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Chapter Text

The brunette standing next to Kara while she waits for her coffee might just be the most beautiful woman to ever exist. Kara feels more than a little nervous about it, the fact that this absolute goddess with silk-soft dark hair and the sharpest jawline she’s ever seen is just three feet away from her. She really hopes there are no other aliens with super-senses in this café to bear witness to how fast her heart is beating right now, but really, it isn’t her fault if this woman, with her crimson red lips and pristinely ironed pencil skirt, makes Kara feel like her brain might just short-circuit.

She’s pretty sure everyone else in the shop must feel the same way.

She can’t help but feel a little upset when the barista calls something out and the woman goes to retrieve her coffee cup with a small ‘thank you,’ because that means that she’s going to leave soon. Kara sits in her disappointment for a moment, but then the barista calls out her name, too, and she’s distracted by the thought of the double chocolate mocha that’s about to be swirling around in her stomach. She smiles warmly at the barista as she grabs her coffee and takes a sip, but the smile on her face disappears as soon as the liquid passes her lips and she processes that whatever’s in her cup right now has got to be the worst thing that she’s ever had in her mouth.

She spits the liquid back into her cup as soon as she tastes it, acrid and bitter on her tongue, and the barista notices immediately, frowning.

“Ma’am,” he asks timidly, “is something wrong with your drink?”

Just as Kara is about to tell him as politely as she can that she thinks she was given the wrong drink, she hears the woman from earlier start coughing. She doesn’t mean to be nosy, but she turns around at the sound and is now staring directly at the dark-haired woman who has her face scrunched up in the most adorable way and her drink held up close to her mouth like she’s just taken a sip. It looks like maybe she hadn’t expected what was in her cup, either, and Kara bites her lip to keep from grinning. The woman opens her eyes after a moment and locks eyes with her before diverting her gaze and blushing slightly, and Kara tries not to smile at that either, but her lips curve up of their own accord, anyway.

When she hears the barista clear his throat, she turns back around, suddenly cognizant of the fact that she just completely ignored him for – how long was it? Honestly, Kara can’t tell. She finds herself blushing, too, but the barista is kind enough to pretend not to notice.

“Yeah, sorry,” she begins, fiddling with the sleeve on her coffee cup, “I think I might’ve gotten the wrong drink?”

Kara hears a hum of agreement from beside her and looks over to see the woman standing right next to her. “Yes,” she adds, “I think that happened to me as well.”

The barista’s eyes widen and he quickly begins to apologize, but the woman waves him off and says something along the lines of, “It’s alright.” Truthfully, Kara couldn’t give you any more detail than that, because she’s a little distracted by how close the brunette is. Kara can smell something subtle and floral radiating off her, can hear a slightly elevated pulse thumping in her ears, can see just the hint of a smile on the woman’s face when she steals a glance at her out of her peripheral vision. That’s a good sign, right? It must be.

She’s pretty sure that Alex would be kicking her and telling Kara to ‘woman up and talk to her,’ if she were here, so Kara takes a deep breath and prepares to speak.

“Do you come here often?”

As soon as she hears the words, she feels the overwhelming urge to slap her hand over her mouth and fly out of the café, never to be seen again. Why would she say that? How could she possibly think that was a good opening line? Who is she, a frat bro majoring in economics? She feels a blush rise in her cheeks and prays that no one heard her.

When the woman glances over at her with a raised eyebrow, Kara realizes that might have been too much to hope for. Still, she doesn’t seem too offended, because her lips curl upward in a sort of coy smile. “Excuse me?” she asks with a lilt in her tone, but she doesn’t sound angry, mostly just sort of amused.

“Oh, no, wow, I did not mean to say that. I mean, I said it, but that’s not what I meant. I was just trying to ask if you come to this place a lot, like, is this your regular café? Because it’s not mine, but my sister’s girlfriend said that they have the best mochas in all of National city, so I woke up early to come here, even though this place is totally out of my way. So, you know… do you come here often?”

 Green eyes seem to sparkle as the woman smiles. “I don’t, actually.”

“Oh, so you came for the mochas, too?”

She chuckles a little at that, shaking her head. “Definitely not. That’s what I got, though, so I think maybe they switched our drinks.”

Kara laughs at that. “Does that mean that you were supposed to get the plain black coffee that I got this morning? Like, you asked for black coffee on purpose?” When the woman grins again, Kara determines that her senseless rambling is (at least some of) the cause of the most beautiful smile in the world, so she decides to lay it on thicker. “Because I thought for sure that they just forgot to add in, well, everything that makes coffee good, not that someone had actually ordered it that way. Why would you do that to yourself? More importantly, why would you do that to me? I’ve never been more heartbroken than I was when I tasted your monstrosity of a drink instead of mine. I was really looking forward to my coffee.”

“I could say the same to you,” the woman challenges. “Although, I’m not sure you can actually call your drink ‘coffee.’ I’m pretty sure 90% of it was just sugar and chocolate milk.

“Well, now you’re just trying to make me jealous.”

The woman lets out a real laugh then, soft and genuine, like she hadn’t meant it to come out, and Kara can’t help but beam at the pretty pink hue that colors the brunette’s cheeks afterwards. She did that! She made that happen! Rao, she wants nothing more than to do it again.

She knows that this is the limit of friendly conversation – that this is probably where two strangers would politely nod and leave and go on with their own business – but she doesn’t want to say goodbye. She wants more. She wants to make this woman laugh again, learn more about her, hopefully even see her again, and the only way to do that is to introduce herself. Is it a little pathetic that she feels so strongly after, like, three minutes? Yes. She’s going to introduce herself anyway, though.

“So, uh, I’m Kara. Danvers. Kara Danvers.” She holds her hand out to the woman to initiate a handshake, and the woman hesitates for a moment before grasping it with her own and shaking it. Kara doesn’t focus on the slight chill on her fingers, doesn’t focus at all on how the brunette’s cool skin feels wonderfully pleasant against the warmth of her own.

“Lena,” the woman says simply, the corners of her eyes crinkling up as she smiles. Kara expects her to go on and detail a last name, maybe a place of business, but she doesn’t, and Kara finds herself even more intrigued.

“So, uh, what brings you here?”

Lena raises an eyebrow and smirks again, her expression almost identical to the one she wore not two minutes ago when Kara had asked her if she comes here often. It’s then that Kara realizes that she’s somehow managed to blurt out yet another cliché line to the same woman in the span of one morning.

“Oh, jeez, I-I didn’t mean to – well, I did, but I wasn’t trying to…” She sighs. “I’m not very good at this.”

“I think you’re doing great.”

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely,” Lena teases. “You have a way with words.”

Kara chuckles self-deprecatingly. “Yeah, well. Would you believe me if I told you I was a reporter? Like, for real. I work at Catco.”

She doesn’t know if she imagines it when she sees Lena stiffen in front of her, but then she hears her heartbeat stutter for a moment and Kara knows that she couldn’t have imagined that. She wants to kick herself for ruining the moment, but she doesn’t even know what it was that she’d done. Does Lena have a problem with Catco? Is Kara talking about herself too much? Maybe that’s it; maybe she just needs to ask Lena something instead.

“So, uh, where do you work? I bet it’s somewhere really cool, ‘cause you look super professional.”

Lena hesitates again before taking a deep breath and saying, “I work at Luthor Corp.”

Kara furrows her eyebrows. She doesn’t know how to word her question, which is basically ‘You mean the company whose CEO tried to kill my cousin like three weeks ago?’ so she eventually settles on, “Luthor Corp. You mean like… the Luthor Corp?”

Lena’s previous gentle demeanor disappears instantly, replaced with professional indifference and just a hint of something sad hidden deep in jade green eyes. “Yes,” she replies coolly. She looks pained for a moment as she begins, “Believe me, I don’t –” but then the barista sets their drinks down on the counter, and she interrupts herself, the same blank expression from before painting itself back onto her features. She looks down at her hands for a moment before grabbing the coffee cup with her name on it and flashing a polite smile at the barista. “I think it’d be best if I go. I hope you have a great rest of your day, Kara.”

Lena turns around and strides down the length of the shop quickly, heading towards the door, and Kara doesn’t think about it when she grabs her coffee and yells out a ‘thanks!’ to the barista before chasing after the brunette.

“Wait! Hold on, please!” she calls, and, thankfully, Lena eventually does, stopping in her tracks just a few feet before the exit.

She turns around slowly, trepidation hidden in the shadows of her face, so Kara holds her arms out in front of her in surrender as she approaches. “I’m sorry! That was super rude of me. It’s not your fault that Lex Luthor, you know… did what he did.” She sees Lena flinch a little at his name, and Kara immediately wonders if she’d ever met him, if he’d hurt her. She hopes he never got a chance to do anything bad to Lena.

“You are not defined by what the people around you have done,” Kara continues, “and you don’t deserve to be judged on someone else’s actions, so I’m really sorry that I did exactly that. I was just surprised, is all, but I know you’re not like that. I mean, you don’t hate aliens, right?”

Lena is irate when she answers. “What? No, of course not! Just because some aliens can be dangerous doesn’t mean they all deserve to be profiled as evil or violent; the same could be said for humans. I think aliens should have all the same rights that we do.”

Kara feels her next breath come a bit easier, just knowing for sure that Lena doesn’t inherently hate her. “Yeah, of course. See? You’ve done nothing wrong. Just from knowing you for all of ten minutes, I can already tell that you’re a good person.”

Lena exhales sharply and says, “Oh?” Her tone is indifferent, and Kara can tell she’s trying to act like she doesn’t care about the answer one way or the other, but her eyes tell another story.

“Definitely. You’re nothing like Lex Luthor, and you don’t deserve to be treated like you are. So I’m… I’m really sorry.”

Lena shakes her head and stares down at her shoes. “It’s alright.” When she looks back up at Kara, something has changed, and there’s something intimate in the way the brunette smiles back at her. “Thank you. That means more than you know.”

“Well, you’re welcome.” Kara smiles back at her, and they stare into each other’s eyes for a moment before Kara swallows thickly and asks, “Would you, um, I don’t know, maybe wanna sit down? Have our coffee together? I promise not to be a jerk again. We could just, you know, talk? I mean, unless you’re busy or something. No worries if you are.”

“No, that sounds lovely,” she replies. “Here?” She gestures towards the table a few feet behind them, and Kara nods eagerly. After they sit down, Lena places her hands in front of her and jokingly asks, “I’m not going to get you fired, right? You’re not going to be late to work on account of me?”

Kara waves her off with an absentminded shake of her hand and an involuntary nervous giggle. “No, no, of course not. I got up an hour early for this mocha!”

“Did you really?” Lena asks with a tilt of her head.

“Of course! I would never joke about something as important as mochas.”

“Well I hope this one was worth the extra hour of sleep you gave up.”

“Oh, it absolutely was. Plus,” Kara adds, “I met you, so that’s a win in my book.” She tears her eyes away from where she was fiddling with the sleeve of her coffee cup again to find Lena smiling again, dimples apparent in both of her cheeks.

“You’re a charmer, aren’t you?”

“I try my best.” Kara takes a swig of her mocha and relishes the sweet taste on her tongue before asking, “So, what do you do at Luthor Corp?”

Lena pauses to take a long sip of her coffee before setting it down and answering. “Well, I used to work in R&D, but I’ve recently been promoted.”

