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Kara Danvers has never been kissed.
(And neither, for that matter, has Kara Zor-El. Supergirl has been kissed, but it was by an enthusiastic kindergartener, and the sloppy kiss had landed on Supergirl’s cheek as the little girl proclaimed how much she loved the hero. The memory is fond, but not exactly the sort of thing friends get drunk over and gush about.)
No, Kara has never been kissed, and now in her late twenties, she wonders where she went wrong.
Perhaps it was soon after arriving on this planet. At sixteen, still unfamiliar with Earth and full of a general distaste for its obnoxiously loud inhabitants, Kara was first approached in, well, in a romantic sense. Though perhaps ‘romantic’ is a stretch—could the pasty boy sitting next to her in the mind-numbingly boring calculus class turning to her and asking her awkwardly on a date before insulting her truly be considered romantic? Kara doesn’t exactly think so.
Yet, what Alex and Eliza had applauded as her taking a stand against an ‘obnoxious and entitled’ boy (with Alex’s colorful descriptions of his ‘assholishness’ earning a stern look from her mother), was now something Kara almost regretted. Because perhaps, had she been less annoyed by his stupidity and his general smug look every time Kara was forced to hide how utterly asinine she found the class, she could’ve gotten her first kiss out of the way at sixteen.
(She prefers not to think of the pretty girl with kind eyes and wavy hair who was in nearly all of her writing courses in college.
She prefers not to think of how she’d sometimes go to class only to catch a glimpse of her; she prefers not to think of how she’d been too cowardly to speak to her.)
Kara Danvers has never been kissed. Alex claims it’s because she has high standards, because it takes her so long to actually like someone enough to want to kiss them. Eliza always repeats that it would happen on its own time, when Kara least expects it.
And Kara? Well, Kara doesn’t quite care most days. Her lack of a romantic life hadn’t affected her thus far, and barring the idle twinge of regret every time she thought of the people she truly liked and how nothing came of it (like James, or Lucy, or Mon-El, or even Cat), it’s not like she’s particularly bothered.
Still. Some days, when she’s with Alex and Kelly or Nia and Brainy, she wonders.
(She wonders if there’s just something wrong with her, that even worse, Eliza is wrong and Kara is destined to be alone forever.)
Kara Danvers has never been kissed, and it’s all well and good until it somehow becomes front page news.
x
She can count the number of people she dislikes (legitimately dislikes) on one hand. The fact that Andrea Rojas, their new Editor-In-Chief, joins the list and quickly topples the others is quite frankly the least surprising thing to ever happen to Kara.
(Which says quite a bit, considering all that’s happened to Kara.)
The foundation of the dislike is there immediately, when Rojas talks about clicks over substance. It simmers each time Kara’s work is turned into a mangled, biased, unrecognizable mess. But it really hits the necessary threshold the day Rojas calls Kara into her office, a sly smile on her lips.
“I have an assignment for you, Kara,” she says primly, still smiling. “An undercover assignment.”
Kara blinks, once, twice, and clears her throat, certain she’s misheard. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You’re going undercover,” Rojas explains slowly, getting up from her chair and circling around her desk, eyeing Kara like her prey. “You’ll be investigating the previous owner of CatCo Worldwide Media. You know her, don’t you? Lena Luthor?”
(Know her? Not really. Not beyond the handful of conversations as Supergirl, content to trust the DEO—namely Winn, Alex, and Brainy—to keep an eye on the Luthor.
And the distance hasn’t mattered really. Beyond the odd dip into making kryptonite, experimenting on a Worldkiller in an attempt to cure her, and making human super-people, Lena Luthor hasn’t done all that much to draw attention to herself.
But, Kara is willing to concede, Lena does manage to draw a lot of attention with only her looks—specifically Kara’s.)
“Lena,” Rojas continues, taking Kara’s silence for ignorance, “is the younger sister to Lex Luthor and the last remaining member of the disgraced Luthor family.” She smiles briefly, as if she’s letting Kara in on some inside joke, then shrugs. “It seems that the number of attempts on her life have recently, well, decreased. The word on the street is that she’s looking for a bodyguard—a female bodyguard, if you know what I mean.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“Do I have to spell it out for you, Kara? She’s looking to date again, someone the tabloids won’t take a second look at, someone unassuming and easily dismissed—someone like you.”
