Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They start out having lunch every other week or so.

It’s normal, it’s what friends do, Lena tells herself. God knows she’s spent long enough without someone genuinely interested in being her friend, so after the first few meetings with Kara, Lena throws herself into it with a passion. Besides, it’s nice to spend lunch breaks in the company of Kara, who’s always ready to talk about everything except the business at L-Corp, which is a relief, and who seems determined to make sure that Lena’s always eating more than enough.

A little into this arrangement, there’s one week when Kara ends up swinging by more times than usual. Three times, early in the morning and late in the afternoon, apologizing profusely but quickly following Lena’s gesture to sit down and pull out her notepad to ask Lena’s opinion on whatever ridiculous piece Carr’s assigned her to this time. And four times, when Kara shows up with arms overflowing with bags of food from whatever new take-out place she’s fancying (normally Chinese, Lena notes, carefully filing away that information) and fills Lena’s office with warm conversations and stories and laughter, and Lena loves it.

At first, Lena finds herself spending half her lunch breaks a week with Kara.

And then soon Kara’s there every single weekday, or Lena’s texting her to meet her out at some restaurant that she’s looked up and think Kara will love, and it reaches the point where Lena doesn’t even realize she’s started meeting up with Kara on Saturdays or Sundays to try out places around the city.

“You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you have some ulterior motive for spending all this time with me,” Lena says one afternoon. She says it teasingly, and Kara shoots her a wide grin in return, but really, Lena’s stomach is plummeting with nerves because she’s just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Lena doesn’t quite know what she would do with herself if Kara did just come out and reveal that she was just spending afternoon after afternoon with Lena for some personal gain. It would not be the first time, and it scares Lena to think about how carelessly she’d let Kara just come crashing into her life when her every instinct should know better.

And even though this is Kara Danvers, who Lena doesn’t think would ever voluntarily cause someone pain, Lena can’t help but think that that’s the reason why this can’t just be genuine. Lena knows that there’s no way the universe would give her someone as unfalteringly selfless and caring as Kara for a first friend, not after the trainwreck that’s been bestowed on the rest of her life.

“I think my only ulterior motive at the moment is making sure you get lunch, honestly,” Kara jokes after a moment, and it doesn’t take Lena more than a few seconds to figure out that the delay was because Kara somehow knew what Lena was worried about, and Lena’s pretty sure in that pause that she could see the gears stalling in Kara’s head while she searched for something reassuringly to say.

And Kara’s fidgeting with her glasses as she shoots Lena a sheepish smile, and knows that in her sudden panic she’s managed to still miss the mark. But it’s enough for Lena, enough for her to know that Kara just genuinely wants to be her friend, nothing else attached, and Lena’s heart soars as she smiles, even though there’s a small twist in her stomach as she quickly looks down. Lena pushes the twinge away: dealing with everything that comes from having a close friend for the first time in her life is enough to process without trying to add on other feelings on top of that.

The eyebrows start going up at CatCo when they watch Kara practically skip out of the office every afternoon, seeming somehow even more enthusiastic than she normally is. No one has a clue what’s up until the afternoon Lena walks into the bullpen with her arm brushing up against Kara’s, and half the room instantly falls silent, their eyes wide. James glances up from his desk in time to see Kara weaving through the room, oblivious to the stares of her coworkers because her mouth is excitedly going at about a million miles an hour. James actually stands to catch a glimpse of Lena’s face before they turn on their way to Kara’s office, because there’s no way that the Luthor won’t have her business face up in front of everyone’s stares, so he’s more than slightly dumbfounded when he sees rather than hears Lena let out a chuckle at something Kara says, her eyes never leaving the reporter’s face.

The floor is suddenly the most quiet it’s been since Cat Grant left, and instantly, the rumors start flying.

Chapter Text

“Oh my god, are they dating? ”

“Kara, dating a Luthor? Have you lost your mind?”

“It would explain why she’s the only one in the city actually writing good things about L-Corp.”

“Okay, but how do we even know that Lena’s-”

“Don’t you remember that big tabloid piece on her and that actress a few years ago? It was everywhere, mama Luthor lost it, remember?”

“Fine, but what about Kara? Is Kara even gay?”

“You guys, I took my mom to this cute Italian restaurant for lunch today, and Kara was there with Lena Luthor. ”

Kara remains blissfully ignorant to the gossip mills churning, much to James’s relief, although he knows that it’s only a matter of time before she lets the superhearing wander and pick up on it. Still, James can’t help but be a bit curious for himself whether there’s actually anything happening, even though he tells himself when he finally pulls Kara into his office for a quick chat that he’s doing it just to give her a heads up before one of their coworkers can corner her with the rumors.

“Did Winn or Alex call?” is the first thing out of Kara’s mouth, though, as soon as James closes the glass doors behind him, and she quickly dissolves into a tangent about how she’s left her phone somewhere (that somewhere being Lena Luthor’s office, which isn’t surprising at all). They don’t really do this here anymore, the quick conversations in passing, unless there’s some pressing hero business that they need to keep each other on top of while at work.

“Breathe, Kara, everyone’s okay,” James says, amused. “I just wanted to ask you about something.”

“Oh,” Kara says, grinning at her friend. “Yeah, okay, but it’s almost noon and I have to head out in a bit, so can we make this quick?”

“That’s… actually what I wanted to talk about,” James says. “How’s Lena?”

Kara blinks. She’d been expecting any odd number of things, but her friends asking after Lena outside of times when CADMUS is sneaking around is a first. “Lena?”

“I’m just curious, seeing as you go to see her practically every day, and now she’s turned up here a few times.”

“Um,” Kara says, uncertain as to where this conversation could be heading. “Yeah, she’s doing well.”

“Good, I’m glad,” James says, and Kara relaxes for a second because he sounds like he means it, which probably means that they’re not about to get into another argument about the Luthors. “It’s good, you know, seeing you this happy about being in a new… relationship.”