“Oooh,” Kara fawns. “So, you’re the boss now?”

Lena bites her lip before saying, “Something like that.”

“Well, that’s great! You must have more influence, now. You can work towards the changes that need to be made.”

“I suppose so,” she replies, and there’s an odd sort of wonder in her voice as she says it, like this is the first time she’s ever realized that it is indeed a good thing. “Has anyone ever told you you’d be an excellent hype man?”

“Lena,” Kara drawls, trying desperately to keep the smile off her face, “has anyone ever not told me that?”

“And here I thought I was special.”

~~~

Kara doesn’t think she ever wants to leave. They sit there in the café for at least an hour, just trading stories and jokes. Kara is ninety percent sure that they’re flirting – she knows she is, that’s for sure – but she can’t figure out if the shy smiles that Lena keeps shooting her are more than friendly or not.

She tracks Lena’s heartrate the whole time, and it speeds up whenever Kara says anything that could be construed as romantic, which is a good sign, but Lena might just be a nervous person, because it seems to do that quite a lot. Lena’s pulse ticks up when a man in a business suit across the shop looks at her for too long, and when the door opens and the sound of someone angrily yelling about aliens wafts into the café, and also when an older woman walks by them and drops her newspaper on the ground. Kara picks the paper up returns it to the woman, and they exchange a few polite sentences, but Lena looks down at her coffee cup the entire time, like it’s the most interesting thing she’s ever seen. She hides behind a long curtain of dark hair throughout the whole exchange, and the only time she looks up is at the end to briefly wave the woman goodbye. Even then, she keeps most of her face hidden, and Kara can’t help but burn with curiosity as to why.

Maybe Lena is just shy. Maybe all the times her heart would race were just because she was nervous.

Maybe she’s not into Kara at all.

Still, Kara can’t help but feel like there’s a connection between them. When they talk, it feels like there’s nothing else around them, like they’re the only people in the café at all. At first their conversation is a little superficial, talking about jobs and coworkers and books they’ve read, but then they start to learn more about each other, and Kara doesn’t think she ever wants to stop. Kara learns that Lena graduated from MIT at 19 years old with a degree in mechanical engineering, and all she wants to do is help people. She learns that Lena was adopted when she was four, and when Kara tells her that she was also adopted at thirteen when her parents died, Lena hesitantly reaches out to rest her hand on Kara’s and tell her that she’s sorry for her loss.

The adrenaline that courses through Kara’s veins as soon as their hands touch is electric, and with the way Lena’s pulse spikes, she’s pretty sure that Lena feels the same way. Lena’s hand is so soft, so warm from the way she had been holding her coffee, and so smooth that Kara thinks she might just die. Lena has a little scar on her pointer finger, and when Kara asks about it, the brunette explains that when she was ten, she took apart her family’s VCR and slipped up and cut her finger up pretty badly on a sharp plastic edge. Kara has the sudden urge to bring the finger up to her lips and kiss it, but she settles for tracing it lightly with her thumb and telling Lena to please be careful.

Lena shoots back the same request at her and points to the scar on her forehead before asking what that’s from. Kara tells her that she fell onto a rock when she was younger playing tag, which is mostly true, except that they didn’t call it tag on Krypton. After she finishes her story, Lena looks at her with such intent that Kara is sure that she’ll reach out to touch her, but she must decide against it because she just folds her hands together and gives her a cursory smile instead.

Kara is quite honestly happy to sit there forever, but it finally ends when she gets a notification on her phone and looks down to see that she only has five minutes before she needs to be at work.

“Oh, shoot, I’m gonna be late!”

Lena is immediately apologetic and understanding, her eyebrows set in worry. “Kara, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize the time! I’ll let you go now, I hadn’t meant to keep you for so long.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry, I loved it!” Kara insists, shaking her head, trying to absolve Lena of her guilt. It takes her a moment to realize that she said ‘love,’ and then she finds herself backtracking. “Liked it, I mean. You know, I-I had lots of fun! A reasonable amount of fun, um, as people do when they spend time with people they like, or, you know, enjoy. Spending time with, I mean, not, like, as people. Not that I don’t enjoy you as a person! You’re great! I’m just saying that I had a nice time, you know, drinking coffee with you.”

A blush creeps up on Lena’s cheeks, but she’s shaking her head anyway. “It’s fine, Kara. You should go. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“No, I – ugh, gosh, I wish I could stay. I’ve had so much fun this morning, you know that, right?”

“I know,” Lena says, and it sounds a little like she’s just humoring her, but also a little like she doesn’t believe her, so Kara continues.

“No, seriously, like, I had more fun today than I have all week. I really wish I could stay, but I have a huge article to finish on the backlash against the alien amnesty bill, and I have to get it done by the end of the day.”

“It’s alright, honestly. You can go. I’ll make sure to read your article when it comes out.”

“Really?” Kara asks, and everything stills. The urgency that ran through her body just moments ago seems to have dissipated into thin air, and all that’s left is a warm tingling sensation in her belly over the fact that Lena cares enough about her to read her article.

“Of course, really,” says Lena sincerely, clearly more than a little affected by the intensity of Kara’s gaze. “I can’t wait to read it.”

“That’s, I – wow, I’m… thank you,” Kara stutters. “That’s so nice. You’re so nice, Lena, did you know that? And you want to read my article. I, um, I have a Twitter, you know, where I post all the links them. Also other stuff, but you know… Uh, maybe you could, I-I don’t know, you could maybe follow me? Just so you could read my article, of course.”

“Right, to read your article,” Lena confirms, grinning. “I do feel obligated to tell you that I’m not big on social media, though. I don’t actually have a Twitter.”

“Oh, well, that’s alright,” Kara replies, but the excitement in her belly dims dramatically. That means that this is it. This is the last time she’s ever going to talk to Lena again. As a last-ditch attempt at getting in contact with her, Kara jokes, “I guess that means I can’t find you online and slide into your DMs, then?”

Lena’s heartrate picks up speed as she shakes her head, and Kara feels the tingling in her stomach plummet to the ground. “No, I’m afraid not. No DMs for me.”

“Oh. That sucks.”

Just as Kara opens her mouth to bid Lena goodbye, the brunette gulps and says, “I do have a phone number, though. I don’t know if that’s any consolation.”

Kara’s eyes grow a size as she looks back up into Lena’s shining face. “Really?”

Lena just nods. “Really.”

“Then, yes,” Kara says, her head bobbing up and down so fast that it might hurt if she were human. “Yes, that is definitely a consolation. A huge consolation, actually. Massive. Ginormous, really.”

“Oh?”

“Mhm. Yep. You, uh, wouldn’t happen to give your number out to strangers you meet in coffeeshops, would you?”

“Not as a rule, no, but I can definitely make an exception.”

Kara just beams, and Lena reaches into her purse to grab something before she freezes up and pulls her hand out of her bag.

“Do you have a pen?”

Kara immediately swan dives into her own purse, dead set on finding something for Lena to write with. She scrambles for a few long seconds, desperate to find the pencil she’s absolutely positive that she shoved in there sometime last week, and when she finds it, she pulls it out with an enthusiastic, “Aha!” She hands it to Lena with a grin, and Lena takes it from her easily, biting down a smile.

Lena pulls a napkin out of the dispenser, bending down to write her number on it, before lifting herself back up and handing the napkin to Kara.

Kara can’t help the joy that bubbles out of her in the form of a giggle when she holds the napkin in her hand. She looks down at it, but she can’t seem to process any of the numbers or anything except the fact that she has Lena’s number.

“I told you before I have this huge article due tonight, but I know the first thing I wanna do when I finish it is call you. Is that okay?”

“Very okay,” Lena assures. “I look forward to it.”

Kara stands there for a moment just smiling at the beautiful woman before her until Lena raises her eyebrows. “Kara, don’t you have to get to work?”

“Crap, yes,” Kara replies, messily gathering her things on the table and rushing out towards the door. She stands at the doorway for a moment to glance back at Lena, who’s watching her go with a pleased look on her face. “I’m gonna call you tonight,” she repeats, and Lena just laughs.

“Go, you’re going to be late!”

“Right, right, I’m going!” Kara remembers, and waves goodbye before racing to the nearest alley so she can take off and fly to Catco.

She’s on Cloud 9 the entire way there.

~~~

She arrives at her desk at 9:02 am, only two minutes behind schedule.

“Good morning, Kara!” Nia calls from her desk, and Kara can’t help but grin at that.

“It sure is!” she calls back, plopping herself down on her seat with a dumb smile still plastered on her face.

Nia is rolling up beside her in no time, a suspicious glint in her eyes. “Kara…” she says.

“Nia…” Kara mimics.

“What’s got you so happy today?”

“Nothing,” Kara replies, but there’s a sing-song quality in her voice that means even she can’t deny that something is up.

“Kara, what? Spill!”

“Spill what? There’s nothing to spill. I’m spill-proof.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Our lives have been beyond boring the last few weeks, and you know I need a little drama to live.”

“What are you even talking about? There’s plenty of drama in our life.”

Nia rolls her eyes. “I mean, action drama, sure, but nothing good. Alex and Maggie have spent the past week talking about nothing but the new guns the NCPD ordered and Kelly just got that new job at Obsidian, which you’d think would be interesting, but even she says there’s nothing to report on there. No office drama. None! Like, at all. That’s what she gets for working with a bunch of therapists who specialize in conflict resolution, I guess.”

Kara nods absentmindedly as she boots up her computer, and even though it doesn’t require any concentration, she can’t spare any focus on Nia because she’s too busy thinking about Lena. Is it weird that she already misses her? Is it bad that she wishes she could hear what sort of witty reply Lena might have to Nia’s rambling?

Nia either doesn’t notice that Kara isn’t really listening, or doesn’t care, because she continues on. “The only new thing in Winn’s life is that J’onn is letting him recode the DEO firewalls after that alien hacked in last month, and James just keeps going on about how beautiful the cherry blossoms are at this time of year. He just keeps asking if Winn can set him up with some more storage on his SD card so he can take even more pictures of them.”

“Fascinating,” Kara interjects, pulling notes out from her desk drawer.

“Yeah, good one. But that’s why you need to tell me what you’re so happy about, because Brainy and I need something to talk about during lunch. You know I love him, but there’s only so many times I can hear about him reorganizing employee records. I think even he’s starting to get bored of it. So, come on. What’s up with you? Did you meet someone or something?”

Kara can’t help but blush at that, and Nia gasps.

“Oh my god, you did! You met someone! Tell me everything. What’s their name? What do they do? Are they cute? Oh my god, are you guys gonna fall in loooove?”

Kara bites down a smile and shakes her head. “No, I… I’m gonna tell you all about her –”

“Oh my god, it’s a her! What’s her name? Do you think I can find her on Instagram before lunch?”

“I’m gonna tell you all about her,” Kara repeats, “but first, I really need to finish this article.”

“Come on, you’re no fun. Give me a few details at least, please? Name? Place of work? Opinion on Taylor Swift?”

“Bye, Nia!”

“Kara, please!”

“I’ll tell you everything when I finish, okay?”

There’s a moment of silence before Nia seems to accept it, narrowing her eyes as she asks, “Promise?”

“Promise,” Kara replies, and she can’t help the smile that creeps back onto her face. (It’s not her fault she’s having a really good day!) Nia just squeals in response and wheels back to her desk to pick up her phone, probably texting Brainy about the interaction. Still, Kara can’t find it in herself to be upset about it, not when the tingling excitement of seeing Lena still runs through her veins.

