Chapter Text
“I'm going to kill him!”
Having shot up off the floor as soon as she'd heard what had happened to 'Lena' during the meeting, Kara is now pacing her apartment as sparks of fury pulse through her.
“I'm going to throw him into space and ricochet his body off satellites like a freaking pinball machine! But first I'm going to rip off his hand, and shove it so far up his.....”
“Kara, honey-” having gotten to her feet when Kara did, fearful the enraged woman might actually fly all the way to Japan to vent her anger on the man in question, Lena approaches the ranting Super cautiously “-while I appreciate the sentiment, I'm not sure creating an international incident, as well as an inter-species one, would be the best course of action right now”.
Pausing mid stride, Kara stops pacing to look up at the dark haired woman. “He sexually assaulted you, Lena!”
Grimacing at the thought, the CEO decides not to mention that it isn't the first, nor likely to be the last, time a man has thought her body something he can lay his hands on without her consent. “Be that as it may, I'm not going to have Supergirl declare war with the Japanese just because one misogynist idiot never got taught boundaries. Besides, I wasn't present at the time anyway”.
Once again reminded of the body-swap scenario, Kara finds her anger draining as she studies Lena carefully. “You were really in James' body the whole day at Catco?”
“You brought coffee for everyone during the team meeting, even though it was the interns job. You excused yourself halfway through saying your allergies were suddenly playing up, which I now assume meant you heard something that required Supergirl's attention. Then, once the meeting was over you complimented me on my suit and gave me a dazzling smile, before disappearing, once again, with Nia”.
Mouth agape as Lena recalls their interactions that morning, Kara feels the last vestiges of her ire disappear as shock replaces it. “Oh my god, you really did swap bodies!”
Lena smiles tentatively. “I guess it says something about how well I know James if you couldn't tell anything was amiss”.
About to say that there had been a moment, if only for a second or two, where she'd caught James gazing at her with a look in his eye that had given her the impression he might be interested in rekindling the almost relationship they'd embarked on several years ago, Kara snaps her mouth shut when she realises that she must have misread the intention behind the look.
Despite her own feelings for the dark haired woman, Kara knows Lena sees her as nothing but a friend, so there is no way the CEO would have been looking at her with the loving gaze Kara had attributed her ex to have been directing her way during the morning meeting, and shakes her head as if to rid it of the silly notion.
Of course, if Lena had been in James' body all day, that means.....
“Oh my god, that means I told you my secret!”
Only just putting the pieces together, Kara covers her mouth in horror as she realises that she had been the one to give her own secret away.
Gazing at her in sympathy, seeing how shell-shocked Kara looks that she had been the perpetrator of her own crime, Lena indicates they should move over to the couch.
Sinking down onto it silently, Kara stares at her hands as she wrings them together in her lap anxiously.
“At first, all I could focus on was the fact that you were upset”. Speaking softly, Lena sits on the opposite end of the couch, ensuring she gives Kara plenty of space so as to not feel crowded, as she tries to ease the Superhero's guilt. “Then when you said my name and kept repeating that I knew about your secret, I think I froze”.
Knowing Kara's eyes are on her, Lena is the one that suddenly feels nervous, and she swallows hard as she forces herself to not to fidget under the intense gaze.
“I wanted to tell you I wasn't James, I honestly did. But you were so upset, and I had no idea what you were going on about, that I just didn't know if I was going to make matters worse by throwing my whole deal into the mix as well”. Knowing it was selfish of her, Lena's guilt sits hot in her chest as she talks. “Yet, I can't deny I also wanted to learn what your secret was”.
“WHAT? Why?” Staring at like she'd just confessed to liking the Kardashians, Kara gawks at Lena in befuddlement. “I LITERALLY told you it would put your life in danger if you found out!”
Lifting her chin defiantly, Lena lets out a bark of humourless laughter as she turns to look at Kara. “Have you forgotten? I'm a Luthor. My life is in danger simply by the nature of my birthright. What I do or don't know about you isn't going to change the fact that there are people in this world that want to kill me. Hell, half of the attempts on my life have been by my own flesh and blood, Kara”.
