Work Text:
It was three days - by this planet’s orbit, anyway - before Kara came across a vaguely familiar face. Up to that point it’d been local wildlife and most of it intent on killing her, so when she came across a stream, the first in almost the entire three days that felt more like two days each, it had been almost too good to be true to see another humanoid shape guardedly getting herself a drink as well.
Kara thought maybe she was seeing things at first - maybe the stream was a mirage and the person was a hallucination her brain added on to make it even worse when she neared the vision and it all fell apart. But the closer she got, the clearer the water and the other person - definitely a human, someone she’d briefly crossed paths with before the shit had hit the fan - became.
The other person, a woman from Barry and Oliver’s Earth, had tensed upon noticing her, briefly slipping into an attack position. She looked pretty beat up, much how Kara herself felt. She’d lowered her arms when Kara got close enough that her suit, ripped as it was, must have been easier to make out - but she remained tense.
“Bless Rao, I thought I was all alone,” Kara said when she finally reached the stream, kneeling down to get herself a drink and praying that there wouldn’t be any adverse side effects. She’d already vomited up some berries she’d tried out of desperation the previous morning.
She’d forgotten how much that burned.
“Same.” The other woman still eyed her cautiously, like she expected the situation to go sour at any moment. It was Laurel, wasn’t it? The wrong Laurel, from another Earth different from Kara’s and from Barry and Oliver’s who’d been stranded on theirs for a while.
The water was cool and bitter - fizzy, even - but was relatively close to Earth water and it was wet. That was all Kara cared about at the moment. She drank several handfuls down before she stood and addressed her newfound, wary companion. “I’m Kara.”
“I know. Barry and Oliver wouldn’t shut up about you when they told the rest of us you and your friends would be joining the fight.” The dryness in her voice sounded like a well oiled defense mechanism, something that had been in place so long as a guard that even now she couldn’t drop it. Or maybe she just wanted to spend her time stranded on an unknown planet all alone. “Sorry,” she added after a moment, some of the tension leaving her shoulders and a tired expression crossing her face. “It’s been a hell of a few days.”
Kara could relate. “No, you’re fine. I get it. I’m just happy there’s a yellow sun.”
“Wait, can’t you fly?”
“Normally - but the gravity here is different, and while the sun here is yellow, it’s not as strong - I think soon it will become a red sun. So my powers aren’t at top form. I tried the first day but it left me more exhausted than walking or running.”
“Too bad, that’d make things a lot easier.” A half-smile formed on Laurel’s face. “I’m just happy there’s oxygen.”
Kara laughed at that, sitting down on one of the smooth, larger rocks by the water. “Yeah. That too. Had any fun run-ins with the locals?” She pointed to the three slashes that ran down her shoulder and over the right side of the symbol of El.
Laurel winced slightly and nodded, gesturing to some rips in her suit over her left thigh. “At least it’s not as hot here as most alien planets are shown in movies, because this suit does not breathe well.”
They both laughed then, and more of the tension eased out of their bodies and the air between them.
They made camp when the sun neared the treeline, Kara carrying the corpse of an animal that had tried to get the drop on them. The closest thing she could compare it to was a hyena mixed with a boar, but hopefully roasted over a fire it would suffice for a decent meal.
The air was thick with moisture as it grew dark, and a blanket of greenish black chased the sunset, covering up any stars.
Laurel was the one to voice what they were both afraid of but certain was coming. “Great. Rain.”
“At least dinner’s done?” Kara offered weakly, shrugging as she took another bite of the tough meat of the beast’s leg. It wasn’t awful at least, but it was hard to chew through. She’d let Laurel take the softer parts. “Maybe we can find a cave if it gets bad.”
“Yeah, and breakfast if we do,” Laurel smirked wryly.
“Hey, least it would be taken care of.” Kara smiled thought. It was amazing how much finding Laurel and having a companion with her had made this situation so much easier to deal with. The isolation had been getting to her more than she’d let herself realize; while their plight still felt pretty bleak, it didn’t feel quite so hopeless or desolate.
And Laurel was funny - in a dry and sometimes hardened way, but she was trying. And her sonic scream had saved Kara from losing the entire front of her suit in the earlier scuffle with their dinner.
Rain didn’t come right away, and they were able to enjoy their dinner by the fire in a comfortable silence. If they ignored the sounds of the local nightlife, anyway.