The next few hours go by similarly; Kara writes a few sentences, gets distracted and starts thinking about Lena, then shakes herself out of it to return her focus to her work. Whenever Kara’s eyes skim over the napkin by her keyboard with Lena’s number written elegantly on the edge (Rao, Kara doesn’t think she’s ever seen a more beautifully crafted number seven), she gets distracted and giggly again. Eventually, after the fourth time she finds herself daydreaming about Lena after seeing her number, Kara has to flip the napkin over so she can’t see the writing. She can’t bring herself to put it away in her purse, even though she probably should.

Brainy comes by at lunch time with two bags chock-full of Chinese food, and Nia tries to tempt Kara into sharing again by promising her three portions of potstickers, but the deadline looms ever closer and the image of Snapper’s displeased face in her head is enough to deter Kara from spilling. She assures Nia that she’ll be the first person she’ll tell, which lands her two containers of potstickers and an order of beef with broccoli. Brainy accidentally admits that Nia was never going to withhold any food from Kara but was just using it to hopefully bribe her into sharing, and Nia slaps him on the shoulder and drags him away after that. Kara just shakes her head and grins.

She manages to gulp down all of her food in half an hour in between compiling interviews for her article, and she’s so caught up in her work that she doesn’t even bother to throw her trash away, plastic containers piled up on the side of her desk.

The rest of the day flies by. She cross-checks articles and sorts through quotes in way too many interviews, and finally – finally – finishes. She knows she’s being dramatic, but it feels a little monumental when she finally presses send on the email to Snapper about her finished article, like the end of an era, or maybe the beginning of one. (She doesn’t dare say that aloud, though, because she knows Alex would somehow get wind of it and never let her live it down.)

It’s 4:57 pm when she logs off of her computer and feels adrenaline start to pump through her. Nia immediately notices and rolls her chair over, propping her head up on Kara’s desk with her arms and nodding excitedly.

“Okay, now you’re gonna tell me, right?”

Kara nods happily. “I met the most amazing girl today!”

She spends the next fifteen minutes updating Nia on every detail of meeting Lena this morning, and Nia nods animatedly through everything, squeezing her hand at the right moments and gasping every time Kara talks about the connection they felt. By the end of it, Kara is pretty sure she’s fallen even further for Lena, and Nia is all but buzzing with excitement when she practically orders Kara to get up and call her. It doesn’t take much (any) convincing for Kara to hop up out of her chair to find the napkin with Lena’s number on it.

Only, she doesn’t see the napkin on her desk.

She doesn’t panic, at first, even if that’s what her mind is telling her to do. Maybe it fell to the floor, or she put it back in her bag without thinking about it. When she doesn’t find the napkin anywhere on the floor, or in her bag, or in any of coworkers’ things that she uses her x-ray vision to look through, that’s when she starts to freak out.

“I can’t find the napkin,” she’s saying to Nia, nerves radiating off her, which don’t improve when Nia blanches and her eyes grow three sizes.

“Napkin?” she repeats, her voice at least an octave higher than it normally is.

“Yeah, the napkin. Lena wrote her phone number on a napkin and I put it on the corner of my desk so I wouldn’t forget about it.”

“Shit,” Nia whispers to herself, which does nothing to calm Kara down.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Uh, well, do you remember like half an hour ago when Snapper started complaining about the mess in the breakroom and I cleared your desk of all your Chinese food containers so you wouldn’t get yelled at?”

“Yeah? Thanks, by the way.”

“No, please don’t thank me. I think… I think I may have accidentally thrown away your napkin, too.”

“What!?” Kara finds herself yelling.

Nia is immediately apologizing. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Kara, I thought I was helping! I thought it was just a regular napkin that you had used when you were eating, so I tossed it down the garbage chute with the rest of the trash. I never would’ve done that if I’d known it had Lena’s number on it, please believe me.”

Kara squeezes her eyes shut and sinks down in her seat, her head falling into her hands dejectedly. Eventually she collects herself and manages to say, “No, I know. I know you wouldn’t do that on purpose.”

“Kara, I’m so, so sorry,” Nia laments, and it sounds a little like she’s about to cry, so Kara lifts her head up out of her hands and forces a hollow smile.

“I know. I’m not mad at you, I promise.”

Nia’s expression doesn’t change. “I’m… Can I do something? Anything? We could look her up! What’s her last name? I’ll call Brainy right now and ask him to look her up in the DEO database.”

Kara’s heart squeezes in her chest when she answers, “I don’t know.”

“Oh, fuck. God, I’m so, so sorry. Really. I… I just want to help. Do you want to come over and watch a movie or something? Or we could go to the bar?”

Kara shakes her head. “No, I think I’m just going to go home.”

“Kara,” Nia pleads, but Kara cuts her off with a forced smile.

“I’ll be fine, Nia, I promise. I don’t blame you or anything, I just want to be alone right now.”

Nia worries her lip, seemingly pondering whether or not to argue further, but eventually gives in. “Okay. You’ll call me if you need anything, right?”

“Yeah,” Kara replies, but she already knows she won’t.

~~~

Kara sits in her apartment alone, surrounded by three paper bags full of Chinese food, her knees curled up to her chest. She spends the first ten minutes of her moping figuring out how she could still make it work – sift through the trash bins at CatCo to find the napkin with Lena’s number on it, show up at the café from this morning and beg to see the credit card records so she can track her down, post their encounter on the missed connections section of Craigslist and hope that Lena somehow sees it – but none of her ideas have very much practicality, so she gives up. Eventually, she resigns herself to stuffing her face with food from Mr. Chen’s for the second time today, trying to ignore the painful lump in her throat that reminds her that these potstickers are the reason she lost Lena’s number in the first place.

After a good thirty minutes of moping and grief-eating, there’s a loud knock on her door and Kara uses her X-ray vision to see Alex standing outside with two dozen donuts clutched in her hands. Kara really just wants to sit in her sadness for a bit, so she doesn’t answer, hoping that her sister will get the hint and leave her alone.

Then again, it’s Alex Danvers she’s talking about, so there’s no such chance of that happening.

Alex bangs her fist on the door again, shuffling to balance the donuts on one arm. “Open up, Kara! I know you’re in there!”

“I’m not home,” Kara calls back, her voice slightly muffled by the copious amount of fried rice she currently has stuffed into her mouth.

“Liar,” is Alex’s immediate response. “Come on, I brought you donuts, at least open up the door to take them from me.” After a few moments with no response, Alex huffs. “Kara, I still have my spare key, so I’m getting in there no matter what. Will you please let me in?”

Kara sighs dejectedly and shuffles her way to the door, opening it to find a frowning Alex Danvers. “Only because you said please.”

Alex pushes the boxes of donuts into Kara’s arms and easily steps into the apartment as if it were her own. “Okay, what’s wrong? Nia called and said you were sad so I hurried over as soon as I could. What happened? Do you need me to beat someone up for you?” She hangs up her leather jacket on Kara’s coat hanger before turning to face the living room when she finishes and frowning at what she sees. “Shit, three bags worth of food? This is worse than I thought. What’s wrong?”

Kara shrugs. “It’s stupid.”

Alex rolls her eyes and grabs Kara’s hand, dragging her to the couch before plopping them both down on the cushions. “It’s not stupid if it upsets you, you know that, right?”

“Yeah,” says Kara, but she can’t bring her gaze up to look up at Alex.

Alex clearly can’t have that, because she takes the opportunity to hook her index finger under Kara’s chin and lift her head back up so that they’re staring into each other’s eyes. Alex’s voice is softer than Kara could ever expect when she asks again, “Seriously, what happened?”

There’s a moment of hesitation before Kara says, “I met someone,” and Alex lets out an impressively loud sigh of relief.

“That’s it? You met someone? What’s so bad about that?”

“It’s… I lost her number. I’m never going to see her again.”

Alex takes this opportunity to wrap her arms around Kara, pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m sorry, Kara. I know that sucks. But it’ll be okay, I promise. There are plenty of fish in the sea.”

“Yeah, I know that, but… but she was different, Alex. We had something.”

Alex frowns. “Kara, you knew her for what, a day?”

“Yeah, but –” She huffs out a breath and takes a moment to decide what she’s going to say. “Have you ever met someone and just instantly known that they were going to be someone special to you?”

There’s a moment of silence before Alex jokes, “Have you been reading romance novels again?” Kara shoves her, not hard enough to hurt but definitely hard enough to knock her a little off balance, and Alex lets out a noise of discontent before sighing and relenting. “Okay, sorry, sorry. Go on.”

“There was just something about her, Alex. She was so easy to be around, like we’d known each other our whole lives. Everything she said just made me want to know more about her.”

Alex sighs at that, and Kara waits for a teasing remark to come shooting out of her mouth, but it never does. Instead, Alex smiles softly at her and says, “Tell me about her.”

Kara feels a smile sneak onto her face. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. Did you meet her at work today?”

“No,” Kara says, her smile widening. “I met her at a coffee shop.”

“A coffee shop? Since when do you drink coffee?”

“Okay I wasn’t there for coffee, but that’s not all they serve at cafés, you know! I went somewhere new, the one by Luciano’s that Maggie recommended. Remember?”

Alex scrunches up her face. “The what now?”

“You know, the one that Maggie talked about last game night where she arrested that alien for public indecency? She said I’d love their mochas?”

It takes her a moment, but then Alex must remember because she raises her eyebrows and deadpans, “Kara, you know she was making fun of you, right?”

“What? No she wasn’t, she was being thoughtful.”

“Sweetie, I distinctly remember her laughing about how the mochas are basically hot chocolate.”

“So?”

“So then you got all happy and excited and she said you were basically an eight-year-old even though you’re old enough to do taxes and rent a car? And right after that she –”

“Okay, okay, I get it! Do you want to hear the story or not?”

Alex is still smiling, but she closes her mouth and makes a zipping motion over her lips before she pretends to lock it, tucking the imaginary key in her pocket afterwards.

“Okay, so I went to get my mocha, and gosh, the most beautiful woman was standing next to me.”

“Oh really? The most beautiful?”

“I know you’re teasing me, but I’m serious about this. She’s honestly the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of people. Like, a lot. Not only am a I superhero living in a very densely populated city, but I’ve also been to twelve other planets.”

Alex rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I know, I’m teasing you. Go on.”

“Okay, so the barista happened to mix up our orders and I got this terrible black coffee and she got my mocha, so we had to switch them up. Oh, and she made the cutest face when she drank the mocha! Like her nose was all scrunched up in the most adorable way ever and I sorta couldn’t focus on anything else because I really, really wanted to kiss her –”

Alex fake gags at that and Kara sighs.

“Okay, okay, moving on. Anyway, we started talking, and at first it didn’t go well because she told me she works at Luthor Corp and I accidentally made a face, but –”

“Hold up,” Alex says, bringing her hand up in a ‘stop’ gesture. “She works at Luthor Corp?”

Kara huffs in annoyance. “Didn’t you say you weren’t going to interrupt?”

“I made no such promises. You said Luthor Corp? Like, the Luthor Corp?”

“Yes, the Luthor Corp. Do you know of another one?”

“As in the one whose CEO who tried to kill Clark less than a month ago,” Alex confirms dryly.

“Geez, now I see why she was so scared to tell me – this is terrible. Yes, it’s that Luthor Corp, but, Alex, she’s nothing like that. She’s so good! Like, honestly, purely, good. She just wants to help people! All she wants to do is make a positive difference in the world, and she wasn’t involved with any of that at all – she supports alien rights and everything, and she was so clearly against anything the Luthors did. She’s a good person, I know it. I can feel it in my bones.”

Alex looks over at her with disbelief, but after a few seconds of staring into Kara’s unwavering eyes, she sighs resignedly. “Okay, okay, whatever, I trust you. Continue.”

Kara finds herself grinning again. “So then we talked for, like, forever. Talking with her was so easy, and she’s so smart and caring and funny. She’s an engineer, did you know that? She used to work in R&D at Luthor Corp, but she just got promoted because she’s so good at what she does. And not only is she brilliant, she’s also a genuinely kind person. She was so understanding when I talked about first coming to live with you guys, and she says she wants to read my articles, and she’s just… she’s perfect.”

Alex sighs again, pursing her lips. She’s silent for a long moment before saying, “She’s really that perfect?”

Kara smiles sadly. “Yeah. She is.”

“Well, then. You know what that means. If she’s perfect, there’s no way you can give up on her.”

Kara furrows her brows. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, you’re obviously hung up on her! Let’s find her for you. What’s her last name? We can look her up.”

Kara sighs. “I don’t actually know it.”

Alex purses her lips again, stumped for a moment, before she shrugs and smiles encouragingly over at Kara. “Okay, that’s no problem, I’m sure we can get Winn to help us find her on Twitter or something.”

“Uh, we actually can’t do that, either.”

“Why not?”

“She sort of doesn’t have one.”

“Okay then… Instagram? Facebook?”

Kara grimaces. “She said she doesn’t use social media.”

“You’re sure she’s real, right?”

Kara shoves her again. “Shut up!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Jesus…” Alex shakes her head, returning her focus to the matter at hand. “Okay, this isn’t the end of the world. We know other things about her.”

“I don’t really think a detailed retelling of how she broke her arm at her first robotics competition will help us find her phone number.”

Alex rolls her eyes. “Come on, what else do you know about her?”

“She doesn’t like sugary drinks?”

“Jesus, Kara, you’re supposed to be a genius.”

“Hey!” Kara protests, “I am a genius!”

“Then what’s the one piece of information that you’re forgetting that you know?” Alex looks at her expectantly, and Kara can feel the weight of her stare press heavily on her chest. After a few moments of silence, Alex sighs and continues. “You know where she works, right?”

Kara nods, still not quite understanding what her sister is getting at. “Yeah? Well, sort of. She used to work in R&D, but I have no idea where she got promoted to, so it might not be in that division anymore.”

“That’s not a huge problem, all you have to do is call up Luthor Corp and ask for Lena.”

Kara almost laughs at that. “Come on, Luthor Corp is like a thirty-story building.”

“Yeah, and you have a thirty-minute lunch break, right?”

“Alex, I’m serious.”

“So am I!” Alex protests, and with the look her sister is giving her, Kara wants to believe it’s that easy, but she can’t help but feel a little skeptical.

“I don’t know… isn’t that creepy? I don’t want to be like some gross guy who stalks a girl at work.”

“What?” Alex asks, like she can’t believe what she’s hearing. “You’re nothing like that! Creepy guys are creepy because it’s unwanted attention, because the girls aren’t interested, but it’s not unwanted here! She likes you back, right?”

Kara frowns as she picks up a container of potstickers and stuffs one into her mouth. “I mean, maybe? Who knows?”

“She gave you her number, didn’t she?”

“Well, yeah…”

“Kara, come on, you’ve gotta believe in yourself,” Alex insists, gripping Kara’s leg harshly and shaking. “Where’s that Supergirl confidence? You’re amazing! You’re funny and caring and beautiful, and anyone who doesn’t see that is a dumbass. This Lena person isn’t a dumbass, right?”

“No,” Kara admits.

“Then she must know how great you are.”

Kara hums, still unconvinced. “Yeah, I guess… I just don’t want to make her uncomfortable.”

“You won’t,” is Alex’s steadfast reassurance. “I’m sure of it. Besides, I know you, and I know you’re never going to forgive yourself if you don’t go after her. You’re going to regret it.”

It’s that last sentence that forces Kara to sigh in defeat. “I hope you’re right.”

