kara told him, just avoiding his punches. She didn't want to reveal what else she could do yet. – And who the hell are you?
- Adrian Chase or you can just call me Prometheus.
- It's a lame name if you ask me! – Kara laughed, still avoiding his punches and kicks. – Why are you torturing my friend?
- He deserves it. I won't rest until he admits who he truly is: a murderer! A killer!
- You're wasting your time! – Kara said finally having enough.
She had no idea what was going on and why that guy was telling all those awful things about Oliver. She actually didn't know Oliver that well, except for what Barry had told her once, so she decided she would talk to him later and for now, would give him the benefit of the doubt. As for that Prometheus guy, he would feel sorry for what he did.
Prometheus tried to give her one more punch and she stopped his fists near her face. She grabbed it strongly and lifted him from the ground, floating. He looked scared at her and she used her heat vision to destroy all the rest of the bars, opening a big hole where the gates of the cell were. Kara gave him a tiny smile and threw him across the room, knocking him down. She landed gracefully on the ground and ran towards Oliver.
- Hey, Oliver… It's me, Kara!
- What?... Are…
- Shhh, no time for that now. Let me help you.
Kara looked to Oliver's hands and saw he was chained to the ground. She grabbed the chains and gave it a strong pull, breaking it. She helped him stand and looked worried at him.
- Oliver…
- Let me stay here… I deserve it!
- There is no way I'm leaving you here. I can bring you to Star Labs so they can check on you and…
- No. Please. No. I need to be alone…
Oliver let himself go from Kara's embrace and grabbed his jacket and bow on the ground. He walked slowly towards the exit, leaving Kara looking incredulous at him.
- Well, I guess stubbornness is one of your highest qualities Barry never told me about! – She murmured to herself as she used her super speed to reach Oliver on the door of the building.
- Kara…
- You are hurt, Rao knows what happened and I won't leave you alone… You can't run from me, or try to stop me, you know?
- Unfortunately, I know!
- Stop being so stubborn and let me help! I will keep following you until you let me help you.
- Ok… Fine! – He said in a grumpy voice and earned a smile from Kara. – I just… I can't see anyone I know right now… I can't… I can't face them.
- I just happen to know the perfect place!
Kara opened a breach with her extrapolator and brought Oliver back to her apartment. Once they crossed back to her Earth, she put the extrapolator on her pocket and looked at Oliver. He just looked around, trying to stay up.
- You can sit. This is my place!
She said as she used her super speed to bring him a towel, a hot tea and clean tissues.
- Thank you. – Oliver said as he drank the tea. He realized it was pointless trying to argue with Kara, she would win anyways.
- Now… I know you are hurt and tired… I can bring you to the DEO so they can look at your bruises and…
- No.
Kara rolled her eyes and looked at Oliver. She thought about what she could do and used her super speed again, bringing a first aid kit.
- Then I will need to take care of you… Your bruises – She blushed, looking at the kit on her hands. – It can get infected and they are well… really bad.
- Ok. – He told her, feeling every inch of his body hurting like hell.
- Thank you!
She approached him and kneeled on the ground, looking closer at each wound. He had an ugly burn up his left chest, and she was terrified just to look at it, she couldn't even imagine what happened there. But, she was curious.
- So… What happened?
- I just realized all I do is for nothing.
- How's that? – She said as she cleaned his wounds and patched one at the time. Oliver hissed in pain – I'm sorry.
- I always told people I used to kill bad guys because I had to, because they were bad guys, because I was the city's vigilante and I had to do what the police couldn't. I realized this was all bullshit. I liked killing!
- Stop it.
- It's true.
- Oliver. All of us have to sometimes deal with hard things in life, darkness…
- Kara I literally grabbed a guy and broke his neck because he tried to kidnap me and he saw all I could do; this was when I got back from the island. I stabbed another guy with an arrow of mine. The other I tortured and dissected him until he gave me information I needed… I shot an arrow on someone's head once…
Kara pressed a bit harder the antiseptic on Oliver's skin, making him feel more pain and hiss again. She looked innocently at him and adjusted her fake glasses, throwing the tissue away and standing up, crossing her arms on her chest.
- I won't pretend I know you, because I don't and that is obvious.
Oliver still felt the pain, but he was all taken care of. He looked at Kara in silence, still feeling like hell.
- Barry told me the basics about you. That you went away for 5 years and suffered a lot lost in an island, and came back different. That you scared the hell out of him when he saved your life and he found out you were the vigilante. That you were his idol and just like that, it all fell apart because he saw who you really were…
- I told you…
- He also told me – Kara interrupted Oliver, still with her arms crossed – That after a while he understood. And you inspired him. He saw you as a strong person who overcame the hardest thing that ever happened to you and that was a survivor, a fighter. He told me you had a lot of traumas, half of them he has no idea why, but he could imagine. And guess what? This it's normal. It wouldn't be if you came back the same you were, or like a happy puppy who won his favorite meal.
Oliver gave a small laugh picturing what Kara was describing him. She laughed a bit as well, and turned her face back to serious mood. She couldn't laugh, she was giving him a lecture, she had to be serious, she thought.
- People have different ways of dealing with things…
- It doesn't excuse the fact that I enjoyed killing a lot of people.
- Oliver, please. Alex, my sister is someone that killed once. She killed my aunt to protect J'onn, our friend and boss. My aunt was this evil person who my mom arrested back in Krypton… She was cruel but I had hopes I could reach her. And I will never be able to because my sister killed her. At the time I was so mad, so angry. But I realized she was about to kill people I loved. Alex had no choice. I understood her. It doesn't erase the fact she did a lot of good. Neither the fact you might have killed, changes the fact that you saved and protected a lot of people. Barry told me you tried a different way to honor your friend's memories, right?