Kara just prayed that the fire was enough to ward off any hungry scavengers who might pick up the scent of their kill. Or them. They were both pretty rank, but not much to be done about it. She’d hope they smelled too potent to be appetizing, but since their current meal had been pretty intent on devouring them, that was wishful thinking.
“Do you think it’s just us?” Laurel asked when the fire was burning out - just a small pile of sticks and weak flames dancing their last. Her voice was softer, some of the emotion she’d been hiding with sarcasm and dry wit bleeding through. “Do think...the others are still alive?”
Dread welled up inside of Kara. It was a tight ball in her throat that she struggled to swallow down. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m sure they are.” Brushing her hair back from her face might have been a cover for wiping at her eyes as all the awful potential outcomes rushed to fill her mind with horrifying visuals she wasn’t mentally prepared for. “I don’t know if anyone else is here, but...I’m sure they’re okay.”
Laurel nodded, wet, glassy eyes transfixed on the dying fire. “Yeah.”
“We’ll get home, Laurel. We’re going to find a way back.” She sounded so much more certain of that then she actually felt, but the hopelessness in her new companion's face was hard to bear. They had just found each other, they couldn’t give into the melancholy so soon.
Laurel’s eyes finally moved from the fire to look over at her. Bitterness twisted her features into something colder - crueler - as she let out a harsh laugh. “We don’t even know where we are, let alone how to get back to our Earths. And I’m not very good with hope.”
Kara moved then, sliding herself over to sit next to Laurel, and took one of her hands to place it over the torn but still legible sign of El. She ignored the quirked eyebrow in response. “To you and everyone on Earth, this is an S. It looks like one, yes. But to me and my cousin? This is a part of our heritage, of our old world. Of Krypton and our family. This is the symbol of the House of El. My house. And on my home world, it means hope. I know what it’s like, to feel like there isn’t any. To feel so totally lost that you can’t possibly find your way back again. But you have to keep trying. We have to keep pushing forward. I promise, Laurel, we are going to find a way off this planet and get back to our Earths.”
For a long moment it was silent again between them. Just the crackling of the fire and the distant calls of wildlife.
And then Laurel swallowed, tongue darting out to wet her lips, and she whispered, “Dinah.”
Kara blinked. “What?”
“Everyone calls me Laurel because that’s how they knew their Dinah Laurel Lance. But on my Earth…I was Dinah, before I was Black Siren. I guess I just wanted someone to know that.”
“Okay. Dinah it is.”
They stayed like that for another minute or two, before bursting into tired giggles, leaning into each other as they laughed. Kara let go of Laurel’s - Dinah’s - hand and wiped at her face, the raw emotion and exhausted mirth that followed finally getting her to cry a little.
It was a grey-green day when the rain finally came. They had slept in turns, curled up near each other when the damp night air took on a chill, both of them leaving camp stiff and sore and not much more rested than they’d been the day before. At least their bellies weren’t gnawing on themselves again.
Yet.
The thickness of the leaves hanging off the trees that towered over them kept them from getting drenched right away, but the harder the rain came, the more the overbrush began to give way. Which, in turn, could sometimes lead to them moving to avoid mini waterfalls of rainwater.
“Lovely,” Dinah muttered as they trekked through the muddy forest floor.
Kara shared the sentiment. Their boots were not meant for damp ground. Or hiking over unfamiliar terrain. Or just, being stranded on a hostile planet that by the mercy of Rao had a yellow sun and breathable air and livable levels of gravity.
“What I wouldn’t give for a hot shower and a change of clothes,” she found herself lamenting out loud.
“Unfortunately, we have to make due with nature’s cold shower in our suits,” Dinah replied while smoothing her soaked hair back from her face.
They were taking a breather beneath the shade of a larger, sturdier tree that had branches thick as some of the broad leaves on others. It was a break they couldn’t pass up on, even though being out of the downpour left them shivering as their bodies caught up with how wet they were and how not warm the temperature was.
Hunger was catching up too, and though they had drunk their fill of the rain water to stay hydrated and in a meager attempt to keep the hunger pains at bay, they were well past the point of that working. Unlike them, however, the wildlife didn’t have a need to be trudging through the storm in search of any sign of civilization or maybe another stranded survivor or even a rescue mission.
Nothing had bothered them all day, and trying to hunt had proved fruitless so far. Kara’s senses, while still close to her power levels on Earth, were muted here and the animals had burrowed down deep. It wasn’t like she’d had to survive in the wilderness before. She was out of her depth - and so was Dinah. They’d gone through plenty of horrors that left them struggling to get by and survive, sure, but nothing that had equipped them for this particular kind of fight.