~~~

Kara is vibrating with nervous energy the entire next day, so much so that by the time lunch rolls around, she’s already gone through an entire Costco-size package of trail mix, just from nervously snacking. When the clock hits noon, Nia shoots her a thumbs-up for support, and Kara smiles weakly back at her. She doesn’t know if she’s ever been this nervous, and she’s had to save the world, like, twice already.

She finds the number for Luthor Corp R&D after a quick Google search, and before she knows it, she’s dialing up the division and waiting for someone to pick up.

The phone rings three times before a gruff-sounding man answers it. “Luthor Corp Research and Development. Did you need something?”

Kara can hear boisterous noise in the background, so she raises her voice to ensure that she’s heard. “Hi, um, I was actually wondering if you could put me in contact with one of your employees.”

The man pauses for a moment before replying, “If you’re looking for any sort of company statement on an invention, you’re gonna need to call management to get in touch with the developer through them.”

“No, nothing like that!” Kara assures, and she hears the man exhale in what sounds like relief. “I just need to talk to someone who works there. Personal business, I promise.”

“Okay, sure,” the man says, and he sounds much more relaxed. “Who are you lookin’ for?”

“Uh, Lena? I don’t actually know if she still works in R&D, I know she recently got promoted, but if you could direct me to wherever she works now, that’d be really great! I don’t know a last name, but I can describe her, if you’d like: long dark hair, mid-twenties maybe, really smart?”

There’s a long moment of silence before the man scoffs. “Are you fucking with me?”

“What? No!” Kara is quick to insist. “No, I would never, uh, mess with you, I swear. I met her yesterday and want to get in touch with her, but I can’t find the number she gave me. I really want to speak with her, is there any possible way you could help me out?”

Kara hears the man shuffle around at something, and then she hears him shout over to someone else through the muffled speaker.

“Yo, Eddy!” he calls, and there’s some more rustling before he continues to speak. “Some girl’s looking for Lena.”

“Lena?” the other man, Eddy, questions.

“Yeah, I don’t know what to do.”

There’s a pause before Eddy continues. “It doesn’t sound like another attack, does it?”

Kara feels her blood run cold when she hears that. An attack? No, not just that, another one? Aimed at Lena? What sort of inventions was she working on that her coworkers are worried for her safety?

The original man speaks up again. “Nah, not really. Just sounds like she really wants to get ahold of her. Should I patch her up?”

Eddy grunts noncommittally. “Eh, I guess? Let it be Jess’s problem, she’s the one who gets paid to deal with this shit. It’s not like she can hurt Lena from a phone call, right?”

The original man seems to agree with that, because then he addresses Kara again. “You still there?”

“I’m here!” Kara affirms, and she wants desperately to ask what they meant by ‘another attack,’ but she doesn’t know how she would explain even hearing that, so she bites her tongue.

“Alright,” the man says, “I’ll get you up to the top floor. Tell her Carl sent you.”

Before Kara has a chance to thank him for his helpful (and odd) advice, the line clicks and the phone rings again. It doesn’t ring more than twice before a polite woman answers it.

“Hello, you’ve reached the office of Lena L–”

“Is Lena okay?” Kara finds herself blurting.

The woman – probably Jess – seems shocked at that, because it takes her a few moments to respond. “Excuse me?”

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I just got worried. Is Lena alright? I really wanted to talk to her. I was told to tell you that Carl sent me? I just… is she there?”

Jess scoffs. “Is – is Lena here? I don’t – who the hell are you?”

“Oh!” Kara splutters, slightly embarrassed that she completely forgot to introduce herself. “Sorry, I forgot! I’m Kara Danvers, I met Lena yesterday at the café on Washington? I told her I would call her last night, but I lost her number and have been scrambling to try and find a way to get in touch with her. Is she there? Can I speak to her?”

Jess seems almost angry when she replies, “Look, I don’t know who you are, but you’re going to need to try harder next time to get to her. I wasn’t born yesterday, Miss Danvers.” She spits out the last word like it’s a curse, and Kara might be offended if she weren’t so desperate.

She’s about to chime in and defend herself when she hears the clack of high heels on tile and a surprisingly familiar voice ask from somewhere in the room, “Jess, what is it?”

Lena. That’s Lena’s voice. She’s here! Kara found her!

Jess’s tone instantly switches from downright furious to polite and doting. “Sorry, I was just about to get rid of her. It’s some woman claiming that she met you yesterday in a coffeeshop, but I think she’s probably just another reporter.”

Kara hears Lena take a hurried step forward. “No, it’s fine, Jess, I think I know who this is. May I?” She most likely reaches for the phone, because Kara hears a rustling as the receiver is transferred from hand to hand. She can’t help the rush of adrenaline that shoots through her veins at the notion that she’s finally going to get to talk to Lena.

Lena speaks directly into the phone this time when she says in an uncharacteristically firm voice, “Sam, this isn’t funny. You know I really liked that Kara girl, and she never called. And you know what? This is actually a little mean. I know you like to play with me, but this crosses the line from funny into hurtful. Why are you being cruel?”

There’s a heavy pause where Lena obviously expects someone named Sam to explain themself, but all Kara can do is choke out, “Oh, um, Lena? Is that you? This isn’t Sam. It’s Kara. Uh, Danvers. Kara Danvers. From the café?”

No one speaks or moves or makes any sound at all for a few seconds, until Lena finally seems to regain her composure and asks reverently, “Kara?”

“Uh – yeah. Hi!”

Lena seems to still be in shock because it takes her a few seconds to speak again. “Oh, god, Kara, I didn’t think… I thought you were someone else. I’m so sorry.”

Kara can’t help but smile at that. “No, it’s not a problem! I’m sorry I didn’t call yesterday! I lost your number, and it took me forever to find a way to get in touch with you.”

“No, that’s fine. No worries,” Lena says, but it sounds a little like she might pass out.

“Oh, good. In that case, can I ask you something?”

Kara hears Lena gulp through the phone, and then she replies in an even voice, “Yes, of course. I suppose I do owe you an answer.”

“Did you really say you liked me?”

Kara can tell from the disbelieving laugh that comes next that that was not what Lena was expecting her to ask.

It’s probably the most beautiful sound she’s ever heard.

Chapter Text

“Can I see you again?” Kara hears herself ask, and she knows she should probably be embarrassed about being so eager, but she can’t find it in herself to do so.

There are five agonizing seconds of silence over the line before Lena says, “Beg your pardon?”

“Oh,” Kara stammers, and she tries to work up the courage to ask Lena out for a second time. It’s a little ridiculous that she can go off to fight deadly criminals without breaking a sweat but talking to one pretty girl makes her feel like she might just have a heart attack. “I was just wondering if I could see you again? I really liked our talk at the café yesterday, and I was hoping you might want to do it again sometime.” She finds herself almost desperate to keep talking, to explain more, but she knows if she does then she’ll start to ramble, and that won’t do anyone any good.

“You’d really want to?” Lena asks reverently, and Kara furrows her eyebrows. Did she say something confusing? She thought she was being pretty clear there, but is Lena talking about something else, maybe? She decides to ask for clarification.