“That's.....You...It's not the same thing!” Stumbling over her words, Kara is slightly stunned by Lena's cavalier attitude about it.
“It's exactly the same”.
Scoffing lightly as she is unable to see how Kara can't get that she is danger no matter what, Lena is taken aback when Kara suddenly rounds on her. “NO, IT'S NOT!”
Surprised by the anger that flashes across the placid woman's face for an instant, Lena is more concerned when it crumples in a look of absolute terror, and watches in fascinated horror as Kara then bursts into tears and buries her face into her hands.
Sliding along the couch until her knee is almost touching Kara's, Lena gently places her right arm around the crying woman's shoulders and pulls her into the side of her body. Using her left hand to rub Kara's knee reassuringly, Lena talks softly. “I'm sorry, Kara. I didn't meant to upset you. I was just trying to get you to understand that I realise the dangers involved in knowing your secret, and I fully accept them”.
Sniffling a few times, Kara pulls the sleeve of her pyjama top down over her hand to swipe her eyes and nose, then takes a few deep breaths to try and recentre herself. Keeping her eyes on the ground in front of her, she starts speaking in small, halting, gasps. “Alex has know my secret ever since I came to Earth, and it has almost gotten her killed more times than I can count”.
“Alex works for a Government organisation that deals with apprehending hostile aliens. That's a pretty dangerous line of work, regardless of who her sister is”.
Feeling Lena's hand rub gentle circles on her back, the calming gesture helping to slow her racing heart, Kara grits her teeth together. “Two years ago, Alex got kidnapped”.
“Kidnapped?”
The hand on her back stops momentarily as Lena takes a second to process the news, and Kara nods her head guiltily. “I found out...after, that in high school this guy witnessed me using my powers to save some people. So when Supergirl turned up in National City, where I just so happened to live, I guess he put the pieces together and made the logical jump to conclusions”.
“Why did he kidnap Alex?”
Voice soft as she speaks, Lena knows that this must be incredibly difficult for Kara to talk about, and resumes rubbing her back slowly.
“He wanted me to break his dad out of prison”. Remembering the smirk on Rick's face as he'd made his ultimatum, Kara's hands curl into fists. “He'd locked her in a glass case and hidden her so well I couldn't find her anywhere, despite scanning the entire city and listening so hard that I thought I'd blow my powers”.
“That must have been extremely scary”.
“It was....terrifying. Yet, it wasn't even the worst part”. Feeling the truth lodge in her throat, that she'd almost lost her sister because of her own bullheadedness, shame once again claws at Kara's insides. “Because I didn't want to listen to reason; I though I was superior and maybe yeah, had a god-complex, I made the wrong call and set off a booby trap that caused water to start flooding into Alex's cell”.
Hearing the words she'd used against Supergirl in anger come out of Kara's mouth and turned towards inwards, Lena frowns sadly.
“By the time Maggie and I got to her she was unconscious and out of air”. Tears once again streaming down her cheeks, Kara can't stop the sobs that burst out of her chest as she knows that without Alex's survival training they would have been too late. “I still have nightmares where I see her floating in that damned tank. Except in them I can't break the glass and save her, so I'm forced to watch her drown”.
Gently guiding the emotional woman into her body - Lena knows she wouldn't have a hope of actually moving the Kryptonian unless she actually wanted to, she is heartened when she feels Kara sink into her embrace willingly.
Burying her face into the crook of Lena's neck, Kara allows the raven haired woman to slip an arm under her sushi pyjama covered legs and shift her more comfortably onto her lap as she sobs brokenly for the next ten minutes.
****
“I'm sorry I made you wet”.
Having to bite back a quip that is all too inappropriate for the situation, Lena instead chuckles lightly. “You wouldn't believe how many shirts I've ruined in the lab while on the hunt for the next big breakthrough, so a few tears are hardly going to hurt it”.
Loosening the death-grip she has around Lena's neck, Kara pulls back enough so that she can sit up, and uses her right hand to swipe at her cheeks.
“My secret hurts the people I love, Lena, and I....I just don't know what I'd do if something happened to you because of me”.