Kara takes a step back, shaking her head. “N-no. I’m not a bodyguard, I can’t do that.” She doesn’t have to fake the panic in her tone; a part of Kara is legitimately worried about just how much Andrea Rojas knows about her. “I’m clumsy, and awkward, and chatty, and—”
“Aren’t you listening?” Rojas interrupts, rolling her eyes, turning slightly to pick up a thin folder sitting on her desk, holding it out to Kara expectantly. “The bodyguard position is fake. All you need to do is meet my contact at L-Corp. He’s already got an entry level job lined up for you. The second Lena sees you, I’ve no doubt she’ll be interested.”
“E-excuse me?”
“Come on, Kara, don’t fish for compliments,” Rojas says, waving the folder in an attempt to get Kara to take it. “You’re fit, beautiful, and smart. Just Lena’s type. Trust me, I would know.”
“That’s not what I mean. You’re asking me to infiltrate a company, pursue a fake relationship with the CEO, then put myself in the line of danger if and when she asks me to be her pretend bodyguard so that the paparazzi don’t catch wind of that fake relationship.” Kara shakes her head almost violently, taking another step back. “That’s crazy. Unethical. Probably illegal!”
“Don’t be so dramatic. Besides, do this and you can write whatever you want here, for as long as you work for CatCo. No more binned pitches, no more input from me or anyone else. Give me this one story, Kara, and I’ll give you free rein.” She shakes the folder once more, and Kara realizes this is her final chance. Slowly, hesitantly, and knowing it’s a mistake, Kara accepts the folder.
(It feels a lot like selling her soul to the devil.)
“What do you even want me to write about? What’s the story?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rojas replies, turning away from Kara and waving her away, signalling the end of the conversation. “As long as Lena Luthor’s fall from grace is spectacular.”
x
Kara doesn’t want to do this. She really doesn’t want to do this.
(She isn’t quite sure any job is worth so many lies, so much deceit.
Then again, she does work for the DEO….)
“Quit,” Alex suggests for the umpteenth time, her eyes following Kara as she paces in the living room. “Just leave CatCo.”
“And never write again? I can’t do that.”
“Then go back and tell her you don’t want the story.”
“Then I’m stuck writing stupid pieces and I’ll never be a real journalist.”
“Kara—”
“Alex, I don’t want to do this, but I have to.” Kara pauses, looks at her sister, waits for her to do something other than return her gaze with wide eyes. “Alex?” Kara prods when Alex merely hugs a pillow to her chest, sinking deeper into the couch.
“What do you want me to say? You’ve made up your mind.”
“Lena Luthor won’t even be interested in me, so I’ll go tomorrow and then just tell Andrea that I failed.”
“That’s a good point,” Alex says, but there’s hesitance in her tone.
“What?”
“Well, don’t get mad, but what if she does like you? I mean, you’re almost annoyingly likeable. James liked you, Winn liked you, Lucy liked you, even Cat Grant like—”
“—I get it, Alex.”
“I don’t know what the right answer is,” Alex continues unhelpfully before she gets up and stops Kara’s pacing, taking her hands gently and squeezing them briefly before pulling her into a tight hug. “But whatever you choose, I’ll have your back. Like always.”
“The Danvers sisters,” Kara mutters into her sister’s ear.
“—we should come with a warning,” Alex finishes, grinning as she pulls away and studies Kara’s face. “Now let’s eat and do some research on your soon to be girlfriend.”
“ Alex. ”
(Her admonishment falls on deaf ears though—Alex just laughs in response.)
x
When Andrea had mentioned an “entry-level” job, Kara had imagined it was something in HR or a position as someone’s assistant. She had not , not even for a second, imagined that Andrea would bother looking at her resume and fit her in one of the many labs at L-Corp.
“Frankly, Dr. Danvers,” says Jess, the woman who’d taken her for a tour around the lab, taking care to have Kara sign NDAs before she mentioned any of L-Corps many projects, “you’re vastly overqualified for the position you applied for. I mean, you’ll be a glorified lab tech—are you sure that’s what you’re looking for?”