“Want to what?”

“See me again,” Lena replies, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, and Kara’s heart just about breaks.

“What? Of course!” Kara insists loudly, but then lowers her voice when she remembers that she’s in a place of work and people are staring at her. “Sorry – but, yes, of course I want to see you again. Honestly, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I met you.”

There are a few more seconds of silence before Lena inhales sharply and says, “Kara, I’m afraid I haven’t been completely honest with you.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” Lena replies, but then reconsiders. “Well, possibly. I think we need to talk.”

“Okay.” The words ‘another attack’ flit through Kara’s mind then, and suddenly she finds herself worried that maybe Lena is acting distant right now because she’s in danger. “Are you safe right now, Lena?”

“What? Of course. Why would you ask that?”

She hesitates, knowing that she can’t reasonably explain how she even knows that Lena’s been attacked before. “Oh, uh, no reason. I just… wanted to make sure ‘cause, you know, the world’s a dangerous place and all! Lots of ways to die!” She winces at how creepy that sounded and changes the subject, hoping that maybe Lena didn’t notice.

“Anyway, uh, I really would like to see you again. We could talk about whatever it is you need to say then? I promise to listen. Maybe, um, over dinner, or something? I know a really great Italian place.”

“You want to have dinner with me even though you have no idea what I need to say to you?”

“Yeah, definitely!”

Lena sighs. “That’s not very safe, Kara. What if the thing I need to tell you is that I’m dangerous?”

Kara almost laughs. There’s no way for Lena to know this, of course, but she is Supergirl. There’s very little that a human like Lena could do on a dinner date that would put her in any danger. Still, she humors Lena anyway. “Well, are you? Dangerous?”

“I mean, no, but –”

“And you don’t spend your free time kicking puppies, right?”

“Obviously not, but, Kara –”

“Then I don’t see how anything you could have to say could be a deal breaker. I really want to get to know you better.” In the split-second that Kara waits for a reply, it suddenly occurs to her that maybe Lena isn’t even interested, that maybe she’s saying all this as a way to turn her down nicely, and Kara is just making it difficult for her. She quickly moves to backtrack. “Only if you want to, though, obviously! If you’re interested, I mean. Are you? Interested? In dinner? Um, with me? If you’re not, that’s totally fine! I’m really sorry for just presuming, and also for disrupting you at work because I know it’s completely unprofessional, but I just… gosh, maybe this wasn’t a good idea – why did I let Alex talk me into this? Lena, I’m so sorry, I –”

Lena interrupts her then, and she can hear the smile in her voice, “Kara, stop. Please don’t worry. I’m… I’m definitely interested.”

Kara hears Jess cough in the background, and it sounds a little like what Winn does when he’s covering up a laugh, but it can’t possibly be that because Kara doesn’t know what would even be funny in the first place. She doesn’t let it faze her, though, because she just got confirmation that Lena likes her at least a little bit, and that on its own is enough to make her whole day.

“Oh, great! Then can I pick you up tonight after work?”

“I…” She hesitates for a moment, reticent about whatever it is that’s holding her back, before something seems to change her mind and she says, “Sure. Could you meet me at Luthor Corp so we can talk first?”