Feeling tears well in her own eyes, Lena cups Kara's cheek gently and swipes away a stray tear with her thumb.
“Oh Kara, don't you know by now? I'd happily stand in front of a nuclear missile if it meant keeping you safe”. Watching as her words cause more tears to spill from the superhero's eyes, Lena feels her heart ache with everything she feels for this wonderful woman. “You were my first friend in this city, at a time when most people still believed that all Luthor's were the same, and you've saved my life more times than I can ever repay you for”.
“You've repaid me plenty”. Closing her eyes as she places her own hand over the one on her cheek, Kara lets outs a small sigh as she leans into the warmth Lena's palm provides her. “Without you I never would have been able to halt the Daxamite invasion”.
“Which I started in the first place by trusting Rhea so blindly”. Regret fills Lena's voice as she drops her eyes, unable to looks at Kara's adorable visage while the guilt of how much pain she had caused her rises to burn a path through her chest. “And also condemned you to losing Mon-El”.
Opening her eyes to fix bright blue orbs on Lena's face, the watery sheen in them unable to stop her from seeing the self loathing that's started to creep into disbelieving emerald ones, Kara removes the hand from atop Lena's so that she can place it under her chin instead. Not trying to force Lena to look at her, but merely stopping her from looking away any further, Kara holds it in place gently as she speaks. “Rhea played you, Lena, and it was my choice to press that button, not yours. You have nothing to feel guilty about”.
“Because of me Mon-El had to leave the Earth. If I had just found another way....”
“Your device saved the Earth from being enslaved, Lena”.
“Then almost killed you when it was stolen and used to irradiate the atmosphere with Kryptonite”. Hand having slipped off Kara's cheek the second it had been released from it's gentle prison under the Kryptonian's own palm, Lena now raises it to land on the one currently holding her chin, and squeezes plaintively as she looks up at Kara with beseeching eyes. “I'm so sorry, Kara. I should have smashed that damned thing the second the Daxamites left”.
Breath catching in her chest at the amount of pain she can see swirling in Lena's eyes, pain at the idea that she herself is responsible for Kara's plight during that time, the blonde woman feels her heart ache for how much she wants to stop this strong, yet oh so fragile, woman from taking the weight of the world onto her shoulders.
“Lena, if it hadn't been for you building that suit, I would have died”. Slipping her hand from Lena's chin to her cheek, Kara cups it gently in a reversal of their earlier positions. “At a time when you and I, or you and Supergirl, were on shaky ground, you somehow still managed to have a fully functional, radiation controlled proto-environment housed in a vacuum sealed exoskeleton when I needed it most”.
“After our argument about me making green Kryptonite, I couldn't get the conversation out of my head”. Heart thumping wildly at the feel of Kara's hand on her skin, Lena swallows thickly. “The way Supergirl had described how it feels; like the flesh being seared from your bones and nails running through your blood, it didn't resonate with me completely, at first, because I was too angry. But it all changed after seeing the lengths she – you, went to in order to try and stop The Worldkillers”.
The image of Supergirl laying in a crater, unconscious and bleeding after her being dropped off the side of a building by Reign, as a bystander asks if she is dead, is a moment Lena will never forget.
“At the time I had thought you so childish for being scared of Kryptonite, and even taunted you for it, because I believed you to be fearful in the face of your only flaw. Yet, watching you go up against Sam, or the thing that had possessed her, I saw first-hand that there were many more things in this world than just Kryptonite that could kill you”. Lena's voice is thick as she talks, the terror she had felt as she'd stood next to James and watched the battle between the two rage, and the way Supergirl had fought so valiantly, painted starkly in her memory and constricting her throat with tears. “I watched you face Reign fearlessly, even when it was clear she was far more powerful than you were, and in that instant I realised that you weren't afraid to face anything you weren't immune to, even if it meant sacrificing your own life in the process”.
Tears are steaming down both their faces, the raw emotion they are unleashing now that all the barriers have been stripped away by the reveal of Kara's secret allowing them both to be more honest then either has been before, and it is a cathartic release they have desperately needed.