(Kara sighs internally, realizing that Andrea hadn’t looked at her resume, she’d just pushed Kara into the first opening L-Corp had.)
“It’s just Kara. And honestly, yes.” At Jess’s skeptical look, Kara clears her throat and tries again. “Working here, in any capacity, would be a dream come true. L-Corp is an incredible force for good. I just want to be a part of it.” It’s not a lie, Kara tells herself as Jess smiles approvingly at the answer. In fact, it’s the most honest thing she’s said to Jess since stepping inside the building and introducing herself.
It’s just that...well….
She wishes she could’ve been a part of such a force for good without an ulterior motive hanging over her head.
“Speaking of dreams,” she continues as Jess leads her down another hallway, pointing out current research and scientists, “I’ve always wanted to meet Lena Luthor. Is there any chance a lowly tech like me would be able to meet her one day?”
Jess laughs as she comes to a halt in front of the elevators. “The chances are actually quite high,” she says, gesturing for Kara to enter the small enclosed space. “Ms. Luthor spends a great deal of time in the labs herself. But I’m afraid she’s not in National City at the moment, so it may be some time before you see her.”
“Oh really? Away for business?”
Jess grins and leans towards Kara conspiratorially, “A romantic getaway, actually. If you ask me, she deserves the time off. Though I doubt the Board will be happy if they ever found out.” She laughs and shrugs. “CEO running off for pleasure isn’t the greatest for business if you know what I mean.”
“...right,” Kara manages, frowning and feeling the sudden need to step away from Jess. She’s no stranger to being the assistant to someone as powerful as Lena Luthor and all the secrets one became privy to due to that position—after all, Cat Grant was nothing if not full of secrets and mystery—but the key to any good assistant was keeping their mouth shut .
Kara suddenly feels immeasurably sorry for Lena. If the person closest to her at work feels so at ease in betraying her confidence in this way...Lena really is in need of someone to protect her.
The elevator comes to a lurching stop (though Kara thinks part of that is her imagination due to the guilt pooling in her belly), and the doors slide open. She follows Jess to the entrance of the building, where she’s introduced to the security guards and given a keycard. When it’s all done, Jess crosses her arms over her chest and smiles at Kara warmly.
“Well. I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says, some sort of undercurrent to her tone that puts Kara on edge.
And as Kara leaves L-Corp, she wonders just what kind of insanity Andrea got her into.
x
Nearly a month passes by, Kara becoming more and more incensed at the way Lena’s employees talk about her each day. The rumors that fly around about the CEO are wild, unsubstantiated, and incredibly embarrassing. There’s chatter about Lena’s sex life, her family, her hobbies, and even one nasty suggestion that there’s one secret lab in the basement that’s used solely to experiment on aliens in a continuation of Lex’s work.
(Kara had, of course, checked every nook and cranny of the building as Supergirl, so she knows it’s not true.
And it’s maddening to hear employees repeat such vile lies , seemingly only to the new lab tech.)
It comes to a head one afternoon when she’s taking her lunch break, sitting alone at one of the tables outside the building. Just as she’s biting into her sandwich, two researchers who work in the lab adjacent to hers walk by, whispering loudly about how Lena’s credibly accused of murder.
“You’re both ridiculous,” Kara snaps at them, getting up from her chair so violently that it’s thrown to the ground with a loud clatter. It attracts one of the security guards, and he ambles over quickly. “Lena Luthor has done nothing to deserve such hateful talk, and you all should be ashamed of yourselves,” she hisses at the others milling about, staring at her with a strange expression. “If you don’t like her, then quit. Why are you here?”
“Dr. Danvers,” the security guard—Peter—says, picking up her chair and then gently taking her elbow, “if you could come with me.”
“Pete,” one of the researchers who caused Kara’s outburst suddenly pipes up, “take her to Jess. Tell her the experiment was a success.”
“The experiment? What—”
“Dr. Danvers, if you could just follow me,” Peter repeats, smiling genially at her, waiting for her to nod. He motions for her to head towards the elevator, and he starts chatting amicably, but Kara’s attention is on the bright smiles of the employees she’d just shouted at. She doesn’t understand—was something bad about to happen? Was it time to call Alex and the DEO? Did Andrea really send her into something dangerous?