Kara beams, because yeah, she loves all the time she gets to spend with Lena, and now that she thinks about it, she loves spending time with Lena as much as she does with the Superfriends. She’d wanted to learn more about the Luthor from the moment she’d stepped into her office with Kal-El leading the way, but she hadn’t expected it to turn into this wonderful thing of spending hours talking and laughing and looking out for Lena, and Kara’s so grateful to Rao and whatever higher deities out there that it did.

“Lena’s great! She’s such a good friend, James, she’s the best.”

“A good friend, huh?” James says, and Kara pauses on her next sentence about Lena when she catches his raised eyebrow. She’s seen that amused look on his face, on their friends’ faces, before, but she’s still thinking about Lena and the way her whole face lights up when she laughs at one of Kara’s jokes, and she can’t quite place the expression, or why she suddenly feels like she’s been cornered.

“Yes?” Kara tries.

“Really,” James hums. “I’m just curious, you know. Might just be me, but the way you two act around each other, and you’re always hanging around L-Corp, so… it kind of looks like you two are dating, but if you say-”

And James stops then as Kara loses her grip on her pen and it hits something on the other side of the room with a loud clang. Kara’s pretty sure her face has gone bright red because her cheeks feel unusually warm, and she splutters and adjusts her glasses and searches for something to say, because her and Lena… dating? It’s such a wild concept to Kara that she can’t quite seem to hold it steady in her head for long enough to actually focus on it, and all she’s thinking about is running through all her past interactions with the CEO, because clearly, they’re just friends. It’s not like Kara’s even able to picture herself kissing Lena, or… or, um… doing other things…

Oh, no , Kara thinks, because there’s no way, and James is still there waiting for Kara to recover and reply and suddenly everything feels like a bit too much.

“Psshhhh,” is the reply Kara finally ends up being able to get out. “Me and Lena? Us? No, there’s no way, James. We’re just friends.”

“Somehow I think Lena may have missed that memo.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“James, clearly there was a something .”

“The way she watches you, though… have you seen how Maggie watches Alex sometimes? Like she’s her whole universe?”

“Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, James, maybe that’s because I’m the only person in National City who actually cares about Lena,” Kara bites back, even though she knows it’s a low blow and entirely unfair to Lena.

James raises his hands in surrender. “Maybe think about inviting her over to game night then, I’m sure the others will be happy to try and get to know her.”

“I’ll have to stop Alex from throwing her out the window first, and you don’t even really trust her.”

“Kara,” James says. “I know I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again - and you know I trust your judgement - but I just want you to be prepared. I know she seems like a good person, but even I thought that about Lex before-”

“Stop,” Kara says, thumbing up her glasses so that she can rub the bridge of her nose. Kara doesn’t get them that often, but she’s pretty sure she can feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. Kara can’t even begin to count the number of times she’s heard this argument from literally everyone in her life in the past few months, even as they all try to preface with “yeah, she is acting like a good guy, but-”, and she’s beginning to get so tired of hearing it.

“We’re not doing… this,” Kara says, waving a hand vaguely between them, “now. Listen, I’ve got to go, okay?”

Kara is glad that James doesn’t say anything to stop her from turning and leaving, because she’s run through this argument so many times now that she doesn’t even know what to try and say anymore. She’s glad, because the clock on the wall is telling her that no matter how fast she goes, she’s still going to be later than she usually is, and the last thing she wants is for Lena to think that Kara’s bailed on her. She’s glad, because there’s no way he hears the words mumbled under her breath as she stalks out of the bullpen.

Unfortunately, Snapper does.

“It’s not like who would ever be interested in you, Danvers?”

“No one! Nobody!” Kara splutters, trying to figure out where her boss had even come from.

“Right answer,” Snapper says, eyeing Kara over the top of his glasses and looking thoroughly unimpressed. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Sorry! Sorry, I was just talking to James and-”

“Keep the story, I’m not interested,” Snapper says, handing her the stack of folders in his hands. He lets go so quickly that Kara almost drops them. “I need the edits on all of these done by the editorial meeting this afternoon.”

Kara blinks, quickly flipping open the top folder and skimming the contents. “But these aren’t- I mean, that’s not my-”

“I don’t care, someone needs to get them done and that person is going to be you,” Snapper grumbles, turning. Kara’s about to make a face at his retreating back when he pauses and looks back. “Unless, of course, that happens to be the sound of Cat Grant’s beloved protege complaining? ”

“No, sir,” Kara manages, and she’s scowling all the way back to her office at how easily Snapper can use the Cat card to gain the upper hand. Her chair creaks uneasily as Kara throws herself down on it with a bit more force than necessary. She glances at the clock again, then the stack on her desk, and Kara’s pretty sure she feels her heart sink as she regretfully reaches for her phone… and pauses.

On Kara’s calendar, there’s a small reminder about the proposal meeting Lena gave this morning and to bring over something sweet to help distract the CEO from worrying about whether their new investors will sign the deal. Kara puts her hand back down and drums her fingers along the edge of her desk, thinking. It’s a day they’d planned for Kara to bring something and to eat in Lena’s office, and Kara just knows that if she doesn’t show up with food, Lena will probably let her nerves overwhelm her hunger, and with the amount of stress Lena probably has on her plate today, that’s really one of the last things she should be doing.

Or at least, that’s the reason Kara gives herself when she’s striding into Lena’s office twenty minutes later, edits tucked under one arm while she juggles boxes of Italian food and potstickers. That’s really the only reason, Kara repeats as Lena quickly moves to take the food out of Kara’s hands. It’s not like she really needed to see Lena’s smile when she looks up to see Kara, or misses the way she gently squeezes Kara’s arm in gratitude for coming over, despite it being a regular occurrence.

“Is it just me, or is this less food than usual?” Lena teases, taking a quick peek into the closest bag.

“No, it is, actually,” Kara replies, adjusting her glasses. “I’d love to stay, Lena, but I’ve got some stuff to go finish up.”