Kara noticed Dinah hugging herself tightly, trying to hide how much she was shaking from the cold, and held her arm out. “Come on, come here.”
Dinah gave her a questioning look but did as instructed, stepping closer.
Once within reach, Kara wrapped her arm around her and pulled Dinah in so her back was to Kara’s chest. She held her loosely, rubbing her sides to try and help warm her but giving her room to breathe and hopefully not feel crowded. “Body hot. Plus, we Kryptonians run hotter than humans.”
“Oh, you’re hot alright,” Dinah teased, glancing over her shoulder with a playful grin. “If you wanted me close you could have asked sooner. And you didn’t need to make up an excuse for it.”
Heat bloomed in Kara’s chest, flushing her face pink at Dinah’s comments, and she averted her gaze. “I’m not flirting with you.”
“Wouldn’t blame you if you were. I’m hot too.”
“Are you always this cocky?”
“Are you always this adorable?”
The blush on her cheeks deepened from pink to red, judging by how much they burned. At least she wasn’t cold anymore? Dinah either, for that matter, judging by how she’d stopped shaking like a leaf and had settled back against Kara, pulling her arms tighter around her. Oh.
Oh.
Kara decided to just ignore that thought train. In fact, she was going to simply not respond to Dinah’s last comment and ignore the route their conversation had taken, and just keep holding her for purely survival purposes. It was survival. Just survival. Both of theirs. She couldn’t let someone else get sick or worse, not on her watch.
It could have been her and Mick Rory stranded on this planet, and she’d have still...well maybe not held him because he would be a thousand times worse about it than Dinah had been so far, but she’d have tried something to make sure he stayed warm. And herself.
Maybe not if it was Lex Luthor. He could stand to catch a cold while struggling to survive.
The point was, she was not doing this to cop a feel or to flirt or do, whatever. Even if Dinah was, like she said, hot.
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Dinah said softly after the awkward silence dragged on. “Not that you aren’t cute.” Her hands were rubbing Kara’s arms and her own. “You weren’t kidding though about your body temperature running warmer. Thanks.” Everything was coming out a little stilted, like she was trying to make amends to any potential issue she might have caused but wasn’t used to that kind of behavior.
Kara remembered that this Laurel - Dinah, the Black Siren - had been an ally of one of Barry’s enemies and then later joined others going against Oliver. She didn’t know all the details, just that things had changed - she’d turned over a new leaf, was trying.
“No, it’s fine. You’re fine. I mean,” Kara closed her eyes, groaning at her slip up. In her arms, Laurel trembled with barely stifled laughter. “It’s okay. You caught me off guard. I didn’t know you were into girls.”
“Sometimes. What about you?”
Kara’s mouth ran dry at the direct question. Slowly swallowing and licking her lips to try to bring some moisture back, she knew that hesitation was heavy and telling. She appreciated Dinah not pushing or taking the opportunity to speak for her though. After several long seconds, Kara whispered, “Sometimes.”
It shouldn’t have been a big deal. Alex was a lesbian, and Kara couldn’t have been happier for her sister discovering herself and being free and open. She knew plenty of other people who were gay or bisexual or trans. So why was it so hard for her to admit it to anyone, even herself?
Dinah’s hands on her arms gently squeezed. “It’s not so easy for everyone. Your secret’s safe with me. If we ever find our way back to civilization and people to keep secrets from, that is,” she added with a lightly teasing tone. She’d shifted a little in Kara’s hold so she could look at her easier.
Kara smiled, briefly, as she met her eyes. “Thanks.”
“Come on. I’m plenty warm and the rain’s dying down. We should take our chance while we have it.”
By midday the rain had died out - which was good, because not long after they reached the edge of the forest and found themselves before a sparse valley with towering stone formations spread throughout. The valley went as far as Kara could see. Exhaustion caught up with her then, and she just plopped down on her haunches.
Dinah sat down next to her and let out a heavy sigh to match Kara’s mood. “So. Do we go back into the woods and head in another direction, or do we face a few days out in the open? Maybe the direct sunlight will be good for you. Get you back in tip-top shape.” She was trying, Rao bless her, she really was.
The night before she had been on the verge of giving up and accepting defeat. Now it was Kara’s turn to hit that breaking point apparently.
“...fuck.”