Peter claps her on the back when the get to the very top floor, leaving her with Jess and a quick good luck . Jess, for her part, is no longer the smiling, cheerful, chatty assistant Kara met the day she got her job.
“For the record,” Jess tells her as she moves towards what clearly must be Lena’s office, knocking on the door twice and pushing it open at the soft come in from behind the wood, “I still don’t trust you, even if the experiment was a success.”
“Wha—”
“Ms. Luthor is waiting for you.”
Jess all but shoves Kara forward, and then there’s nothing separating Kara from Lena Luthor except a large white desk stacked with papers and a laptop that clicks shut the moment Lena meets her gaze.
“Kara Danvers,” she says, getting to her feet gracefully and holding out her hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m sure you have questions.”
x
Somewhere, across the city, Kara can hear the pounding of keys on a piano, of a woman cursing under her breath as she gets a papercut, of a child’s laugh. Somewhere, across the city, there’s Alex’s reassuring, steady heartbeat, pounding in Kara’s ears. And yet, despite all that, the silence in Lena’s office is deafening.
“You seem shocked, Ms. Danvers,” Lena says with a smirk, one eyebrow raised. “You don’t mean to tell me you believed those rumors you didn’t sell to the press, did you?”
“Kara,” she automatically corrects, swallowing when this just makes Lena’s eyebrow rise further. “Call me Kara.”
“All right, Kara. Do sit down, we have a lot to talk about. You’re vastly overqualified as a tech and I was hoping—”
“—wait,” Kara interrupts, holding up one hand, the other fidgeting with her glasses. “Can we just, um, rewind for a second? What’s—what’s going on? What’s the ‘experiment?’”
Lena sighs, looking almost disappointed in the question.
“I’m an extremely unpopular woman, Kara. I also happen to be quite wealthy and in charge of one of the most influential companies in the world. Everything I do, from what I wear to where I go, is scrutinized and reported on. Excessively.” She sits down, pausing long enough that Kara’s brain kicks into gear and she does as well, sitting on the literal edge of her seat as she waits for Lena to continue, guilt eating away at her. “I’ve had people fake resumes, references, anything, to get a job here just to get a story. So Jess—my assistant, very clever and far too good to me—came up with the experiment . When a particularly suspicious application, such as yours, comes in, we inundate you with false stories. If any of them leak, well. Needless to say, there’s legal action taken. You signed quite a few NDAs, I do hope you read them all carefully.” Her eyes sparkle as she makes the joke, and despite Kara’s guilt (knowing she’s at L-Corp to do the very thing Lena and her employees are trying so hard to combat), she can’t help but marvel at Lena Luthor.
(She’s, in a word, beautiful .
She’s clever, well-spoken, charming, and so gentle , and it breaks Kara’s heart a little.)
“Why let me through the front doors if my application was suspicious?”
“Well, even if we thought you were too good to be true, we wanted to be sure . There’s one project in particular I think you’d be a perfect fit for—” Lena starts to dig through one of the stacks on her desk, and suddenly Kara can’t take the guilt anymore.
“You should fire me,” she all but shouts, getting to her feet. Lena leans back in shock, clearly perplexed.
“Pardon?”
“I’m not who you think I am—I mean, I am, because that resume is real but I’m not.” Kara’s hands instinctively go to her glasses, fiddling with them as she tries to figure out her next words.
“You need to speak slower,” Lena says, her shock slowly being replaced by something cold and hard. “And far more clearly. Explain.”
(It’s said as an order, and Kara knows it is because it is an order.)
“I am Kara Danvers. And everything on that resume is true. I was good at school.” Good at school is an understatement, but she figures right now is not the time to brag about her academic achievements on Krypton. Rao , Earth science is so easy in comparison. “But I’m not a researcher, and I’m not here to help L-Corp do good, though I wish I was.”
“Then what do you do?” Lena asks, tone dangerous.
“I’m a cub reporter,” Kara admits breathlessly. “At CatCo. Worldwide Media?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of it,” Lena bites out sarcastically. “ Continue .”