“You came all the way just to bring me food?”

“I thought you might need it after your proposal this morning,”

“You still didn’t have to,” Lena says quietly, turning to lean against her desk and face Kara. “Nothing too serious going on, I hope.”

“Oh, nope,” Kara says, pulling the folders of edits to be done out from under her arm and giving them a quick wave. “Snapper just gave me a bunch of these to go through, and he needs them done in a few hours.”

“That’s no reason why you have to go,” Lena says quickly. “You can stay! I mean, you can use the coffee table to work, and I could do with some company.”

Kara hesitates, turning over her options, and Lena’s expression suddenly loses a touch of her normal confidence. “Of course, I’ll just be going through monthly reports, but if you think that’ll be too much of a distraction, then feel free to-”

“No, no, thanks! I’d love to stay,” Kara says quickly, seeing the uncertainty still on Lena’s face and quickly adding. “Really, I mean it, you’re not going to be that much of a distraction, I promise.” Kara beams just to reinforce the statement, even though she’s pretty sure there’s a sliver of subconscious that’s now back there screaming, What are you doing of course Lena’s going to be distracting have you ever seen her Kara what are you doing!!!

Kara knows that she’s probably doomed her chances of finishing on time, but any wrath Snapper Carr might choose to send her way is made worth it by the wide, genuine smile Lena gives her before she hurries to clear her binders off the low table to give Kara space. Kara settles down and spreads out her edits before cracking open her box of potstickers. Honestly, Kara had thought that even when working in silence, Lena would still prove to be a distraction: Kara knows she normally can’t help herself from checking in all the time to see how Lena’s doing. She ends up proving herself wrong, though, because the second Lena returns to her desk to eat and do her own work, it’s almost as like she isn’t even in the same room.

Well, she is, of course, and sure, Kara’s aware of Lena sitting just a few feet away, but it’s a comfortable silence that sits between them as their pens scribble away, and Kara doesn’t really realize that she’s letting the rhythmic sound of Lena’s heartbeat and breathing past her filters to fill her ears as she scans the pages in front of her.

Neither of them realize how long they’ve been at it until the doors swing open and Jess steps in, stopping in her tracks when she spots Kara hunched over the coffee table. Lena glances up and notices Jess first, and the secretary lurches back into action to step forward and hand Lena a large envelope, the slight crinkling of the paper causing Kara to look up too, blinking.

“Sorry, Miss Luthor, I thought Miss Danvers might have left when I stepped out,  I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, that’s alright, Jess,” Lena says. “Will that be all?”

“Except for your conference call in half an hour, yes.”

“Already?” Lena glances at the time, surprised at how long they’ve been working. Lena thinks it’s been months since she’s been able to get this much done in just one afternoon.

Jess leaves as Kara begins to gather her things, and Lena feels a pinch of sadness as she rises to meet her, even though she knows Kara has to go, and Lena’s lucky enough to have had her company for the better part of an afternoon.

“I hope you’re not going to miss your deadline,” Lena says, suddenly realizing that if she had lost track of time, Kara might have as well.

“No, actually! I’m practically finished, and there’s still an hour or so before Snapper’s meeting,” Kara replies, bouncing on her feet then quickly drawing Lena in for a quick hug. Lena indulges herself for a moment, closing her eyes and taking in the flowery scent that always seems to hover around the other woman, before Kara pulls back and adjusts her bag. “I should get going, though.”

“Wait, I’ll walk you out,” Lena says, quickly trailing behind Kara out into the hallway. The elevator’s there far too quickly for them to say anything more than a quick farewell and a promise to go out for lunch the next day. Lena watches until the doors slide all the way shut, and she turns just in time to see Jess quickly look back down at her desk.

“What?” Lena laughs, because Jess has been her secretary for years now and Lena knows the face she makes when there’s something she wants to say.

“Nothing,” Jess says, even though Lena can tell by the quirk on the edge of her smile that this is going to be a good one.

“Jess. Please.”

“You’re not one to share your office with just anyone,” Jess remarks. She tilts her head slightly, thinking. “... ever.”

“With Kara, a close friend, you mean?”

“... for a whole afternoon. That’s one heck of a friendship you’ve got on your hands, Miss Luthor. ”

“Haven’t you got work to do?” Lena asks, and she knows she says it teasingly, but Lena still shuts the door of her office behind her a little harder than usual, and suddenly she’s so, so tired. Because yes, she knows that she likes Kara Danvers more than she’s ever really liked anyone before, but she doesn’t even really know what it feels like to care for someone as a friend, much less as anything… else. And honestly, by this point, Lena tells herself that she doesn’t care how it’s happening, no matter what she might want, so long as she gets to keep Kara in her life.

God, she needs a nap.

And besides, the odds of a Luthor and a Super happening? Not very fucking likely, Lena knows.

Chapter Text

Lena’s not stupid. Actually, she’s surprised it took her as long as it did to put the pieces together, and she’s surprised that all of National City hasn’t figured it out by now, because it gets pretty obvious once you look closely… or maybe it’s just because Lena is privy to just a bit more information than most of the city’s population. She knows, of course, that Clark Kent is Superman, and so she was  already on guard when he first walked into her office, but the blonde by his side had thrown her off. And, once she’d met both Kara and Supergirl up close a few times, though, eyes scanning the other woman’s face during the duration of their conversations, there really was no doubt about it.

That, along with “I flew here… on a bus!”, which ended up being only the first in an endless stream of flustered cover-ups.

Lena knows that Kara suspects that she knows, even as they continue to walk around the topic, as Lena teasingly makes references to Kara’s relationship to Supergirl and Kara responds with a laugh and a quick adjustment of her glasses, and sometimes Lena’s just dying to talk about it but thinks it’s better to just leave it.