“I realised I was wrong to doubt Supergirl the way I did, so the second Alex told me she was okay I got to work on making the suit, because I never wanted her to experience the feeling of Kryptonite poisoning ever again”.
Wrapping her arms around Lena's shoulders once more, Kara pulls the woman beneath her into a fierce hug.
Hugging her back, Lena allows herself to put all the strength she never before dared show Kara, for fear of overwhelming the diminutive woman and hurting her, she feels into the embrace.
“”You are a wonderful woman Lena, with the kindest soul I've ever met”.
Feeling the words as they're spoken into her neck, a shiver runs downs Lena's spine as Kara's hot breath ghosts its way across her sensitive skin. Her heart skips in her chest when Kara's right hand shifts from its position cradling her shoulder to cup her head tenderly, then begins jack-hammering when strong yet gentle fingers begin combing through the loose strands. “Lying to you has plagued me every day. From the moment I woke up, to the moment I fell asleep; and even followed me into my dreams”.
The heavy sigh Kara gives is felt deep within Lena's chest as the two are pressed so close together, and the dark haired woman's arms tighten instinctively with the urge to protect her. “It's okay”.
Shaking her head minutely, not wanting to jostle Lena but needing to make clear that she isn't letting herself off the hook so easily even if Lena is, Kara's voice is firm. “No, it isn't okay. I lied to you with every conversation, yet I got mad when I thought you'd withheld information about Kryptonite. I let my fears overrule my heart, and it brought out the worst in me. I've been a terrible friend to you, Lena, and I understand if you can't see me in the same light after this. I understand if you hate me for it”.
Hearing Kara's voice break on the last sentence may just be the worst thing Lena has ever heard, as the sound of it squeezes her heart in a vice so tight that it fails to beat for several long seconds, and just when she is sure she is about to die from the pain of it, a shuddery gasp of inhalation from the woman on her lap draws Lena's attention away from her own reaction.
Feeling the normally sure and solid Superhero shaking like a leaf in her arms is all evidence the savvy businesswoman needs to focus her energy on the crippling anxiety her best friend is clearly experiencing, and Lena finds herself speaking before she registers what she is saying. “Of course I don't hate you, Kara, I love you!”
The moment the words are out both women freeze.
After a few seconds, Kara pulls back so that she can look Lena in the eye, an expression of total shock and confusion on her face. “Wha....what?”
“I...um....I said I love you-” with an almost matching look of shock painted on her face, Lena knows that, given Kara's bat like hearing, there is no way she didn't hear her blurted declaration of affection; and her mind scrabbles frantically to try and find to explain her slip up “-be....because you're my best friend, and I love you like my.....my friend”.
Frowning at the stuttered explanation, and the feeling of disappointment that lodges in her gut, Kara can't help it when her eyes flick down to Lena's mouth for a moment.
Having leaned back in order to see her face, the blonde finds herself mere inches away from the full, luscious lips that have starred in so many of her dreams. Swallowing heavily as her mouth goes suddenly dry, Kara can't help imagining what it would be like to press forward and place her own against them. Squeezing her eyes shut against the image, Kara has to bite back the moan that wants to escape her at how amazing she knows Lena will taste, but can't help the heat that runs through her body in response.
“Are you okay?”
Eyes pinging open as guilt and embarrassment suffuse her, Kara sees Lena gazing at her with concern. “Ye...yeah. I'm fine”.
“Did I say something wrong?”
Shifting slightly, trying to ignore the heat that seems to have condensed into a certain area of her anatomy, Kara chuckles awkwardly. “No, not at all. I was just thinking I should move from your lap as I'm probably squashing you”.
“For a Super, you're surprisingly light”. Fingers curling into Kara's pyjama's as if she can physically stop the stronger woman from moving, Lena feels her heart lurch at the idea of Kara putting distance between them. “I don't mind you staying where you are if you don't”.
“As long as I'm not hurting you”. The weight in her words isn't lost on Lena, nor is the sombre look that clouds her eyes, as Kara once again feels like she is laying an anchor around her best friend's neck with the truth about who she really is.