“Our new Editor-In-Chief, Andrea Rojas, she um. Well, she wants a story. And she sent me here to get it. Probably because of my background in science, now that I think about it. She forced me into an impossible choice, take this assignment or never write anything real , and I was forcing myself to do it because I want to be a journalist , but a month here and I just can’t. I can’t. I don’t want to ruin any of this so please. Please just fire me.” She ends her ramble by literally snapping her mouth shut, looking at Lena apprehensively.
“And what exactly was the story? My technology? Is she trying to sabotage my work?”
“Um. Well, no? You’re the story. I was,” Kara blushes hard, hating herself for the words she forces out next, “I was supposed to get to you . Become your, um, bodyguard.”
Shockingly, Lena just... laughs .
“You mean to tell me that my best friend from boarding school sent you, a woman with an impressive resume—” far more than impressive, Kara thinks to herself, half of her accomplishments weren’t even listed on it “—but literally zero ability to lie, to try to seduce me and get a story?”
“Yep,” Kara says, popping the ‘p,’ wondering just how much Lena Luthor would eat her words if she knew about Kara’s ability to keep Supergirl secret, “that’s it in a nutshell. So if you could just fire me now, I’d—”
“Fire you?” Lena shakes her head. “I’m not going to fire you. I wasn’t lying, I need someone with your talents. And while you’re working in the lab, I’ll help you with a story you can give to Andrea that will save your job and be beneficial to me.”
“Right, okay,” Kara responds slowly. “And the bodyguard thing….” She trails off, unsure how to phrase her question.
“I’m afraid that’s out of the question,” Lena says smoothly. “Besides, it seems Andrea doesn’t know me as well as she thought, you’re not exactly my type.”
For whatever reason, even though Kara is relieved that she won’t have to fake a relationship, Lena’s words still sting. Smartly. Powerfully.
“Right, right,” she says, ducking her head and hoping she’s hiding her flushed cheeks and hurt, “I’m not—I’m not even gay, so. That’s, um, good.”
(And months down the line, Kara will think back to the moment they make eye contact, as they make plans to meet the next morning and discuss everything in more detail, and she’ll remember the swoop in her belly that replaced the guilt churning away there, and she’ll realize that was the first moment she started to fall for Lena Luthor.)
x
She’s seen in public with Lena Luthor once, once , and suddenly it’s all anyone can talk about.
Contrary to what Andrea thinks when Kara meets her for their obligatory clandestine check-in on the progress of the ‘story,’ it’s not that their nefarious plot to get some sort of embarrassing admission from Lena is working. Not even close. The only reason they land in the tabloids is because Kara just happened to be leaving L-Corp late one night (after a grueling day of research, frustrated by this planet’s backwards and practically obsolete understanding of science), coincidentally around the same time Lena chose to go home, bumping into the CEO awkwardly before clearing her throat and holding the door open for the woman who was—for all intents and purposes—her boss.
Not that that matters to any of the trashy magazines that publish the photo taken of them, pointing to a non-existent blush on Lena’s cheeks, to Kara’s mussed hair, to some sort of imagined “gaze” that Kara apparently bestowed on the second most powerful woman in National City. (Cat Grant always has been, and always will be no matter where she is in the world, the most powerful woman to Kara.)
Does Lena Luthor have a new gal pal?
Lena Luthor’s secret fling!
Caught in the act! Lena Luthor’s new lover!
The headlines make Kara cringe.
(She hates it. Even if Alex laughs away when she hears about it and Andrea sends her a congratulatory email and a renewed promise to let her write about whatever “stupid political story” Kara wants.
Kara hates it so much.)
The headlines are awful, so Kara thinks she’s understandably stressed when she’s called to Lena’s office the very next day.
(This is it, she’s going to be fired.
She’s just going to go back to writing about dresses and fashion shows and not the blatant discrimination in the juvenile criminal justice system and the pervasiveness of corruption and racism in sentencing.)
Except, all her dread about dresses is for naught because when she enters Lena’s office, Lena isn’t seething with rage or even cold with disinterest (as she’d been with Kara since finding out about the whole ‘I’m a journalist’ thing). No, Lena is smiling .