And in the end, Lena’s glad that they never really have a proper talk about it, that it just falls into place, because that would just be insulting to both of them after this long skirting around the subject. Instead, Kara ends up tripping over the end of Lena’s couch one afternoon, almost taking Lena down with her in a hard fall, and it’s only with a quick boost of flight that they both end up on their feet… so to speak. Lena’s feet aren’t quite touching the ground and Kara’s just hovering , arms wrapped around Lena’s midsection as she stares at the CEO with wide eyes.

“... oops?” Kara says eventually, because really, they don’t make guides about the right thing to say in these situations.

“Good to know the powers are useful for things other than fighting crime,” Lena teases. “My furniture better not be anymore dented when you let me down from here, Kara.”

Kara lets go of Lena so fast that she almost drops her, fumbling over her words as she quickly says that she hadn’t realized they were hovering, but Kara’s grinning as she helps Lena pick up their scattered papers, and Lena can tell straightaway that there’s a little more ease in the way Kara moves around her office. The difference is so small that Lena barely sees it, and Lena smiles to herself even as Kara’s head snaps up and she fumbles with her pen before nervously looking over at Lena and saying, “I’m so sorry, Lena, but I have to-”

“Go,” Lena says, waving towards the balcony. “National City needs it’s Supergirl.”

Kara beams and almost knocks Lena out of her chair when she rushes around the desk to give the CEO a quick hug, before rushing out onto the balcony and disappearing off into the sky.

And because Lena now definitely knows about Supergirl, it’s not long before Kara is showing up at Lena’s office late at night to pull Lena from her work and bring her back to Kara’s apartment to join the Superfriends for movies and game night. Kara’s sure that the both of them are beyond nervous the first night: the only reason Kara’s even held off inviting her this long is because she didn’t know how the others would react, because they had been trying, especially recently, to see things from Kara’s point of view, but Kara still remembers Alex’s words, James’s words, Winn’s words, hell, everyone’s words criticizing and doubting the young Luthor. Kara knows that as strong as she might seem to be, Lena still struggles with all that constantly. The last place she needed to hear that criticism from was from Kara’s friends and family.

But the whole thing goes over surprisingly well, and Lena laughs and joins in on their games and trashes them all in Monopoly before proceeding to kick Winn’s ass when they’re the last two left in every round of the card games they play. It goes well, and Kara could kiss Maggie because half the evening’s success is honestly owed to Alex’s girlfriend, for reaching out and always drawing Lena back into the conversation when the others get too carried away rambling about some event or joke Lena hadn’t been there for, for remembering how nervous she’d been the first time she joined the Superfriends for game night and how much it would help for Lena to know that she had someone other than Kara in her corner when she got there.

“Okay?” Kara asks afterwards, when they’re standing out in the hall and everyone else is gone and Lena finally lets out a loud exhale, posture relaxing slightly.

“Yeah, fine,” Lena says, smiling to let Kara know she means it. “It was nice. More than nice, actually. I’ve never really had… this before.”

“Well, you’re part of the family now, Lena, and you’re always welcome,” Kara says, reaching out to intertwine her fingers with Lena’s and letting their hands sway gently together for a moment before Lena says goodbye and quickly disappears down the hall.

The next week, there’s a resounding shout of Lena’s name as Kara opens the front door for her, and Kara watches as James hands the CEO a drink and Winn slings his arm around her shoulders in greeting, and Lena stiffens for barely a heartbeat before relaxing and grinning back at Kara, who files the scene in front of her away as one of her favorite moments ever before letting herself be drawn into the chaos.

“The universe couldn’t have picked a more perfect couples of idiots to throw together,” Maggie says under her breath several weeks later, ignoring the way James and Winn exchange pointed glances over the top of her head. Alex, on the other hand, looks instantly over at the couch, forehead furrowing in confusion for a few moments until she looks back at the others. Maggie, James and Winn all raise their eyebrows at her in unison, and then it clicks.

“Oh my god, leave me out of this one,” Alex groans, reaching across the kitchen counter to grab something to nibble on in distraction.

Still, Alex rolls her eyes as the others draw her slightly closer into their little kitchen huddle as they look over at the television again, to where Lena and Kara are sitting way too close together on the couch as Kara tries to teach Lena how to play the new video game Winn brought over, even though Lena’s clearly gotten the hang of it, and Kara’s fighting to keep up. They watch as Kara grows frustrated and eventually lunges across the little space between them to try and grab at Lena’s controller (because Kara can play dirty in video games when she wants to), and Lena yanks the device away, leaving the two of them tangled up like puppies as they try not to die, even while laughing their heads off.

“I’m honestly not sure which of them is worse,” Maggie whispers, knowing that Kara’s too distracted to hear them. “Alex?”

“I told you, I’m-”

“We all know you’re as interested in this as we are- hey!” Winn protests, ducking away from the popcorn that Alex flicks at his forehead.

“It’s both of them,” James says quietly. “I mean, Kara’s always been pretty oblivious to just about everyone else who’s ever been interested in her, or liked her back.” James tilts his head at Winn as he says this, Winn raising his drink slightly in agreement.

“She reads everything as an act of kindness or friendship instead of anything else, I think,” Maggie adds, thinking back.

“And, Lena…” Winn starts, and they all grow quiet as they look back at Lena.

Because there’s Lena Luthor, who by some stroke of fate had ended up in a horrible family, and who’s spent most of her life not really having anyone to call a friend. Lena, who doesn’t have any idea how to treat a friend differently from someone she might be in love with, who they’ve all seen bend over backwards for Kara almost every day without even realizing she’s doing it. And of course it’s all for Kara, who might actually be the worst person for her to be doing all this with, because it’s guaranteed that everything’s going straight over Kara’s head and disappearing off into space somewhere, and Kara and Lena are never any the wiser as to what’s actually going on between them. But there’s no doubt that it’s there, and if anything, all four of them can see it in the way Lena’s changed since the first times they’ve each met her, changed over just the course of a few months with Kara, changed into someone who can relax and laugh and let herself be happy for once in her life.