Dinah stared at her then, wide-eyed and silent for several seconds. And then she was laughing, clutching her stomach as she hunched forward, body shaking from her mirth. “Sorry. But you cursing is a delight. Though it could be the potential delirium talking at this point,” she said after several minutes trying to contain her laughter. Tears had leaked from the corners of her eyes. She wiped at her face absently and flashed a large grin Kara’s way. “You should do it more often. Supergirl cursing? Think of the scandal.”
“Come on, I’m not Captain America,” Kara replied, but she was smiling a little too now. She was very glad to have found Dinah. Even with her unexpected flirting.
“Oh, you would get it much worse. You’re a girl.”
Kara grimaced. “I hate that you’re right.” She inhaled deeply, filling up her lungs, and held it until they started to burn. Hunger left her stomach aching to the point of nausea, while the lack of decent sleep was catching up in the form of a headache and burning eyes. She knew from their time on the planet that sunset was - at least by her estimates - closer to a full day away rather than only a few hours.
“We need food and shelter. We need to rest. I’m exhausted and sore and starving, and I can only imagine how you’re faring. Let’s see if any animals might have come out since the rain stopped and make camp. Maybe there’s a hollow in one of those formations out there.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
That became their routine for the next few days. They traveled along the border of the valley and the forest, taking advantage of what supplies the two different biomes offered. There were smaller animals in the valley that were fairly easy to catch and even easier to fend off if they went on the offensive. Daylight lasted so long though, that the shade of the forest was sometimes necessary, as well as wood for fires and stones for a decent border so they didn’t set the entire valley ablaze.
Sometimes they found hollows in the stone formations near the border, sometimes they had to settle for napping at the base of one of the giant trees, where it’s trunk and above-ground roots provided a semblance of shelter.
They slept in turns, usually, but often found themselves curled up together against the chill of the night. The closeness gave them more than warmth though - it helped keep them sane. A physical reminder that they weren’t alone, a source of solace against the sprawling and foreign emptiness they were stranded in.
Kara hated that she could barely fly. She had been able to get above the treeline a couple of times, and had glimpsed different biomes but wasn’t sure what they were and had trouble focusing her vision to see if there were any cities or villages or any sign of intelligent life. She clung to her hope as tightly as she could and tried to help keep Dinah’s alive too, but they were fading.
If they were doomed to spend the rest of their lives wandering aimlessly on this awful planet, though, she was at peace with who she’d be spending those years with.
After approximately a week - by the planet’s standards - they finally found their oasis in the desert. A calm-flowing river winding its way across their path. Slow enough and deep enough that they were able to strip down and wade in to submerge themselves and at least rinse off as thoroughly as possible.
Whatever nerves Kara might have felt under normal circumstances about undressing around someone who she’d sort of come out to were far from her mind at the thought of scrubbing away some of the dirt and grime that had accumulated for days on end.
It was warm and a little fizzy, like many of the creeks they’d stopped at whenever they came across one, but it felt like heaven.
“You think there might be parasites or bacteria we should be worried about?” Dinah asked after they’d been in the water for at least fifteen minutes. She was smirking, but there was a hint of worry in her eyes.
“We’ve already ingested so much of this water, I think we’re screwed either way if there are,” Kara shrugged. “Do you want to get out?”
“No. I haven’t felt this good in days,” Dinah admitted with a laugh. “And you’re right. May as well enjoy what we can when we can.” She sank under the surface then, bubbles rising up and coming closer to where Kara was treading water. Dinah surfaced only inches from Kara, splashing her as she did.
Squawking, Kara instinctively splashed back, laughing in disbelief. “Seriously?”
Dinah grinned. “Come on, Supergirl. Have some fun with me.” She licked her lips at that, a seductive gleam in her eyes, and their mutual nakedness suddenly came to the forefront of Kara’s brain.
Their conversations had steered clear of the topic of love lives and sexuality since that day in the rain, and Dinah had kept her teasing more playful than flirty, but sometimes it slipped its way into their banter, reminding Kara of their talk and that her companion was attracted to her - which wasn’t inherently a bad thing, but it was something new for her.
Not that she thought no other women had ever been attracted to her, but they’d never been so open about it. They also had no idea she herself might be of an inkling to reciprocate.
And Dinah was...gorgeous, to put it bluntly. Her sharp features, her smile, her blue eyes, the grace and strength in her movements even when she had to be stiff and sore. Her dry wit with that hard edge, and the earnest dedication to turning her life around that was evident even on this planet, in her attempts to shift her attitude whenever she started sliding back into bitter territory.