“You know what’s remarkable?” she tells Kara as she motions for her to sit down and offers a water that Kara quickly refuses. “I’ve been in this city for years. I’ve donated millions, developed dozens of new technologies to help people, practically took over the National City Children’s Hospital from a bunch of greedy men in suits in order to save lives, and even owned one of the biggest media companies in the world for a hot minute, but this is the best press day I’ve had since Lex dragged our name through the mud.”
Kara, who’s ready with an apology on her lips, frowns, not quite understanding. “You’re not upset? About the photo?”
“I mean, the photo is ridiculous,” Lena waves her comment off, though Kara can hear the tiny bump up in her heart rate, giving away the lie, “but because of the photo, people are asking about my philanthropic work, about the STEM scholarships I offer to young girls that no one applies to anymore because of the name attached to it, about the climate change efforts L-Corp has made.” She smiles widely, leaning against her desk and looking at Kara in a way that Kara feels distinctly uncomfortable with—like she’s prey, like she’s to be devoured, like she’s been caught in a trap. “Who knew all it would take for people to ignore my last name is a pretty blonde woman smiling as she holds the door open for me?”
(Kara tries not to blush at the ‘pretty’ comment, she really does, but she doesn’t think she’s successful. Lena’s smile becomes a smirk and Kara finds herself ducking her head, fiddling with her glasses.)
“Well, I’m glad I could help, Ms. Luthor.”
“Lena.”
“Sorry?”
“It’s Lena. From now on,” the CEO says, still smiling. “I think I owe you an apology, Kara.”
“I—for what?”
“For tossing out the bodyguard idea so quickly.” Lena pauses, rolls her eyes, and shakes her head. “I mean, that’s entirely ludicrous, I’m not going to ask a journalist to put herself in the line of fire, but I think being seen together, every now and then, in public, isn’t the worst thing that could happen.”
“I’m sorry, I think I must have misunderstood—are you...are you asking that I pretend to go on dates with you?”
“Yes, exactly,” Lena says brightly, as if the whole thing has been decided. “Nice to see you’re paying attention,” she continues, her tone light and almost flirty and Kara’s dealt with a lot in her life but she decides then and there that this is the worst whiplash she’s ever gotten. “I know on Tuesdays you have your supposedly secret meetings with Andrea about the progress of your story, so how are your Wednesdays?”
Lena’s knowledge of the ‘secret’ meetings is somehow the least surprising part of everything that’s been said since Kara stepped into her office.
“My Wednesdays?”
“Yes, for our weekly lunches from now on,” Lena says, looking amused by Kara’s expression.
“I mean, um, Wednesdays are fine.”
“Great. I’ll text you the details.”
Kara doesn’t even ask how Lena has her cell number. She just nods, her only thought that she needs to find Alex—and quick.
x
“Do you think it’s lying?” Kara asks her sister and friends from where she’s floating, arms crossed over her chest, staring intently at the ceiling as though the answers would be written there. “I’m a journalist—is it unethical to be misleading the public this way?”
Nia snorts from where she sits, covering her laugh up with a cough when Kara floats down to the ground just to glare.
“I think you’re overthinking this,” Alex says, just as Nia offers a mumbled: “Who says you’re misleading anyone?”
Alex and Nia look at each other with conspiratorial grins, and even though Kelly sighs, she looks vaguely amused. Only J’onn and Brainy seem just as confused as Kara.
“I don’t understand,” Kara says, looking at her sister and friend with a frown.
“It’s like this,” Nia explains slowly, looking to Alex for support, “you’ve talked about Lena Luthor a lot lately, you know?”
“Well, yeah. She’s my boss .”
“No, Kara,” Alex chuckles, “you talk and think about her a lot . Do you see what we mean?” J’onn’s expression clears into understanding and he smiles, nodding along. Even Brainy, who had been sitting with a frown, now has his hands clasped together in front of him, nodding along with Alex and Nia. Finally, it’s Kelly who takes pity on Kara.
“I think what they’re trying to say is that you have a little crush on Lena Luthor,” Kelly explains, holding up a hand when Kara immediately starts to deny it. “Even if you don’t like her in a romantic sense, you certainly like her. Just...take these lunches one day at a time. Think of it as making a new friend rather than a pretend date if you have to.”