“I think I need a drink,” Alex says, shaking her head at the two women on the couch.

Chapter Text

Attacks at L-Corp have been far and few between for a while now, with CADMUS lying low again, and with it not exactly being a convenient place for alien escapees to end up. Still, Lena’s pretty sure that Kara’s constant patrols of the area probably has something to do with it too, but either way, Lena definitely feels safer leaving the building to walk on her way to meet Kara for lunch nowadays.

It’s a good time while it lasts, even though they’ve only barely finished eating when Kara’s phone goes off and she has to leave, muttering something about alien weapons as she hugs Lena and darts out of the restaurant. Lena’s still got plenty of time before she has to be back before her afternoon meetings, and lets herself indulge in a quick browse through a nearby bookstore, before taking the long walk through a park back to her building.

Lena’s only just turning onto the familiar street where her corporation is located when something comes hurtling out of the sky, crashing into a parked car and sending it skidding down the road. The chaos is almost instantaneous as Lena stands frozen for a moment before ducking into the open walkway beneath a building. She pauses, taking a moment to collect her breath, before taking stock of the alien that’s regained it’s bearing and is proceeding to smash open the delivery truck outside the bakery, of the running crowds, of places where people might possibly need help.

The Lena Luthor of a year ago would have wanted to go to someone’s aid, much like Lena wants to do in this moment, but would have drawn back because years of living with the Luthors have taught her to recoil at any sight of danger, to hide and protect herself until it passes, that self-preservation is the only way to succeed.

Today’s Lena, who’s spent the past few months in almost constant contact with Kara Danvers, sees a small blonde girl with Supergirl socks lost in the middle of the street, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks, and she freezes. Lena freezes, but not to calculate the possibility of someone else getting there first before she can turn away without drowning in guilt. Lena freezes because she knows there’s so many people who are closer, but who could be distracted by so many other things, and people are shouting that there’s no sign of Supergirl yet, and Lena knows what she’s going to do a moment before she does it and she just knows that she’s going to kick herself for it later but won’t regret it for a moment, but it’s hearing Supergirl’s name that propels Lena into motion, out from under the overhang and into the open.

“Hey!” Lena shouts, and the little girl turns. Lena’s half-ducking as she darts into the street, keeping the edge of her vision trained on the monstrosity flipping a truck over down the road. She thinks that maybe, just maybe, she’ll have enough time to get them both to safety, so Lena calls out again, a little quieter this time. The girl’s full attention is now on Lena, who reaches out a hand, almost sobbing with relief when the girl takes it as a sign of help and comes running to meet her.

“Hey, hey there,” Lena whispers as the girl barrels into her, almost knocking her off her feet. Glancing down the road again, Lena weighs her options before tugging the girl besides her to kneel in the shadow of an overturned car and catch their breath.

“Okay, hey,” Lena says quietly, rubbing a smudge of dirt off the girl’s cheek as she sniffles. “What’s your name?”

It takes a few stifled sobs and deep breaths before Lena manages to get a muffled “Charity” out of the girl.

“Okay, Charity, I’m Lena. Do you know where your mother went?”

The girl’s - Charity’s - lip wobbles, and Lena feels a familiar flash of anger towards all the mothers who aren’t as mindful as they could be, should be.

For now, though, Lena has bigger things to worry about.

There’s a renewed round of screams as Lena cautiously stands to take a look over the car. Something’s positively blazing down the street, and it seems the alien-of-the-day is currently distracted by it’s own destruction. Lena wants to stall, wants to wait for Supergirl to show up. She can hear rapidly approaching sirens in the distance, but if Lena turns she can see the reinforced lobby of the L-Corp building just down the road.

“Damn it,” Lena mutters. “Charity, when I say go, we’re going to run as fast as we can towards the building there, the one that says L-Corp, okay? It’s safe there, it’s safe from the bad aliens, and then we’ll be able to try and find your mother.”

Charity nods, and after a pause for Lena to slip off her heels (yes, running across the warm asphalt won’t be fun, but Lena’s smart enough to know they’ll be more of a hindrance than a bonus), Lena takes Charity’s small hand in hers, whispers a quick “hurry, Supergirl, please ” as another ear-splitting shriek fills the air, and runs into the street before her courage deserts her.

Of course, everything goes to hell before they even make it halfway there, and Lena isn’t the least bit surprised.

Familiar vans screech around the corner just as the ground seems to tear itself out from under them, and Lena fills her stomach flip along with one of the vans even as she lunges for Charity to take the most of the impact as they hit the ground. Lena’s immediately flipping her hair out of her face to scan the swarm of agents emerging from the vans and rushing to help those in the wreck.

It’s not until after she’s helped Charity up that Lena finally makes eye contact with Alex Danvers across the street, her heart swelling in relief for Kara’s sake. The moment is short-lived, because the next thing Lena notices is that Alex goes pale and her eyes widen as she breaks into a run, lifting her gun, but she’s no Kara and she’s nowhere close when Lena and Charity are lifted into the air by a large, rough, and slightly slimy hand.

Lena’s thinking too many things to be able to keep the next sequence of events entirely in order in her head when she thinks back on it later. She’s pretty sure she sees Alex and Maggie approaching cautiously, guns drawn. Lena knows there’s a mild pain in her arm as the alien shifts, knows she tries to keep her arms braced around Charity to try and keep most of the pressure off of her small body. Lena will never be sure what got the alien’s attention, but it turns sharply and lets out an angry roar as it tightens it’s grip, and Lena finally lets a muffled scream escape her mouth.

It’s the scream that saves them.

Kara’s on the other side of the city dealing with the aliens who’ve managed to get their hands on straggling CADMUS weapons that the DEO hadn’t managed to completely confiscate on their last few busts. With the small team with her, they’ve managed to take down most of them when the call about the other rogue alien rampaging downtown comes in. Alex assured her that they could handle it until Kara finishes up, and Kara was more than willing to agree, because the small gang is getting closer and closer to a middle school and Kara wants to stay to be sure (not that she doesn’t trust these five DEO agents to manage on their own, but kids in danger makes her nervous and puts her on edge).