Maybe it was the isolation. Maybe it was the difficulty to cling to hope as time dragged on. But Kara wanted to kiss Dinah. She wanted more than that.
There must have been a clue to her internal thought process, because Dinah moved in closer again, studying her, and asked, “Do you want me to kiss you?” Her tone was curious and gentle, not teasing or even particularly flirtatious.
The question still sent shivers racing up and down Kara’s spine though, leaving her struggling to answer while looking like a deer caught in headlights. Dinah smiled though, amused, and leaned in slowly - as if to give Kara every moment possible to pull back or say no, stop, don’t. Her lips brushed against Kara’s, and that was the moment the dam broke for Kara. She moaned and reached up to cup Dinah’s face, parting her lips to let her in.
Dinah shuddered in response and wrapped an arm around Kara before using her other to guide them back towards the shore, just enough that they could feel the softness of the riverbed and didn’t have to worry about staying afloat. Then both arms were around her, touching her, hands gliding over her back.
“ Fuck ,” Kara breathed, her mouth still against Dinah’s, when they broke the kiss.
Dinah giggled. “I love it when you talk dirty.”
“Shut up and kiss me again.”
It was two days later when help finally arrived. Two days of traveling, of constantly reaching out to touch each other, of spending their resting hours curled up and enjoying the solace of the new physical connection between them. Two days of making peace with their plight while not buckling under the weight of that potential reality.
And then Barry and Clark and Cisco and Alex and J’onn and Felicity showed up, an answer to prayers they’d both stopped expecting. It was hugs and relief and exhaustion and gratitude, Kara and Dinah barely able to say much of anything as their bodies finally gave out now that they could.
By the time they came to, they were back at STAR Labs for recovery. It was a miracle, and getting to see everyone was a relief.
Except, someone was missing. That absence was even more apparent when Felicity came to see them, Kara having found her way to Dinah’s bed and welcomed into it, spooning her from the side. Felicity smiled at them, her mouth open to speak, but all that came out was a sob - and Dinah was sitting, tugging Felicity over into a hug that Kara watched, feeling out of place as it hit her.
“Oliver’s gone,” Felicity wept into Dinah’s hair. “He’s gone.”
A lump formed in Kara’s throat, her vision blurring for a moment as she blinked rapidly. She inhaled deeply, trying to fight off her own emotions, not wanting to encroach on Felicity’s grief. She met Dinah’s gaze when the other women looked at her over Felicity’s head, and she felt her body start to shake at the sight of tears in Dinah’s eyes too.
She leaned in, wrapping her arms around the both of them, and Felicity whimpered, moving an arm to clutch at Kara, too.
“I’m so glad you two are alive. I was so worried we’d lost you too.”
“We’re here, Felicity. We’re here,” Dinah whispered soothingly, stroking Felicity’s hair as she held her. She leaned into Kara as she comforted her friend.
The three of them stayed like that for what seemed like hours, all curled up in a group hug on Dinah’s hospital bed. Eventually Alex came to see Kara, and Iris came with to check on Felicity. Dinah sent her off, telling her to rest - “I’ll still be here when you’re awake,” she promised - and then it was Kara and Dinah and Alex.
Something in her sister’s eyes told Kara that she knew. She’d picked up on the very familiar vibes between Kara and Dinah - Kara had known, deep down, that Alex wouldn’t have to be told. It was a relief, honestly, that she didn’t have to bother saying, “I’m bi, and we’re kind of a thing now.”
Alex just knew.
Not that Kara wasn’t ready to come out now. Not that Kara was going to shy away from being open about their relationship.
“So. I hear you’re coming back to Earth Thirty-Eight with us,” Alex said, arms folded as she sized up Dinah. Already playing protective big sister.
Kara wanted to groan.
Dinah just smirked faintly, briefly, and nodded. She squeezed Kara’s hand. “This was never my home, and I might stay a little longer for Felicity’s sake, but she has others who will be there for her.” She glanced over at Kara, her eyes puffy and red still, and just as beautiful. “And I’ve found a new home.”
Kara felt herself grinning stupidly, cheeks burning a little. “You’re such a sap,” she teased. And kissed Dinah softly on the forehead.
“I’ve been called worse. Deserved it, too,” she added dryly. She smiled again though, her fingers interlacing with Kara’s. “Guess you’re rubbing off on me.”
A few days later, after the funeral, after a night spent honoring Oliver’s memory and sacrifice, and all the tearful goodbyes, Kara and Alex and J’onn return home.
Two days after, Dinah comes home, too.