Kara feels like her face might just split in half because of how big her smile is. “I’d love nothing more.”

~~~

As soon as Snapper enters the elevator to leave at 4:59, Kara immediately begins packing up her things. Obviously she could do it with superspeed and be done in less than a second, but for the sake of not outing herself, she packs up at a human pace. Nia shoos her off as soon as everything is stuffed back into her bag, pushing her towards the elevators with a sing-songy, “Good luck!”

Kara waits the excruciatingly long thirty seconds that it takes for the elevator to arrive, then the equally painful minute and a half that she spends in it as it brings her down to the ground floor, and speed-walks out of the building with a little more determination than is probably inconspicuous. Still, it doesn’t matter, because then she’s striding down the streets of National City, on her way to Luthor Corp to see Lena – whom she hasn’t stopped thinking about for more than a minute at a time since they met. Her heart thuds heavily in her chest at the thought of seeing the brunette again. She knows she could fly and be there in no time, but then she’d have to wait outside for a few minutes so it wouldn’t be suspicious how quickly she got there, and that sounds like torture, so she walks instead.

She arrives at Luthor Corp less than ten minutes, and she knows she’s definitely too early, so she sits down on one of the stools near the entrance, waiting. Lena said that her assistant Jess would come down to bring her up, but Kara has no idea what Jess looks like, so she has to wait anyway. She isn’t exactly sure why Lena has an assistant, because from the way she talked about it, it didn’t seem like her promotion was that big, but then again, that wasn’t really the main focus of their talk, anyway. She guesses that Lena must be pretty important, and she makes a note to ask her exactly what it is she does when they have their talk.

She doesn’t know exactly what it is that Lena plans to talk to her about, but she can’t find it in herself to be very nervous about it. She knows Lena clearly thinks it’s a big deal, but she can’t imagine that it can be anything that will really cause any problems. Any real dealbreakers she can think of – racism, xenophobia, being a secret serial killer – she knows couldn’t apply to Lena. Lena is not a bad person, she’s sure of it. There’s just something about her that draws Kara in – unfamiliar, maybe, but undeniable. She was meant to meet Lena, the same way she was meant to become Supergirl. There’s no way something that feels so right could be bad for her.

She doesn’t have to wait long, because not thirty seconds after she sits down and anxiously smooths out her hair, a petite Asian woman is walking straight towards her with a determined (and slightly confused) expression on her face.

“Kara Danvers?” she asks, when she gets close enough to hear, and Kara nods eagerly, standing up and thrusting her hand out for whom she assumes is Jess to shake. Jess smiles politely at her as she grasps her hand and shakes it once before dropping her arm to her side. “You got here quickly. Miss L– I mean, Lena was under the impression that you wouldn’t be here for at least ten more minutes.”

Kara stammers. “Oh? Oh, yeah, I was, um… nearby. Yeah! Really close. I was getting coffee, at the place where I met Lena, actually. ‘Cause, you know, I really love coffee.”

Jess eyes her up and down, clearly unimpressed with the lie. “Where is it?”

“What?”

“Your coffee.”

“My coffee?”

Jess sighs, clearly annoyed. “Yes, your coffee. Where’s your coffee?”

Kara glances down at her noticeably empty hands and kicks herself. She has no coffee. “Oh, I – I finished it.”

Jess just raises a single eyebrow in response, and she looks so much like Lena in that moment that Kara wonders if maybe she learned it from her. “Did you? Already?” she asks, disbelief dripping in her tone.

“Mhm. Yup. I’m a really fast drinker.”

Jess grunts noncommittally like she wants to call Kara out, but she doesn’t, just turns around and gestures for Kara to follow her anyway. That’s a good sign, right? Kara scrambles to keep up behind her while keeping up human appearances, because while doesn’t really have any trouble walking at this speed, it’s only because she’s an alien. Is Jess an alien? A simple x-ray of her body on their way to the elevator shows that she has all human organs (minus an appendix) but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of being part of a shape-shifting race or even from somewhere like Krypton which would give her mostly human physiology. Kara shakes her head of the thought, deciding it’s not important, and instead chooses to focus on what’s about to happen.

The elevator that they choose is empty save for a few people who exit at the ground floor where they get on, so Kara gets to stand in an enclosed space with Jess for another minute or so. Fun. Her eyes widen to at least twice the size that they were before when Jess presses the button that leads to the very top floor, but Jess doesn’t say anything so neither does Kara. Still, Kara finds herself beyond curious – what does Lena even do? She knows she was promoted and that she has an assistant, but the top floor? Rao, that’s an important job. She really wants to ask Jess about it, but even though Jess is (most likely) human and (most definitely) half a foot shorter than her, she looks like she could kill Kara if she wanted to, so she keeps her mouth shut.

They reach the top floor in less than a minute, and Kara is beyond relieved to finally arrive because the tense silence in the elevator was sort of choking her to death. There are a few offices on the floor, and Kara expects them to enter one of the rooms along the hallway, but they pass by every single one on their walk. Eventually they reach the end of the hall and turn a corner to reveal a white secretary’s desk and big twin doors at the end of the walkway.

Kara is almost sure that this isn’t right, but when Jess walks right up to the white doors and raps a patterned knock onto the wood, she’s positive.

“Um, are you sure I should be –”

There isn’t even enough time for Jess to turn around and glare at her, because then she hears Lena’s ethereal voice call out, “Come in please,” and Jess is pushing the doors open.

The first thing she notices is that Lena is beautiful. Kara is pretty sure that that’s her only thought for a good five seconds, the fact that Lena embodies the kind of beauty that poets have been trying to describe for centuries. She barely takes notice of when Lena thanks Jess, because her gaze is locked on the most beautiful sea green eyes she’s ever seen.

She finally snaps out of her trance when she sees Lena smile at her. “Kara,” she says, and her voice is soft and tender the way it was when they were talking in the coffee shop the other day.

“Lena,” she replies. She can’t help the smile that forces its way onto her face, and then she’s stepping closer almost automatically. Lena’s standing in the middle of a sparsely (but expensively) decorated office, and she has on black stilettos and pencil skirt just like yesterday, but her blouse is a rich green this time. Maybe Kara should be focused on how it complements Lena’s eyes, but the top button is undone so that it leaves the tendons of her neck and beginning of her collarbones on display, which is really all Kara can think about. She may or may not trip on air on the walk over just thinking of the exposed skin.

“You’re here,” Lena says earnestly, like she didn’t expect it at all, and the only thing that Kara can think to do is make a joke.

“She says with surprise in her voice for some reason.”

Lena blushes at that, and then Kara continues, serious this time.

“I said I would be, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” Lena agrees, ducking her head for a moment, “I suppose you did. I’m really glad you came.”

“Yeah? Me too.”

There’s silence for a few moments, and Kara would honestly be content to stand there forever, drinking in the sight of Lena and the faint scent of roses that surrounds her, but the brunette eventually breaks the silence, clearing her throat as her heartrate picks up into a frantic tempo, and Kara is suddenly reminded of why they’re here.

“So,” Lena begins, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Right, of course. Um, can I ask a question first, though?”

Lena nods. “Of course.”

“What exactly is it that you do?” Kara asks, eyes scanning the room. She tries to sound as inoffensive as possible, possibly even lighten the mood a little, but Lena’s pulse doesn’t relent. If anything, it seems to beat even faster. Kara vows to try harder, so she makes a joke. “This whole experience has been a little cryptic, if I do say so myself. You promise you didn’t take me here to kill me?”

“No, I promise,” Lena says, allowing herself a little laugh, even though she still holds herself tensely. Kara guesses she should take whatever win she can get.

“Well, if you promise,” she relents, trying to grin in the way that Alex has said makes her look charming and nonthreatening. Maybe that will help lessen Lena’s anxiety. “This is cool, though! Are we in the CEO’s office?”

If anything, that question seems to make it worse, because Lena swallows audibly before saying, “Yes, actually. We are. Do you remember when I said that I’d recently been promoted?”

“Yeah?”

“This is my new position.”

Kara furrows her eyebrows. She doesn’t get it for a moment – does Lena work with the new CEO? Maybe she’s an assistant? Still, that doesn’t make much sense, because she’s an engineer by trade and being an assistant doesn’t seem anywhere near that field. Plus, if she were the assistant, then why is Jess there? And why is she treating this office as if it’s her own? Usually CEOs don’t like anyone in their space, except –

Wait.

“Holy crap, you’re… Are you the new CEO of Luthor Corp?”

“Guilty,” Lena pipes out, a nervous chuckle escaping her afterwards, but then she scowls, seemingly chastising herself for some undetermined reason.

Kara’s incredulous expression morphs into a frown as she takes in the information, not quite understanding how it’s possible that Lena is running the company now. “Wow! Um, how exactly did that happen? Wasn’t Luthor Corp founded by Lex Luthor’s father? I thought for sure they wanted to keep the business in the family.”

“They did.”

Kara assumes that she still looks as confused as she did before, because Lena continues. Her voice is even and controlled, but Kara can hear the way her heart is beating erratically in her chest.

“I’m afraid I didn’t tell you the whole truth before. My last name is actually… well, Luthor. I’m Lena Luthor.”

Kara can think of nothing to say except, “Oh.”

Quickly, Lena launches into an explanation that sounds almost memorized with the amount of precision she delivers it with. “I’m sorry I hid who I was from you. I know it’s no excuse, but I couldn’t bring myself to ruin our conversation by telling you about how my family is made up of some of the most notorious alien-haters in the country, and that my brother took so many innocent lives because of it. I couldn’t bear to...” She trails off, clearly not able to finish that sentence, but starts anew.

“I swear to you, Kara, I’m nothing like my family – especially not my brother – and I plan to do my very best to atone for all the pain they’ve caused.”

Kara opens her mouth to reassure her, but Lena doesn’t seem to be done, because she swallows roughly and continues with her speech.

“That being said,” she adds, sucking in a breath, “I completely understand if you no longer wish to associate with me. I won’t hold anything against you if you choose to leave. Still, I do want you to know that I’m truly very sorry that I hid this from you. It was wrong of me not to allow you to make your own informed decision about me.”

Kara waits a few seconds so that she knows Lena is done speaking before she steps closer and reaches out to rest her hand on Lena’s forearm, an action that seems to have stunned Lena into silence. Her eyes are wide as they stare down at the contact, and confusion is evident in every inch of her face when she looks back up at Kara.

“Lena,” Kara murmurs, careful to keep her voice as gentle as possible, “you don’t have to apologize. I’m not mad at you or anything.”

“You’re not?” Lena breathes, and Kara shakes her head immediately.

“No, of course not! If anything, I feel like maybe I should be apologizing to you.”

Lena frowns. “What? Why?”

“For how I reacted when you brought up Luthor Corp, I mean.”

Lena looks baffled at that. “What? Kara, you didn’t do anything wrong. Besides that, you already apologized.”

“No, I know, but… gosh, that must have made you feel awful.” Kara shakes her head, her heart constricting now at the thought of causing the woman beside her any pain at all. “Lena, I’m so sorry, I really didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I never would’ve said anything if I’d known.”

Lena is silent for a moment, her brows furrowed tightly before she brings her free hand up to cradle her head, hiding her face. Her shoulders begin to shake slightly as she sucks in little breaths of air, and Kara’s eyes widen. Rao, she’d never meant to make Lena cry! She opens her mouth to apologize again, hoping that maybe this time it’ll help, but then she hears Lena stifle back a giggle and nothing makes sense anymore.

“Wait, what? I’m… Are you laughing?”

Lena looks back up at her and smiles, her eyes full of mirth. “Sorry, it’s just – I tell you my brother is a mass murderer and you apologize to me?”

“Well, I… yeah,” Kara confirms, blinking in confusion. “What’s so weird about that? It’s not like you did anything wrong, and I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for you to go through this. So, of course I’m sorry. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’ve never…” She lets out a small chuckle. “You’re something else, Kara Danvers.”

“No, I’m – Lena, I’m serious! I’m sorry I made you feel like I wouldn’t accept you, or that I’d blame you or something. I could never.”

Lena furrows her eyebrows again at that, her head tilting to the side ever so slightly. “Why not?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’ve known me a day and a half, and you’re so unwavering in this belief that I’m good? Even with everything you’ve just learned?”

Kara doesn’t even think about it when she says firmly, “Of course I am. I know you’re good, and everything I’ve learned about you so far is just proof. You’re a good person, Lena Luthor. I’m positive.”

“How do you know I’m not lying to you?” Lena asks, softer this time, her eyes focused intensely on Kara’s own, and there isn’t anything in the world more important to the Kryptonian than proving to Lena that she never has to worry again.

“You wouldn’t. I trust you. Completely.”

Lena eyes widen at that, and after a half-second it takes Kara’s brain to catch up to what she just said, she wants to kick herself for ruining the moment.

“I’m sorry!” she blurts out. “I shouldn’t have said that. That was too much, I didn’t… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She pulls her hand back from where it still rests on Lena’s forearm, already missing the brunette’s soft skin under her palm not even a second after they part.

Only just as soon as she pulls away, Lena reaches out to stop her, gripping Kara’s wrist with long, slender fingers. “You didn’t,” she assures, and Kara breathes out a sigh of relief. “I… Well, I trust you, too.”

“Yeah?”

 Lena nods. “I know it sounds stupid, but I sort of feel like I already know you.” She shakes her head at herself, blushing a bit. “Is that too much?”

“No,” Kara responds immediately. Her heart jumps with excitement at the possibility that maybe she didn’t ruin anything, and she takes the opportunity to bring one of Lena’s hands into both of her own. It’s half because she’s already addicted to the feeling of the brunette’s skin on her own but half because she has to make sure Lena knows she feels the same.

“I know exactly what you mean. It’s like… like every new thing I learn about you is something I already knew, I just had to be reminded.”

“Exactly,” Lena breathes, like Kara’s just stolen the words right out of her mouth. “This is… God, this so weird.”