She’s tuning out most of the sounds that surround her, but a scream passes her filters that almost knocks her out of the sky when she hears it. And then Kara’s spinning around, saying to the others that she’s got to go, because there’s only a handful of people around the city who she’s keeping tabs on in the back of her mind, and from the second she hears the scream all she can think is Lena, Lena, Lena.

Kara takes the turn onto L-Corp’s street carelessly, almost colliding with one of the corner buildings. She quickly finds Alex and Maggie, still safe, not a priority, then. Kara watches the alien roar and smash his hand into the ground where an empty DEO van now sits, and when it leans back, that’s when she finally pinpoints Lena in the giant’s other fist.

“No, no, no,” Kara mutters, seeing the way the alien’s arm tenses slightly, and she’s already speeding towards them when Lena and another small body are carelessly tossed at a building. Kara’s there, putting herself between the human bodies and the concrete, but they’re going too fast and she’s not quick enough getting a grip on them, and the three of them hit the concrete with too much velocity, shrapnel flying around them.

Kara lets gravity pull them down the wall, the little girl struggling free of Lena and Kara’s grip the second they’re down and shakily watching Supergirl turn Lena over in her arms. For a moment Kara panics, cataloguing the blood running down Lena’s arm from a series of deep gashes, and the fact that the whole limb is turning an odd color, but eventually Kara calms enough to isolate the sound of Lena’s fluttering heartbeat, and Kara could almost sob with relief.

Kara looks up, eyes flashing dangerously, as her gaze falls on the alien, now distracted by James’s appearance as the Guardian down the street. Then Alex’s warm hand is on her shoulder, and Maggie is picking up the little girl and murmuring something quietly, even with her gun still raised and trained across the street.

“Go,” Alex urges, starting to tug Lena off Kara’s lap. Kara hangs around for another moment, until Lena is safely in Alex’s grasp, and shoots off. Normally, Kara tries to keep property damage to a bare minimum if she can, but there’s no trace of guilt at all as she barrels at full speed into the alien’s chest, driving them both down into the asphalt.

Chapter Text

Lena wakes up in the middle of the packed DEO medbay, disoriented for a moment until she spots Alex on the other side of the room.

“Whoa, there,” Winn says, appearing from seemingly nowhere to gently push Lena back down as she tries to get up from the cot. “Alex! Lena’s up.”

Alex is by her side in a second, looking down at Lena with a critical eye. “How are you feeling?”

“Like an alien just tried to kill me,” Lena says, surprised at the effort it takes to get the words out without slurring. “And… kind of fuzzy? Where’s Kara?”

“That would be the pain meds,” Alex notes, her eyes already scanning the room again. Lena notices that the other woman has barely been still in the few seconds since she’d walked up, and she knows that Lena is torn between wanting to make sure she’s okay and leaving again to help patch up her agents.

“Kara and James are still out on clean-up,” Winn answers.

“Here, let me look at your arm,” Alex says. “They did a basic clean-up while you were out, but I want to check it again.”

“It’s fine,” Lena says immediately, even though a sharp ache shoots through her arm with every small movement. Still, she’s nowhere close to being the most banged up person in the room, and Lena doesn’t want to be a waste of resources when there’s so many others who deserve it more than she does. It’s not like she needs to be in tip-top shape to run around helping to save the city every day, anyways.

Alex doesn’t buy into it for a second, though, shooting Lena a cryptic look. “I’d hate to break it to you, Lena, but you could have lost your arm entirely.”

“Yeah, all the little concrete bits we had to pick out didn’t help it almost getting crushed in the first place at all.”

“Hush, Winn, didn’t you come down here to help fetch supplies?”

“Clearly, my arm is still attached to my body. Really, Alex, I’m completely fine,” Lena says. “I just want to go home and rest, and I’m certified to treat this myself, you know.”

Alex levels Lena with her best glare. It may well work on almost everyone else in the building, but Lena grew up with Lillian Luthor, has stared down more stubborn old businessmen than she can ever hope to count. The frosty gaze Lena gives back in return is enough of a match for Alex, who finally relents.

“I’m assigning someone to drive you back to your apartment,” Alex says, “and I’m going to redo your bandage before you go.”

Lena rolls her eyes but let’s Alex unwrap her current bandage, still too out of it to want to waste more time arguing. It’s probably also because of the drugs that Lena’s halfway out the door before she remembers.

“Alex!” she calls. “How’s Charity?”

“Charity?”

“The little girl,” Lena clarifies.

Alex’s face softens slightly from the front she keeps up at the DEO. “Maggie took her back to the station and they found her mother.”

“Good,” Lena says, turning to go.

“Lena!” Alex says, waiting until Lena has turned back to look at her before continuing. “You know… the only two civilian injuries happened right near the spot where witnesses placed her standing before you got to her. That’s two grown men who’ve ended up in the hospital, but she’s just a small child… you did good, Lena.”

Lena hesitates briefly, something in her heart swelling slightly at being praised for doing good, for being a good person, especially from Alex, who holds her praise close to her chest except for a rare few people, and Lena walks out quickly before she gets completely overwhelmed.

Under J’onn’s orders, Guardian and Supergirl end up escorting the alien out to the desert base, both for everyone’s general safety and because wheeling a giant alien into the parking lobby of the base in the middle of the city might be a bit too obvious for a supposedly undercover government organization. It’s late by the time they finish up, and after Kara flies James back to his apartment and makes a quick stop by her own place to change into something more casual, she picks up dinner from Lena’s favorite place downtown and heads off in search of the CEO.

Lena is slower unlocking her door than she usually is, and she gives Kara a tired grin when she finally gets it open.

“You okay?” Lena asks as Kara steps in, fidgeting with her glasses.