“Or,” Nia says with a laugh, “you could save everyone a lot of time and just tell Lena Luthor you have a thing for her and want the pretend dates to be real dates.” At Kara’s shocked look, she held up her hands. “But you do you, obviously!”
x
The article comes out just a few months later.
Before the poorly written, gossipy, nonsense riddled article ruins everything , things finally settle enough that Kara thinks she can actually do this. Her weekly lunches with Lena are enjoyable and fun, the two of them spending several hours chatting about science, life, and causes they are passionate about. In fact, they begin to see each other outside the weekly lunches too, and not just on planned out “events” meant to give the press something to talk about. (Lena comes to game night and Kara goes with Lena to her father’s grave on the anniversary of his death to provide moral support, where there are no cameras or ulterior motive.) In between all the pretend dates, they spend time together for real, bonding over being adopted and a mutual love for Big Belly Burger. Together, they attempt to brainstorm ideas of what pitch Kara could give to Andrea that would secure her job and help Lena with the media.
And it’s...refreshing. It’s nice . It’s something Kara rarely gets to experience.
With Lena, all she is is Kara . With Lena, she can let her guard down a little, can avoid dumbing herself down, and just talk —like she did with her parents, or other members of the Science Guild. And Kara knows Lena is slightly curious about her—she’s made a few comments about it—but she lets it go in order to continue their discussions on the latest project, on a problem that’s cropped up, on potential solutions.
(It’s rare, this thing she has with Lena. It’s rare for humans to be able to keep up with her, and it’s rare that she doesn’t have to slow down for them.
It’s even rarer for someone to be so casual about just how intelligent they are—to keep up easily and to treat it as though it’s not a big deal, as though it’s all just normal talk.
And Kara likes it, enjoys it, doesn’t want it to end. She has this with Alex or Eliza or Brainy, but with Lena there’s something else—a challenge, a give and take, a back and forth that leaves her breathless and wanting for more.
With Lena, it’s electric .)
It’s going well, much better than it should be, considering all of Kara’s initial misgivings and guilt (and the realization—as she and Lena move from ‘business partners’ as Lena calls it to legitimate friends—that soon Supergirl has to come out to Lena). It’s going well enough that Kara should’ve expected it, should’ve known something would come along and ruin everything.
Lena Luthor’s New Gal Pal Has Never Been Kissed!
Is Something Wrong With Luthor? New Girlfriend Wants ZERO Kisses, Sources Say!
The L in L-Corp Definitely Does Not Stand For Love: Lena Luthor’s New Relationship Destined to Fail!
“Of course the good press wasn’t meant to last. Apparently, you’ve never been kissed,” Lena says the Wednesday after the articles are first published. They’re in her office today, which was where they had lunch every day the past week, something Kara had decided was best not to bring up, lest it didn’t mean what she hoped it meant.
“Oh, well, um, I haven’t actually,” Kara says through a mouthful of sushi.
Lena blinks, looking taken aback. “You haven’t?” she asks, sounding as though she thinks this is a joke. “But you’re—I mean, look at you. Why ?”
(Kara doesn’t exactly like this question.
For one, it implies there’s something wrong with her, something broken, mirroring her own thoughts on the issue. For another—and much more importantly—explaining why would take explaining how she landed on this planet, how it took her years to feel comfortable with humans, how it takes time for her to even want that sort of intimacy from someone else, how she hasn’t yet felt the urge or the need or the desire, and any of those people she thought she may one day feel that way for had slipped out of her life before they got to that point.)
Perhaps it’s because Kara doesn’t respond right away, or perhaps it’s just because Lena is better at reading her than Kara gives her credit for, but almost immediately after the question escapes Lena’s lips, she blushes and shakes her head. “I’m so sorry,” she says, reaching out slowly enough that Kara has time to pull away if she wants to, gently taking Kara’s hand and swiping her thumb over the back of it when Kara doesn’t move, “that was crass and rude of me. It’s none of my business. You have every right to live your life the way you want to.”
“You don’t think it’s strange?”