“Bad weird?” Kara asks nervously, and Lena shakes her head immediately.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s just… new. I’ve never felt like this before, Kara. Not with anyone.”

“Me neither,” Kara replies, and it suddenly feels like the sun is shining high up in her chest. Like she’s being powered not from a star 90 million miles away, but from hope Lena has somehow embedded into her lungs.

“Really?” Lena asks, and Kara can only nod.

“Really. I feel like… like I could tell you anything.”

She knows the words sound too idealistic for anyone to believe she’s telling the truth, but she is. She really does feel like she could tell Lena anything, like she could pour out her heart to the woman beside her right now and it’d all be okay, like Lena would listen closely and press her lips to Kara’s beating soul and swear to protect it, always. She doesn’t know how she knows it, but she does, and it feels righter than anything else she’s ever known.

Lena lets her eyes flutter closed then, like she’s committing the moment to memory, a soft smile playing on her lips, and it’s the loveliest thing Kara’s ever seen. It’s the reason she makes the decision to do what she does.

“Lena?” she prompts, and soft green eyes blink open, a sort of dazed look in them.

“Yes?”

“I want to tell you something.”

She must sound worried, because Lena’s forehead wrinkles up in concern and – after a moment of what looks like internal conflict – she takes her unoccupied hand and busies it with tracing gentle patterns into the space just below the crook of Kara’s elbow. “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong, I promise,” Kara assures her, but she can’t help but smile when Lena continues her ministrations on her skin, even after hearing that everything is okay and it’s no longer strictly necessary. “It’s just that this is just a really big deal for me. Not a lot of people know this about me, and it’s something that I’ve sort of always had to keep secret, so I’m a little nervous right now.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not ready to, Kara. Don’t feel obligated to say anything you don’t want to.”

“No, that’s not it. I – I do want to. I want you to know. I know we just met, but I want you to know everything about me.”

Lena’s eyes sparkle with something that looks suspiciously like hope. “You do?”

“I do,” Kara affirms, nodding. “And I want to know everything about you, if you’ll let me.”

Lena stutters for a moment, eyebrows furrowed.

“This is… this is crazy,” she says eventually. “You know that, right?”

“I know. It is.”

Lena nods, seemingly glad that they’re on the same page, but anxiety twirls around in Kara’s gut.

“But does that mean you don’t want that, too?”

Lena shakes her head. “I didn’t say that,” she corrects, and Kara beams. “I do – want it too. I think. It’s just that I’m… I’m not very good at this.”

“I think you’re doing great,” Kara teases, echoing the words Lena said to her at the coffee shop, and the brunette laughs at the reminder.

“Yeah?” she imitates, and Kara is nodding her head vigorously before she even finishes.

“Absolutely.”

Lena sighs happily. “Well, that settles it then. I guess now we just have to learn everything we can about each other.”

“Yeah, I guess we do. Can I… I mean, do I start?”

“Only if you want to,” Lena reassures, but Kara’s mind is already made up.

“I do. I want to very much. I want you to know this about me.”

“Okay. Then I’m happy to listen.”

“I’m… I’m not very good at explaining it, but can I show you instead?”

Lena smiles her consent, and Kara uses all the strength she has to tear herself away from the other woman’s warmth. “Ready?” she asks, and Lena nods encouragingly.

Before she has time to second guess herself (to consider exactly how pissed Alex is going to be to hear about this, because Rao, she will be pissed) she’s flicking her glasses off and superspeeding out to the balcony to take off, flying a quick loop around the perimeter of the building before shooting back into the office and landing in her original position.

Lena looks awestruck, her eyes wide open as her lips start to curve up into a disbelieving smile. She manages to murmur out, “Oh my god,” before she seems to remember something, and then the awe is instantly replaced with something that looks a lot like… fear?

That can’t be right.

“What did you just do!?” she yells, taking a large step back.

Whatever Kara was expecting, it was not that. Why is Lena angry with her?

“What?” she asks cluelessly, hoping for some sort of explanation about all this. Lena doesn’t acknowledge her question at all.

“Why the hell would you tell me something like that? We’ve only just met!”

“Wait, but I – we were just talking about how…” Kara shakes her head. “Sorry, did I just completely misread this whole thing?”

Lena doesn’t answer, just turns on her heel and begins to pace. “Jesus, Kara! What if I had cameras in here?”

Kara scrunches up her face in confusion. “Do you?”

“No, but – god, you can’t just go around telling random people that you’re Supergirl!”

“You sound just like my sister.”

Lena flinches and covers her ears at that, like the words physically hurt her, and Kara would probably laugh at the sight if she weren’t so confused and worried that she just messed everything up.

“Fuck, stop telling me things!”

“What are you – telling you what?”

“That you have a sister!”

“What? Why? Everybody knows that, it’s, like, common knowledge. Her name is Alex, and –”

“Oh my god!” Lena cries, tangling her fingers in her updo and displacing strands of pristinely styled dark hair. Kara can’t understand for the life of her why Lena is angry about learning something as innocent as this – why her heart is beating so fast that it might just implode, why she isn’t even looking over at her as she yells – but then it hits her. The quick tempo of her heart isn’t one of rage or fury. Lena isn’t angry, or at least, Kara doesn’t think she is. She’s terrified.

But why?

“Lena,” she affirms, trying to placate her, “it’s all okay. Everything’s fine, you’re fine. No one is going to hurt you.” She takes a slow step towards the woman, who either doesn’t mind or doesn’t notice, because she keeps pacing.

“Yeah, no shit I’m fine! No shit no one’s going to hurt me,” Lena mocks. “I am very clearly not the one who should be worried here!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve only just taken on this job, Kara, do you know how terribly wrong this could’ve gone? No, of course you don’t – you just revealed your secret identity in the very building that Lex plotted his war against Superman in!” She curls up on herself then, talking mostly to herself now as she paces. Kara doesn’t catch all of it, but she hears the word ‘stupid’ and ‘dangerous’ repeated a few times before she makes the decision to move in front of a mid-step Lena and reaches up to place her hands on the brunette’s shoulders to steady her.

“Lena,” she says firmly, “talk to me, please? It’s all gonna be okay.” She tries her hardest to project an air of confidence and tranquility as she channels her inner M’gann – the calmest and most collected person she knows.

Lena does stop pacing at that, if only because she can’t physically move forward, but then she stiffens and her eyes go wide as her pupils dart down around Kara’s frame, deliberately avoiding her face. “Oh god,” she chokes, and Kara ducks down so as to try to make eye contact.

“What? Lena, please, what’s wrong?”

Lena looks back up at her then, and she looks downright horrified that Kara would even ask that. “What’s wrong?” she echoes, her voice high and incredulous, bordering on hysteric. “What do you mean what’s wrong? My brother tried to kill your cousin!”

There’s a beat of silence before Kara says the only thing that comes to mind.

“Okay, so family reunions might be a little awkward…”

“What the fuck!” Lena exclaims, and it’s less a question and more of an accusation of some sort. She shrugs Kara’s hands off her shoulders and steps away. “How can you joke about this!?”

“Um, well, I mean… are there really any other options here?”

“Yes! God, of course there are! Your options are to leave while you still can, to come up with some sort of memory wipe to make me forget all about today, to – shit, you’ll need to do something about how many people saw you come up here, to somehow –”

“Lena,” Kara interjects, trying to disrupt her stream of panicked thoughts, and when Lena quiets, she continues. “Do you… do you want me to leave?”

Lena’s features darken at that. “You have to,” she says, insistent, but Kara shakes her head.

“No, I didn’t mean – I want to know if you want me to.”

Lena doesn’t reply, and Kara finds herself staring into her eyes in an effort to try and decipher what she’s feeling. Lena must pick up on this quickly, because she turns around and walks over to the window so Kara can’t analyze her expression, but still doesn’t say anything.

“Do you want me to leave?” Kara continues tentatively. She was pretty confident that Lena was feeling the same way she is, but she has to be sure. “I mean, everything we were talking about before, was it the truth? Were you lying?”

“No,” Lena insists quickly, like it’s painful for her that Kara might think that. She shakes her head and says, softly this time, “No. Kara, it… I meant every word.”

“So did I,” Kara affirms. “So if you want me here, then I’m staying.”

“You can’t,” Lena says, and it sounds like a plea. She turns away from the window to face Kara again, and her eyes are imploring.

“Why?”

Lena huffs out an annoyed breath. “Kara, please.”

“No, seriously, explain it to me. If you want me and I want you, why can’t I stay?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions. You know why.”

“But I don’t! What is it? Is it Lex?”

Lena stiffens at the name, her jaw tightening as she stalks across the room to where a pitcher of water rests on a table. She pours herself a glass of water in silence, and it looks like she’s trying to seem aloof, but Kara can see the hint of a tremor in her hands. She takes a long sip from her cup before setting it down gently and sighing.

“He’s going to hurt you,” she says simply, and Kara scoffs. She knows Lena is frightened, but she bristles at the implication that she’s at all weak.

“What, from his maximum-security prison cell?”

Lena turns around again at that, something simmering in her eyes. “You can’t underestimate him, Kara, he’s dangerous.”

“I know that.”

“Then why are you being like this?”

“Because, Lena, I don’t know if you knew this, but I’m Supergirl.”

Lena huffs again and rolls her eyes at Kara’s attempt at sarcasm. “So?”

“So, I’m literally the strongest being on Earth! I’m an invulnerable alien superhero who can fly and shoot lasers from my eyes, and I have exactly one weakness on this planet, which –”

“Which he’ll find a way to use against you!” Lena snaps. “If he finds out who you are and that you’re at all important to me, getting to you will be like killing two birds with one stone. It’ll take an act of god to keep you safe, and I can’t have that on my conscience, Kara. I have enough already.” She sighs and says, softer this time, almost as if she’s speaking to herself, “I can’t be the reason you get hurt.”

In hearing the sudden fragility in Lena’s voice, Kara feels all the anger dissipate from her body.

“Lena,” she calls, and the other woman looks down to avoid eye contact, gripping her glass of water so tightly that her knuckles turn white. Kara wants nothing more than to go over and comfort her, so that’s what she does. She crosses the floor quickly with long strides, clearing the length of the room in a mere second, but reaches her arm out slowly when she arrives to give Lena time to pull away. Kara can’t help the flare of glee she feels when Lena stays put, settling one of her hands on the brunette’s shoulder and using the other to gently pry away the glass in Lena’s hand and set it on the table. Lena allows the glass to be taken from her without complaint and then for her wrist to be enclosed by warm fingers as Kara runs her thumb up and down along the skin in what she hopes is a soothing manner.

“Lena,” she repeats gently, running the pad of her thumb along Lena’s wrist, “what are you really afraid of?”

If Lena were starting to relax before, Kara’s definitely just ruined it, because the words seem to startle her back into her defensive posture. She flinches her arm out of Kara’s grasp and looks up at her defiantly. “What are you talking about?”

Kara chastises herself. She probably should’ve guessed that Lena wouldn’t take well to the implication of being scared, probably shouldn’t have worded it that way, but it’s too late to back down now.

“I mean,” she carries on, “is Lex really what’s scaring you?”

“I’m not scared,” Lena defends, and Kara nods.

“Okay. Then what’s wrong?”

There’s a brief moment where something dark flashes in Lena’s eyes and Kara is almost positive that she’s about to be thrown out of the office, but then something seems to change her mind because her posture softens almost imperceptibly. “I don’t want him to hurt you, Kara.”

“What makes you so sure he will?”

Lena rolls her eyes, but her tone is still gentle when she says, “You’re kidding me, right?”

“No, I’m not. Humor me? Why are you so sure he’s going to come after me?” Kara asks, and Lena crosses her arms over her chest.

“Well for starters, you’re an all-powerful superhero from another planet, and he’s quite well known for being a megalomaniacal xenophobe. His hate for you is somewhat multi-faceted,” Lena quips, and Kara nods.

“Yeah, but wasn’t that true this morning?”

“What?”

“I mean, that’s all been true for a while. What’s different? What’s changed? What are you scared of now that you weren’t before?”

Lena hesitates a moment. “I’m not scared,” she repeats eventually, only she doesn’t sound harsh this time, doesn’t sound defensive or angry at the insinuation. She sounds resigned, like maybe she’s trying to convince herself of it more than anything else.

So Kara goes with a different approach.

“You’re allowed to be, you know. I am.”

Lena looks back up at her then, melancholy brimming in clear green eyes. “I thought you said you weren’t scared of my brother.”

“I’m not. Really, I’m more scared of losing this.”

“This?” Lena repeats, a small quiver in her voice, and Kara nods.

“Yeah. I mean… You feel it too, right? You told me you’ve never felt this way before.”

Lena bites her lip, clearly hesitant to confirm, but nods anyway. “I haven’t.”

“Well, I haven’t either. And I’m just… I’m scared that if I don’t listen to this, to what I’m feeling right now, that I never will again.”

Lena looks away, then, and there’s a long, painful silence before she finally says, “There’s someone better out there for you, Kara. Maybe this is the first time you’ve felt this way, but it won’t be the last, okay? You deserve someone safe. A love that won’t hurt you. I know you’ll find that one day.”

“What if I don’t want that?”

“Kara…”

“Have you ever heard of soulmates?” Kara asks suddenly, and Lena freezes, turning to face her again.

“What?”

“Soulmates. Do you know a lot about them?” Kara gestures over to a white couch at the edge of Lena’s office, hopeful that maybe sitting down will help this go over better. She knows Lena probably isn’t the hopeless romantic that she is, but maybe if she can explain the way she’s feeling well enough, Lena will be able to understand where she’s coming from.

Lena’s eyes narrow skeptically, but she follows Kara over to the couch anyway, sitting down and bunching her hands together in her lap. “Is this a pickup line? Because if it is, there are probably more effective ones you could try first.”

Kara snorts at the jest, overjoyed that Lena is trying to lighten the mood. That’s a good sign, right? That Lena is at least open to conversation? She’s going to take it as one.

“No, sorry to disappoint,” Kara jokes. “I just want to tell you a story, if you’ll let me? I feel like I’m not explaining how I feel well enough.”

Lena nods solemnly, and Kara feels nothing but relief as she takes a deep breath to begin her story.

“Earth is… really different from where I grew up. In the obvious ways like the environment and the powers I have here, but subtle ways too. Society here – humanity – was just so far outside my realm of experience that I didn’t know what to do. I was… well, I was really lonely when I first got here.”