“Am I okay?” Kara replies incredulously, looking Lena up and down to make sure she’s still in one piece. “You’re the one who got caught up in all of that, and Rao, I don’t think I’ve ever been more terrified in my life.”

Kara reaches out to pull Lena into a hug, wanting to reassure herself again of the other woman’s safety, but she immediately draws away when she brushes Lena’s arm and Lena flinches.

“I’m so sorry!” Kara says, panicking, and Lena reaches out with her good arm to calm the hero down before she works herself into a frenzy.

“I’m okay,” Lena says seriously, knowing that Kara won’t buy it if she tries to make a joke out of it. “You didn’t have to come by, you know. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

“No, no! I kind of felt like I had to.”

Lena raises an eyebrow at this. “Oh?”

Kara fidgets, falls quiet, and Lena notices that the other woman is suddenly refusing to meet her eyes.

“It’s my fault you got hurt,” she blurts, after Lena’s just about decided that she’s probably not going to get anything out of the reporter tonight. “I was the one who wanted to go out to that restaurant, and I was the one who left you there to head back on your own, and I made the choice not to respond to that call because Alex said they could handle it but, oh, Rao, I didn’t know that you were going to be there-”

“Kara, it’s-”

“- and I could have left, I could have gone to you, because they had the other situation handled too and I don’t know what I was thinking, and I almost got there too late and you put yourself in harm for that little girl and that was so brave, Lena, I’m so proud-”

“Kara, honey, really-”

“- but I had to watch it fling you towards that building, and I didn’t slow us down fast enough and we still hit it so hard, and you weren’t moving and I got so scared for a moment there, Lena, and I didn’t know what I would have done if-”

“Kara!” Lena finally says, raising her voice loud enough to get Kara’s attention. Kara clamps her mouth shut instantly, looking at Lena with wide eyes, and Lena can’t help wincing inside at how the other woman is tearing up. “You’ve done so much good for this city, you’ve saved so many people, but there’s no way that you can save everyone, every time-”

“But I-”

“What matters is that you try, Kara,” Lena whispers, reaching out to grab Kara’s hand and squeeze it reassuringly. “You save everyone you possibly can, and I’m glad you got there when you did, but never, ever beat yourself up for thinking that you didn’t do enough.”

Lena waits for Kara to squeeze her hand back, waits for Kara to look up at her, but when she does, Lena can still see the guilt and the worry in her eyes.

“Okay?” Lena prompts gently.

“Okay,” Kara says back after a moment, managing a smile.

“Good,” Lena says, letting go of Kara’s hand even though it’s really the last thing she wants to do. “Thank you for bringing us dinner, by the way. I was worried about trying to figure out what I could cook with one arm.”

“You’re welcome!” Kara says, quickly rushing to get the bags before Lena can to bring them to the kitchen.

“I’m not completely out of it, Kara, I think I could have managed that.”

“No, I want to help,” Kara says, eyes falling to the way Lena moves to open a drawer for silverware before wincing and reaching out with her other hand. “How’s your arm? Alex texted me that she gave it a quick look but that we should probably check it.”

“It’s better than it was a few hours ago,” Lena says, shifting it slightly. “More aching, less stabbing, if you get what I mean. She gave me an ointment for it, and I’ve got new bandages in the bathroom, but it’s going to be a pain to fix-up.”

“I’ll do it,” Kara volunteers immediately. “There’s no point in you hurting yourself even more trying to do it yourself.”

“I’m not going to hurt myself,” Lena says, rolling her eyes.

“Still. Now, or after dinner?”

“Now,” Lena decides. “I was about to get changed when you showed up, so might as well.”

Lena turns and leaves, and Kara follows her to her bedroom, trailing behind her and not quite sure why she’s suddenly getting nervous.

“Ointment’s there,” Lena says, gesturing to her bedside table. “And the bandages are in the bottom right cabinet under the sink, I think? Do you mind getting those? It’ll probably be easier to put on once I get out of this shirt.”

“Right! Yeah, of course,” Kara says quickly, spinning around to head into the bathroom. She glances back once before she goes to see Lena pulling a tank top out of her closet. It’s a shame about her collared button-down shirt, Kara thinks before she goes. It’s completely destroyed now, with most of one sleeve torn off from the alien and from Alex while treating her arm, but Kara had quite liked it.

Lena’s still in it when Kara returns with the bandages in hand, though, and Kara pauses in the doorway for a moment, watching Lena struggle with the small buttons with her one hand.

“Doing okay there?” Kara finally asks, somewhat amused that of all the things, a handful of buttons are what Lena’s struggling with.

“The angle is weird,” Lena snarks back, grimacing. “I’m perfectly capable of doing this with one hand, really. It’s just… not this one.”

“Need help?” Kara asks, setting the bandages down next to the ointment. It’s only when she looks up and sees the expression quickly disappearing from Lena’s face that she realizes what she’s asked, but it’s too late to try and fumble or retract the offer because Lena’s already saying sure and putting her good arm down.

Swallowing, Kara steps into Lena’s space, meeting Lena’s eyes before looking down at the first button. It’s not like they haven’t been this close before, they’ve been this close plenty of times, so Kara has no idea why her stomach is suddenly fluttering with nerves as she reaches out for that top button and her knuckles accidently brush the skin again Lena’s collarbones.

And suddenly Kara feels her cheeks grow warm, and stumbles with the next few buttons before finding a rhythm and speeding through the rest, taking a step back and turning quickly before the sides of Lena’s shirt completely fall open. Kara takes a quick breath before looking back, bandages and ointment in hand, only to find Lena still standing there, looking at Kara with a quizzical look.

“Everything okay?” she asks.

“Yup!” Kara chirps back, surprised at how she’s managed to find her voice. “Ready when you are!”