“No,” Lena replies with zero hesitation. When Kara fixes her with a look, she chuckles, swiping her thumb over the back of Kara’s hand once more. It does something funny to Kara’s chest. “I admit, I’m surprised. But that’s just my own bias, you know?” She starts to move her thumb back and forth, almost as if she doesn’t know she’s doing it. “Just because someone’s life experiences are different from my own doesn’t make it any better or worse. It’s your life, Kara. No one is allowed to tell you how to live it.” She bites her lip, and Kara squeezes Lena’s hand gently, knowing what Lena wants to ask.
“I’m waiting,” she explains softly, not meeting Lena’s eyes. “For someone who’d wait for me to want it. Does that make sense?”
Lena likely senses that the topic isn’t something Kara wants to get deeper into, because she clears her throat and moves bravely on. “Since I chose lunch today, I suppose you could pick tomorrow, but Kara, I’m not willing to have potstickers again, it’s not—”
“—what are we going to do about the story?” Kara interrupts, listening to the way Lena’s heart rate increases, the way she’s trying to hide her stress. “There are a few articles that make fun of you because of me.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Lena waves her off, shifting on the couch so that she and Kara were sitting shoulder to shoulder. “It’ll blow over soon.”
“But the whole point of this in the first place was to give you good press. And because of me—”
“—because of you, what? People associate me as the girlfriend of a beautiful woman instead of my homicidal brother? How terrible of you,” Lena says, narrowing her eyes playfully, and smiling at Kara. It’s clear she wants to talk about something else, but it feels wrong to brush past this.
“Lena, please,” Kara tries, and shockingly, Lena deflates. She gives in so easily, and Kara’s not exactly sure how she managed that.
“We could get Jess to leak that we’ve been affectionate behind closed doors, and we just don’t like doing so in public.”
“It’s one thing to let the press come to its own conclusions, but I can’t lie , Lena,” Kara immediately disagrees. She watches with interest and Lena ducks her head, mumbling something about integrity affectionately under her breath, before she turns back to Kara with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, you could always just go for it.”
“What?”
“You could just kiss me.”
(Kara’s heart thumps in her chest, and she can’t do much other than swallow hard.
She realizes, suddenly, that her hand is still in Lena’s, that their fingers have become intertwined, that Lena’s thumb is still stroking the back of Kara’s hand.)
“Lena, I want it to mean something.”
(This is it, Kara thinks. This is the moment Lena will laugh and say it’s all a joke.
This is the moment, Kara thinks. This is the moment that she’ll have her heart broken.)
“I know,” Lena says, turning fully so that she’s facing Kara, one leg folded under her, her free hand reaching out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Kara’s ear. “I’ll wait, however long you want me to.”
“Wait. What?”
Lena smiles, something impossibly vulnerable in her eyes. “I don’t want this to be fake anymore,” she says softly, but quickly, as if she can’t bear to bare it all, and yet can’t stop herself from doing so anyway. “I want to go on dates. To celebrate with you when you get your huge break. To hold your hand,” she looks down at their hands, squeezing as if to make a point. “And I’ll wait. For you. If you choose to want it too.”
“Oh,” Kara mutters, and it occurs to her in that moment that Eliza and Alex were right. She did have high standards, and Lena met them. And it did happen when she least expected it—at lunch, with someone she never even expected to become friends with, let alone something more. “You don’t have to wait.”
“What? I don't—” Lena starts to question, cut off when Kara closes the few inches of space between them.
And as far as first kisses go, Kara thinks, it was well worth the wait.
x
“ How I Infiltrated L-Corp, Fell in Love With the CEO, and Had My First Kiss , by Kara Danvers,” Andrea reads aloud, grimacing as she looks up at Kara. “I can’t publish this.”
“That’s unfortunate, Ms. Rojas,” Kara says with a smile, shrugging. “You’re welcome to fire me though. But I do have a great piece on juvenile sentencing, if you want to read it.”
Andrea narrows her eyes, but then, she...laughs. “I’m a woman of my word. Send me your new piece.” Kara nods and is nearly out the door when Andrea speaks again. “And Kara? When you see Lena, tell her I said we’re even now, won’t you?”
Kara doesn’t ask or care what she means—she chalks it up to a boarding school thing and leaves it at that.