“You've proved, countless times, that I can trust you with my life-” voice soft as she talks, Lena knows she needs to pull Kara about of her downward spiral before it can consume her “-but I want you to know that I trust you with my heart too”.
The crease in Kara's brow, the one that Lena had once heard Alex refer to as her 'anxiety crinkle', appears, as stormy blue eyes search her own in confusion. “Your....your heart?”
Taking a deep breath, Lena nods slowly.
She knows that the next few minutes will involve her risking everything; but in the spirit of revealing ALL their secrets and, with the glimmer of hope that when she'd said she loved Kara like a friend she'd seen a flicker of disappoint cross her face, Lena prays that she won't end up completely broken by it.
She could have sworn that Kara had looked at her lips with hunger in her eyes, as if she wanted to devour her like a tasty morsel, if only for a second before she'd closed her eyes, and the thought has been driving her crazy ever since.
“What I said before, about loving you as a friend, that was true”. Rubbing her thumb along the waistband to Kara's pyjama's nervously, Lena fidgets with the material to try and ground herself as her emotions soar within her chest. “But it wasn't the whole truth”.
The weight of her own secret feels heavier than keeping any Superhero's identity from the world, and Lena is a thousand times more nervous to reveal it. However, she knows that they can't continue as they are with this between them, as it will only grow and fester within her if she doesn't acknowledge it out loud, so she screws up the last of her courage and finally admits what she has denied to herself for so long.
“I'm in love with you, Kara. Completely and irrevocably. Which I know may seem ridiculous given that I have the worst track record with love ever, but I want to reassure you that I seek nothing from you with my declaration. My love is unconditional. I know you don't like me that way, and I've made my peace with it. I just felt the need to tell you because I didn't want there to be any more secrets between us”.
Confessing everything in a torrent of words, Lena rushes to get everything out before her nerve fails her and she bottles it up for another two years but, finding herself unable to meet Kara's eyes as a taut silence falls between them, she drops her own to stare at the hand resting on Kara's waist instead.
Feeling the intense blue eyes she so dearly loves boring into her, Lena wants nothing more than the ability to be able to read minds right now, because not knowing what Kara is thinking is excruciating.
Did she just ruin their friendship completely, or is there a way to work around it? Lena knows that Winn had attempted to kiss Kara once; something that had made her equal parts aggrieved and jealous when she'd heard about it during games night one evening, but their continued friendship shows her that it is possible her confession might not have to change things between herself and Kara.
If only the woman in question would say something.
“You.....You love me?”
Heart sinking at the amount of disbelief that is evident in her voice, Lena forces herself to look up at Kara. “I do”.
“ You .....love me ?”
Brows pulled so close together that had she been wearing her glasses it would have caused them to fall off the end of her nose, Kara looks thoroughly confused as she stares at Lena.
“How can that be? I don't...-” steeling herself for the rejection that is about to come, Lena begins lowering her eyes so that she's not looking directly at Kara when she tells her she doesn't feel the same way “-understand. I'm the one that's in love with you ”.
Eyes returning to Kara's so fast she may actually have given herself whiplash, Lena stares at the blonde in shock as she seeks confirmation of the words she fears she may have just hallucinated hearing. “What did you just say?”
“Oh Lena, I've been mesmerized by you since the first time we met”.
Lifting up and rearranging herself so she is now straddling the woman below her, Kara leans in close and cups Lena's face gently between her hands. Gazing deeply into transfixed viridian orbs, she smiles sweetly as her thumbs stroke across the soft skin of her cheeks.
“You have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known, and although it's taken a battering from the careless people that you were forced to live with growing up, it's never stopped shining. I know you don't see it, but there is a light in you that shines so bright it is almost blinding. It shows in everything you do to help others; the children's hospital, your work to try and cure cancer, and your willingness to help Supergirl and the DEO, despite the risks to yourself. Your glow is brighter than the sun, and rejuvenates me a thousand times more powerfully”.
Knowing just how essential the Earth's yellow sun is to the health of a Kryptonian, having been forced, quite literally, to sit through many of Lex's psychotic rants about it, Lena can't help the tear that escapes at Kara's beautiful words.