Lena gives Kara another look as she turns to shrug her shirt off and toss it against the front of her bed, and Kara finds herself needing to focus solely on the loose bottom end of Lena’s bandage as Lena sits down on the edge of her bed and flips her wrist over to make it easier for Kara to start unravelling it, which is hard when the only thing Kara can think for a hot few seconds is she’s so pale and lace and skin skin skin oh Rao, Kara, focus.

“Tell me if I’m going too fast,” Kara says quickly, settling herself on the mattress next to Lena and starting to slowly unwind the wrap from Lena’s arm, revealing the still raw skin underneath. Kara wants to focus on the still pinkish skin under her fingers, but she keeps catching her eyes shifting up every few seconds, and for the second time that night, she can’t bring herself to look Lena in the eyes because a storm’s brewing in her mind and Kara thinks she’s about two seconds from having a stroke.

Lena watches Kara as she works, brow furrowing slightly. There’s suddenly this odd tension in the room, something she hadn’t been expecting, and Lena knows what she wants it to be but what it probably isn’t, what it hasn’t been before. But Lena can feel Kara’s fingers shaking slightly against her arm, can hear the slight tremor in her voice and the very obvious way Kara trips over her words when she asks Lena if she’s applying too much pressure as she starts on the new bandage. Lena watches Kara’s eyes dart around the room frantically every time Kara looks up to say something at Lena only for her gaze to catch short of her chin, and by the time Lena’s arm is wrapped back up and Kara springs up from the bed as though she’s been burned, Lena’s pretty sure she knows what’s going on.

“You okay there, Danvers?” Lena asks teasingly, watching Kara jump slightly, eyes shooting up instantly.

“Yeah, totally,” Kara laughs nervously, pushing her glasses up her nose. “Pftt. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

Lena shrugs with one shoulder and watches Kara cross the room to help her get her discarded tank top. Lena watches, silent, because there’s so many ways that she wants to play this right now, and Lena knows now that maybe this isn’t just her, and god, she’s waited so long but she doesn’t know what she’s doing, doesn’t know if she just wants to bite her lip and keep silent, doesn’t know what’s the option with the biggest chance of not sending Kara running.

The “see something you like, Kara?” slips out almost completely unbidden when Kara turns back around again to hand Lena her top, and Lena’s pretty sure that both their eyes widen slightly at the remark. Kara fumbles, almost drops the tank top, as words string themselves together out of her mouth that are completely incoherent until Lena finally hears a, “I dunno, maybe.”

“Kara,” Lena says, grabbing Kara’s wrist as the other woman hands her the top to stop her from fleeing. Kara looks down at the pale fingers wrapped around her wrist, falling silent as Lena tugs her slightly closer.

“Kara,” Lena says again, waiting until Kara looks back up at her before letting a small smirk form. “Would it help you to focus on existing if I put this shirt back on?”

Watching the way Kara short circuits is almost hilarious, and Lena watches Kara take a moment before she manages to find her voice again. “No! I mean, yes, no, I don’t know, Lena, I mean, whatever you’re-”

“I’ve been thinking,” Lena says, tugging Kara closer and ignoring the twinge in her injured arm as she reaches out for Kara’s free hand. “Do you know how many times I’ve almost died since I met you?”

“A lot?” Kara tries.

“Too many,” Lena whispers. “And I’ve been thinking about this for so long, and I thought I’d be fine with it, thought the world would be better off without one more Luthor, but you’ve shown me so much and trusted me like no one else has and I just… think I’d actually die if I didn’t get to…”

Lena falls silent, suddenly losing her nerve as she looks up at Kara, this woman who walked into her office one afternoon with her cousin, not knowing how their worlds would collide so completely. Lena’s terrified, because of this woman who’s spent months defending her and bringing her soup when she’s sick and still forcing herself into the office, who’s been the only friend Lena’s trusted with anything since her childhood, and how she’s never had to do this before and god, she didn’t think it would be nearly this nerve-wracking.

And Lena thinks she’s starting to rise from the bed, Lena is sure she reaches up to hold Kara’s face in her hands, but Lena knows she isn’t just imagining that it’s Kara who leans down to meet her, Kara who sinks down next to Lena on the bed and wraps her arms loosely around Lena’s waist as they kiss, and it’s Kara who lets out the cutest giggle Lena thinks she’ll ever hear in her life as she pulls back before looking at Lena nervously.

“So,” Kara says.

“So,” Lena echoes calmly, even though she’s pretty sure her heart is about to beat out of her chest. She knows Kara can hear it, which really isn’t helping at all.

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because you’re you,” Lena laughs quietly, gaze flicking between Kara’s eyes, never wavering. “You’re Kara Danvers, Supergirl, everyone’s hero, literally the best person I’ve ever met… and I’m just me, I’m just another Luthor.”

“So?”

“So I don’t know how to do this, couldn’t know that it wasn’t just me,” Lena says. “I don’t think I deserve you, Kara.”

“I don’t care,” Kara whispers back, wrapping her arms tighter around Lena’s middle and coming to rest properly on her lap. “You’re enough, Lena. And as far as I’m concerned, you deserve the world.”

Lena blinks up at Kara, not quite sure what to say, not quite sure what to do about the feelings welling up in her chest. She thinks she might actually be about to cry, and almost laughs when she’s saved from what would probably be an embarrassing response by Kara shyly ducking her head down and saying, “I think- Can I kiss you again?”

And Lena tilts her head up and nudges Kara down with the hand on the back of her neck, and loses herself almost completely in the gentle way Kara’s lips meet hers, cautious for the first moment, and caring, and Lena is certain she can feel all the love Kara has for the world in her movements. Lena giggles as Kara leans so far into her that they fall backwards on the bed, laughing, and Kara tugs Lena up quickly because “come on, dinner’s probably getting cold”. Lena follows her into the kitchen, and Lena sends out a silent thank you into the universe, because god, the odds that Kara would end up in her life, let alone on her planet, were so slim, and as Lena spins Kara around for another quick kiss, as she feels Kara grinning against her lips, she knows she will never stop being thankful to the stars for bringing this girl into her arms.