- Yes… Tommy was my best friend… He called me a murderer. After he died, I promised I would do better…
- Now tell me again what monster cares about a memory of a friend who died? What monster would stop killing because of it?
Kara waited for his answer but it never came. She approached Oliver again, sitting by his side on the couch.
- I won't pretend to understand what you're feeling Oliver. You have been through a horrible thing. But please understand that everyone has a second chance. Everyone can change for the better. I saw the good in you; I saw you stood by your friend when everyone else was pissed at him… You were a jerk to me at first, but it was because you were unnerved…
- I wasn't…
- Yes, you were. And you know it… But I saw the great leader you are the great fighter you are… You have no super powers, you are a human with a bow and arrow, but all you could do back there, showed me you had experience and knowledge. Whatever happened to you in the past, made you who you are today.
- I don't feel like a hero… I feel like a terrible and ugly psycho…
- There is nothing psycho in you or ugly – She blushed again, noticing what she just said to him – Anyways, it's normal to feel what you're feeling. It's called remorse. It washes us like a waterfall and then we realize everything we did and we feel awful about it, like there was no hope left for us…
- Are you talking from experience?
- Yes. I got a taste of what I could turn into if it wasn't for my adoptive family. I could be a monster Oliver. With all my powers and abilities, I could destroy everything and everyone. I had a taste of it for one day, and it was terrible. I felt awful when it was all over. And it took a lot for me to win people's trust again. It was when I met Barry and he gave me awesome advice.
- He is a good friend.
- Yes, he is… He worries about you; you know? And now, so do I. I'm telling you, all of this that you're feeling, it will pass. You did amazing things and saved a lot of people. If you worried enough to do it even after having done so many terrible things you told me you did, then you are a hero to me.
- Those pictures you saw on the floor… It was of people I killed… He was trying to make me admit what I always knew deep inside.
- Ok you enjoyed killing those criminals in the past… Do you enjoy it now?
- I don't know…
- Have you killed anyone? Recently?
- No.
- Have you felt like you wanted to?
- No.
- See? A psycho would just kill everyone and not care about it. You care enough to really change your ways. And this is all the matters.
- I feel so broken…
And it was true, he did. He knew everything Kara was telling him was true; he wouldn't be a monster if he cared enough, but why did he fell like shit all the time? It was really remorse as she told him? He felt tired. He felt hurt, but he felt a bit of hope rising inside of him. He looked at Kara, searching for answers into her eyes. He saw a bright sparkle on them as she gave him a tiny smile
- You're not broken. I can assure you, you're not! – She reached for his hands and held them with hers. – You just have been through a lot, way more than most people should. You need some fresh air; you need time to recover… And if you don't want to see anyone from your Earth now, you can stay here for a few days.
- Here?
- Yes. We just need to warn your team so they know you're ok. I can do it in seconds and be back and…
- No. No way. I won't be a burden to you, Kara. You did enough already.
- You are not a burden. You are just really stubborn, for Rao! You know I can stop you, so please cooperate.
Oliver thought for a while. It wasn't going to do any harm if he stood a few days, he thought. At least he would have time to recover.
- I can also go there and bring that piece of garbage to the police. Just wait here, do you promise?
- Ok.
Kara used her super speed and went back in less than 5 minutes. Oliver looked startled at her. He was definitely not used to super speed.
- Diggle was really happy to know you're ok and with me here. Your team sends their love and best wishes. I also warned Barry and Cisco, any case Star City needs back up, they will be there. And that lunatic is arrested. Your team is really happy to know it. Now all you need to do is recover and rest… - She looked at one wound that started to bleed and grabbed the medicine and tissue again, cleaning it and stitching it.
- You're good at it…
- Alex taught me one thing or two. She was a doctor in a hospital in Seattle.
- That's… cool. – Oliver said as he watched Kara finishing cleaning his wounds.
- You can take a shower later, if you want. I have clean towels there and my cousin left a few clothes the last time he visited, you can grab something.
Then, Oliver looked at Kara. He really looked at her. She was really determined to help him believe himself again and recover. She barely knew him but he could see in her eyes she wasn't going to give up on him. Thinking about that made him give her a tiny half smile.
- What? – She smiled back at him with curiosity on her eyes.
- Barry was right…
- About…?
Oliver sat properly on the couch and looked closer at her.
- He told me when he met you on your Earth. About how you were so determined to help others, there was no hard time for you. That you gave your all, 100% and how your bright spirit made others believe anything was possible. He told me how much he wanted for us to meet…
Kara looked at him, stopping her hands from moving through his chest, finishing patching him up again. She blushed hard this time, feeling something running through her veins, like some weird electricity.
- You truly are light among darkness… - He whispered to her as her face came closer to his.
Kara grabbed his cheeks slightly and gave him a peck on his lips. She had no idea what made her do it, but she felt she needed it badly. She realized she was kissing Oliver Queen and let go of him, covering her mouth with her hands.
- I'm sorry… I don't know what…. I'm sorry – She said standing up and starting to walk away.
She couldn't give one more step because she felt a pair of hands holding her arm. She turned around and Oliver pulled her closer to him, giving her a kiss that would definitely make her dream about him for a very long time.
- You have nothing to feel sorry for.
He smiled at her, giving her one more kiss as she kissed him back.
.
NOTES 2:
Spoiler Alert: Promptfrom WritersBlock039: "if Oliver and Kara had gotten together before"Duet," and Oliver and Iris rescue Kara and Barry from the musicalworld." (I confess I changed a small detail because it would be really funny ifOliver was in that dream world with Kara and all the musical going on)