“I lived in fear every day of you finding out my secret, that I was Supergirl, but I was hiding a far greater one behind it”. With a shaky smile, Kara pauses for a moment and takes a breath, before continuing. “That I had fallen head over heels in love with my brilliant, talented, billionaire, kinda my boss, best friend; who is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen on this or any planet, but who is also so far out of my league that I could spend my entire life saving the planet and never measure up to even one tenth the person she deserves to be with”.
“Kara.....”
Blown away by her words, Lena has no idea what to say. Never in a million years did she expect Kara to return her feelings, and had prepared herself for rejection. Gentle and kind rejection, because it's Kara, but rejection all the same.
“But-” cheeky smile creeping onto her face now, the stunned look on Lena's building her confidence massively, Kara gazes lovingly at the gorgeous woman she's longed to say these words to for so long “-if you'll let me, I'm willing to spend a lifetime trying to be that person for you”.
Heart feeling like it's about to thump its way out of her chest, Lena does the only thing she can do right now, and closes the distance between them.
Grabbing fistfuls of Kara's top in her hands, and aware that she lifts herself rather than brings the immovable woman down to her, Lena uses the leverage to bring herself close enough to connect their lips.
Eyes snapping shut the second they touch, because they are softer than she could ever have ever imagined and the sensation sends fireworks racing throughout her body, Lena lets out a low moan when she feels strong hands glide up her back to hold her firmly in place. Confident she no longer has to hold herself in place, Lena releases her death grip on Kara's shirt and moves her hands to tangle in golden locks.
Deepening the kiss as she puts everything she is unable to express into it, Lena feels a thrill rush through her when Kara responds in kind.
Making out passionately for several minutes, exploring the bold new step they've just taken in their relationship, Lena is lost to everything but her senses as the knowledge that Kara feels the same way is almost more than she can handle, so she is caught completely by surprise when she feels a hand caress the bare skin of her lower back. Letting out a gasp as the sensation send sparks of pure pleasure shooting throughout her entire body and cause her fingers to instinctively tighten in Kara's hair, Lena breaks the kiss to try and regain some control of her rapidly spiralling libido.
“Oh my god, Kara....!!” Panting for breath as the undeterred blonde on top of her simply shifts her focus to lavishing Lena's neck with attention, the normally put together businesswoman lets out a long moan as the Super finds a particularly sensitive spot just behind her ear.
Feeling her resolving slipping under the strength of desire pounding through her body, and the hand she can feel inching it's way further under her shirt, Lena almost gives into the moment. Having wanted to be with Kara for so long she almost forgets own promise, but luckily Kara reminds her.
“You're mine, Lena-” growling low in her throat, the Super sounds so unlike the normally light and bubbly woman that she is used to that it surprises Lena for a moment, but the possessive quality in it sends a thrill through her “-and I'm yours, forever”.
Hearing the words manage to snap Lena out of her arousal induced fog, despite sending her pulse into the stratosphere at how sexy Kara's voice sounded while saying them, and she reluctantly places her hands on the ones currently trying to explore her body.
Feeling Kara still instantly, Lena smiles softly.
Even lost to desire, her gentle Super will always respect her boundaries, and it makes her love for Kara grow even more. “As much as I would love to let your amazing hands continue creating the incredible feelings they are making, I want our first time to be more that a mess of spilt secrets and tears cried into shoulders”.
Leaning back to put a little distance between them, so that she can try and regain some equilibrium - and stop herself from once again ravaging the gorgeous visage that is Lena with kiss swollen lips and mussed hair, Kara gazes at the woman beneath her with a cheeky look. “Who said you were getting past first base tonight, Luthor?”
“Oh...well I...” Stammering as she realises how presumptuous she's just been, Lena flushes bright red.
“I'm only kidding, sweetie”. Chuckling at the reaction, Kara can't help dropping a soft kiss onto Lena lips to interrupt her, and when she pulls back she is satisfied to see she has stopped the babbling. Giving her a flirty wink, Kara purrs playfully. “Have you SEEN you? You were totally about to hit a home run”.
Bursting out laughing at the look of devilish delight on Kara's face, Lena feels all her worries dissipate, and her heart swells with pure love for the amazing woman she is lucky enough to now know returns her affections.
“Well, be that as it may, I am not the kind of woman to give up the goods so easily. You're going to have to work a little harder before you get to unwrap your present”. Lifting her eyebrow teasingly, Lena is delighted to see Kara's eyes darken and her throat bob as she swallows heavily. “So, tomorrow night, you are going to dress up nice and then pick me up. Because we are going to go out on our first, official, date”.
“A...a date?”
Stuttering adorably, Kara is slightly stunned by the image conjured up by Lena's flirtatious words. Having trouble thinking properly due to the fact that she is fighting her once again raging hormones, all she can picture right now is peeling the gorgeous woman out of her clothes and discovering all the 'goodies' within.
“Yes, a date”. Smiling at the dazed expression on the blonde's face, Lena giggles as she cups Kara's cheek tenderly. “I want to take my girlfriend out to dinner so I can stare at her beautiful face while she inhales her food faster than the speed of light, and play footsie under the table while she steals my dessert”.
“Hey, I don't always steal it!” Snapped out of her daze, Kara flushes at being described as a food hog. “You offer it to me most of the tim....did you just call me your girlfriend?”
Seeing the stunned look return to Kara's face, Lena smiles softly. “You caught that bit huh?”
“Are... are you sure?” The crinkle makes a reappearance as Kara frowns. “I want you to know that you can take as much time as you need, to be sure that I'm truly who you want to be with, because honestly Lena, it's not going to be all kittens and puppies dating a Super. Lois can tell you that”.
“Lois? As is Lois Lane?”
Eyes widening as she sees the moment Lena makes the connection, Kara slaps her hands over her face and groans in frustrated disappointment at herself. Dragging her hands down just enough to peek at Lena over her fingertips, Kara's words are muffled against her palms when she speaks. “Sooooo, that wasn't quite how I planned to tell you who Superman was, but yeah”.
Placing her hands over Kara's forearms and pulling gently to remove the embarrassed girls fingers from covering up her blushing face, Lena leans up and places a chaste kiss on the newly revealed lips. “All that matters is that you told me. No more secrets”.
Grateful that she has taken the news well, Kara focuses back on what she was saying before the slip up. “Seriously though, Lena, it's something you need to think about. You had feelings for Kara Danvers, not Supergirl, and in reality I'm Kara Zor-El; which is way more complicated than either on their own. We are going to face days that will be hard, because I never know what I may face when I fly out to a situation, or if that will be the day I never return home”.
Feeling herself get emotion as she remembers all the times she'd had to prepare herself to never see Alex again, Kara finds tears welling up in her eyes at the thought of doing the same with Lena.
“So if you need to take some time to think about whether you can face that life of uncertainty or not, then I am willing to wait for you. Just know that my feelings for you will never change. You are all I want, Lena. In this life and any other”.
“Oh my darling-” once again cradling soft cheeks between her palms, Lena feels her heart almost burst with love as she gazes at the emotional woman straddling her “-you've been in my head since the moment I met you, my heart since the day I got to know you, and I honestly don't want to picture my life without you in it no matter whether those days are good or bad. I don't need another second to think about it, Kara Zor- El. I love all of you, and I'm yours until the end of time”.
Bursting into loud, happy tears at that, Kara leans down and kisses Lena in a messy show of delighted exuberance, but the laughter that bubbles out of her chest at the relief she feels tickles across their lips and forces the pair to break apart after a few short seconds.
Resting their foreheads together as they wrap their arms around each others waists, the pair bask in the feel of being close.
“Remind me to thank James for being so worried about people finding out he was a woman for a day that he risked our friendship rather than telling me the truth”.
Whispering softly as her body practically hums with contentment at how amazing it is to have the woman she loves finally in her embrace, Kara finds herself smiling as she pictures her next encounter with James.
“Because I'm pretty sure he won't find it so heartfelt AFTER I drop him off the roof of Catco as penance for allowing someone to touch your body without consent”.