Lena’s eyes are full of sorrow, and that really isn’t what Kara’s going for, but it does result in a soft hand moving over to rest comfortingly on her leg, so she can’t say she’s upset with how it’s turning out.

“I wanted to interact with the world around me, with the people I found, but they were all so different from what I was used to that I didn’t know what to do. My foster mom, Eliza, thought that maybe reading would help. I mean, stories tell the human experience, right? And sometimes when you read a good book, it makes you feel like you’re part of that world, too. It’s not so lonely that way.

“The very first book I ever read on Earth was on Greek mythology. I think Eliza was trying to familiarize me with what seemed like the most universal themes in humanity, but all I really payed attention to is this one story about the myth of soulmates.”

Lena sucks in a breath then, her pulse stuttering, and Kara frowns.

“I take it you know it?”

Lena nods, her expression stoic. “I’m familiar.”

“Then you know that the myth is that humans were originally created in pairs?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, um, it was said that they these pairs of humans all had two heads, four arms, and four legs. They were complete, content… powerful. I guess Zeus didn’t like that, because he thought they were too important that way, and that if they were that happy with their lives then they wouldn’t need to worship the gods anymore. To fix it, he separated them all, split them in two and cursed them to an empty life of loneliness and misery.

“It sounds really sad, but the other half of the myth says that the god Apollo took pity on them. Supposedly he made it so that it was possible for humans to find each other again – the other half of their soul – and feel alive again. It’s said that when a human finds their other half, their soulmate, there’s a silent understanding. They’re complete. Everything will be okay now.”

When Kara finishes, all she can focus on is Lena’s shaky breathing. There’s an empty space in time where no one speaks before the brunette finally says, her tone inscrutable, “So you believe in that?” and Kara shakes her head.

“Well, no. Not really, not that specifically. I mean, even if it were true, it wouldn’t apply to me, right? I’m not a human. That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying?” Lena asks, turning her body to face Kara completely.

There’s no horizontal movement on the couch, but it suddenly feels like there’s no more space between them. They’re so close that their knees are touching, skin separated only by the thin fabric of Kara’s pant leg. So close that all Kara can feel is the warm puffs of air on her neck each time Lena exhales and the gentle pressure of her hand on her knee. She should feel crowded – should want to get away, as she always does whenever she’s in an enclosed space like this – but she doesn’t think she’s ever felt more content.

It takes her a moment to regather her thoughts, but eventually she continues. “I’m saying that I’ve never stopped thinking about that story. About how much I wished it were real. I never believed in it, in soulmates, but if anything was going to convince me… it’s this. It’s the way I feel around you.”

“Kara,” Lena begins gently, and Kara can sense a rejection coming until the brunette closes her eyes, sucks in a breath, and starts again, even softer this time. “Doesn’t it… doesn’t it feel a bit disheartening?”

Kara just blinks for a moment. For every possible response Lena could’ve given her, she wasn’t expecting that one.

“Disheartening?” she confirms, and Lena nods. “Soulmates? How is that… I mean, it seems like a pretty uplifting story to me.”

“Maybe on the surface,” Lena insists, “but doesn’t it feel hopeless to think that you’re incomplete? That you’ll spend your whole life looking for the other half of yourself just for the chance to feel alright?” She sighs, shaking her head slightly, and Kara’s heart contracts painfully in her chest. “I… I wouldn’t know how to believe in something like that. Something that hurts so much.”

“Lena,” Kara tries to placate, “you don’t have to. I would never want to try to convince you of something that makes you unhappy. I was just trying to…” She sighs, running a hand through her hair and trying to calm the racing thoughts in her brain. She was only trying to explain to Lena the depth of what she feels right now, how she’s loath to give it up before they’ve even tried, but maybe she went about it the wrong way. She takes a deep breath and removes her hand from her hair to settle it gently on top of Lena’s, relishing in the extra contact. She needs to try a different approach. “What do you believe in?”

“Regarding love?” she asks, and Kara nods. “I don’t.”

“Oh,” Kara says, pulling her hand away.

She can practically feel the hope leak out of her lungs like air escaping a popped tire, but Lena is quick to shake her head and reassure her, taking her hand again and cradling it in her own.

“It’s not that I don’t feel the way you’re describing, Kara, I… I can’t say that. It’s just that I’m a scientist. I don’t have much faith in anything. I need evidence to back up my beliefs, and I’m afraid there isn’t much of that with what you’re describing.”

“You believe in science, though?”

“As long as it’s credible. I’m sure if you could find me a fossil or two of those two-headed soulmates, I’d be more willing to believe in your story,” she jokes, and Kara wracks her brain for anything that’s been theorized on Earth that could parallel to the myth.

There’s a good ten seconds of silence before it hits her, and then she’s clutching at Lena’s fingers and blurting out, “Quantum entanglement!”

Lena looks a bit confused, simply blinking a few times in response before she finally repeats, “Quantum entanglement?”

“Yeah, you believe in that, right? An engineer like yourself?”

“Well, sure. It’s a promising theory. No experiments have disproved it so far.”

“Then think of it that way,” Kara says, too excited to keep her voice steady. “Quantum entanglement describes two particles that are… not indistinct, not incomplete without the other, but intertwined in such a way that they can’t be described irrespective of each other. It doesn’t matter how far apart these particles are in space or time, they’re linked. Inherently. Permanently. They’re still whole and functional on their own, but they’re connected anyways. One influences the other, no matter how far apart they are. Right?”

Lena looks deep in thought for a long moment before she finally nods, and Kara smiles.

“Doesn’t that sound familiar?”

Lena takes another moment for herself before she bites a smile down and quirks a teasing eyebrow. “I’m sure you know that quantum entanglement has currently only been theorized in subatomic particles.”

Kara can’t help the beaming grin that escapes her. This is it. Lena’s been convinced. The hope in her chest has returned.

“Of course,” she replies as calmly as she can. “Just like I’m sure you know that physics are universal. There’s no rationale to suggest such a mechanism couldn’t exist on a macroscopic level as well.”

Lena’s smile breaks loose at that, and she shuts her eyes, still grinning. “It was worth a shot. Sometimes people don’t know about scientific reasoning as they think they do.”

“Well you’ll find that I am not one of those people. I was set to be the youngest person admitted to the science guild on Krypton.”

Lena’s pulse falters, and at first Kara is afraid that she’s messed everything up again by mentioning Krypton right after everything they had said about Lex, but then Lena is smiling shyly back at her, soft eyes focused on her own.

“You were?” Lena asks.

“Yeah. I was.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to stay.”

Usually at the mention of leaving Krypton – and the inevitable remembrance of its destruction – Kara feels a little like she wants to cry, but this doesn’t even dim her smile. If anything, it makes her feel warm inside, knowing that Lena cares about her and wants her to be happy, so she just shakes her head and stares lovingly at the other woman.

“It’s okay,” she replies, and for the first time ever, she’s pretty sure she’s telling the truth. “Everything that’s happened has led me here.”

Lena smiles softly at her again. “And you like it here?” she asks quietly.

The question is vague enough that it could be passed off as asking about how she feels on Earth, but Kara is almost positive that Lena is asking whether the Kara likes it here with her. So of course, she gently tightens her grip on Lena’s hand and nods.

“I do. I really do.”

Lena lets out a soft breath at that, and then inhales sharply before saying, “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course,” Kara assures her immediately. “You can tell me anything, okay?”

Lena takes a deep breath to begin, but something is clearly stopping her, because she can’t seem to allow the words out of her mouth. After a good minute of silence Lena pulls her hand out of Kara’s and wraps her arms around chest, staring down at her lap, and Kara feels her heart sink.

This is when Lena is going to tell her to go, isn’t it? That she doesn’t want her back the same way, or that the risk isn’t worth it. Still, she stays put and waits patiently, because she’s not going to leave until Lena explicitly tells her to, and right now all she can do is savor the presence of the woman beside her for as long as she’s allowed.

Finally, after what feels like hours, Lena says, “I am scared,” and Kara can’t help the sigh of relief that escapes her. Maybe this isn’t the end. Maybe this is just the beginning.

Still, she recovers quickly and has enough to sense to speak up and ask, “Of Lex?”

It looks like it took all of Lena’s willpower to utter those three words, so it isn’t surprising when the brunette doesn’t verbally respond, biting down on her lower lip and nodding silently instead.

Kara just sighs, feeling entirely useless to stop the turmoil Lena must be feeling right now. If Lex Luthor were standing in front of her right now, she isn’t sure she’d be able to hold herself back from heat-visioning him out of existence simply because of the how he’s made Lena feel. Kara knows she would do anything to protect her, but she can’t right now, and that only makes her feel worse, rage burning hot behind her eyes. Before she knows it, she’s doing the only thing she can think of that might help and asking, “Can I hold you?”

There’s a long moment of silence where Kara thinks she may have ruined everything – after all, how could she possibly think it would be okay to ask to hold the woman who has only just gotten comfortable enough to admit to feeling fear – before Lena gently dips her head in agreement and Kara feels herself smile so hard her vision dims.

Slowly, she scoots closer to Lena and holds her arms out, pulling the other woman into her space and wrapping her arms around her as gently as possible. Lena is stiff at first, clearly not used to the contact, but it only takes a few seconds for her to relax against the hold, leaning into Kara and lowering her head down to rest in the crook between her neck and shoulder. All Kara can do for a moment is relish in how perfectly Lena fits in her embrace, how soft and warm and gentle she feels, and how she knows now that she’d do anything to keep her safe.

When Lena’s heartbeat starts to even out, slowing down to a more reasonable pace, Kara decides to voice the sentiment.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” she says resolutely. “I swear. You don’t have to be scared of him, not while I’m alive, okay?”

To her surprise, Lena doesn’t argue the fact. “I know. I’m know I’ll be fine, Kara, that’s not what I’m…” She trails off, collecting her thoughts, and Kara takes the opportunity to run her thumb lightly along the silk of Lena’s blouse, hoping that the movement is calming. It seems to help at least a little, because after a moment Lena continues.

“Growing up with the Luthors, I was taught very early on that if you were ever to suffer the misfortune of… caring about something, you can never let anyone find out. That care, that… love,” Lena says after a pause, clearly nervous. “They made sure I knew it was nothing but a weakness: an Achilles heel that someone will find a way to exploit. It was drilled into me over and over as a child, and if they find out I’m breaking it… let’s just say that Lex has always enjoyed imparting lessons on me when he thinks I’ve forgotten.”

Kara kind of wants to cry just hearing about it, so it physically hurts to imagine how Lena herself must feel, having lived it. She isn’t sure what she can do to help besides say, “I’m sorry that happened to you,” but Lena shakes her head.

“It’s fine, Kara. I’m not a child anymore.”

“Just because something is over doesn’t mean it can’t still hurt.”

There’s a break in the conversation where Lena doesn’t reply, and Kara is sure that when she does it’ll be with a dismissal, but what eventually comes out of her mouth is a slightly unsteady, “Thank you.”

Kara waits until Lena’s breathing controls itself before she says, “I know it’s scary, Lena, but it’ll be okay. We don’t even know if Lex will find out, and if he does – if he does try something with me – who’s to say he’ll succeed? He didn’t with my cousin, after all.”

Lena tears herself away at that, affront clear in every square inch of her face. “What!? That’s not… Maybe he didn’t succeed, but he got far too close for comfort! I can’t let that happen to you, too.”

“It won’t,” Kara soothes, but Lena shakes her head roughly.

“How could you possibly know that? What do you have that even Superman didn’t?”

“You.”

That seems to stump her, because there’s a beat of silence before she says, “What?”

“I have you on my side, don’t I? I know you think I’d need an act of god to save me, but I’m pretty sure you’re just as capable.”

Lena rolls her eyes at that, but there’s a hint of a smile on her lips when she mutters, “I’m fairly sure that’s sacrilege.”

Kara just shrugs. “That doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“Kara,” Lena sighs.

“Lena,” Kara repeats in the same tone, and Lena closes her eyes for a moment, centering herself. She leans back down onto Kara and buries her face in the Kryptonian’s neck before murmuring something indecipherable.

“What? What’d you say?” Kara asks, and she can feel Lena’s cheeks warm against her skin in a way that she guesses must mean the brunette is blushing now.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Lena finally admits. “Especially not because of me.”

“Lena,” she breathes, wrapping her arms around the woman. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

“But even Superman –”

“I know, but I’m not Superman. We live completely different lives. My cousin has this whole ‘lone wolf’ vibe going for him, and it works great except for the fact that he has no one to back him up. Me on the other hand – I’m not alone. I have my sister, my other hero friends, and a whole team of agents ready to help me out if I need it. If something were to happen to me, there’s people right behind me ready to jump in.”

“Yeah?” Lena asks, and Kara hums her agreement.

“Yeah. I’m going to be okay no matter what. You don’t need to worry about me. Plus,” she adds with a teasing tone, “now that I have a genius with a degree from MIT on my side, I’m pretty much untouchable. Wouldn’t you agree?”

There’s a beat of silence before Lena mumbles, “Three,” and Kara furrows her eyebrows.

“What?”

Lena takes the opportunity to pull her face from Kara’s neck to speak more clearly. “I actually have three degrees from MIT. A bachelor’s plus a dual master’s for biological and mechanical engineering.”

“What?”

Lena shrugs.

“So, you’re, like, a prodigy then?”

“Technically,” Lena says, and Kara laughs.

“Lena, I couldn’t possibly be in better hands. You know that, right?”

Still, the brunette frowns. “I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“You’re not.”

“Kara…”

“No, I’m serious! You, Lena Luthor, are not putting me in any danger. You’re not the one threatening any sort of violence against me or anyone else, okay? You haven’t done anything wrong and you shouldn’t have to deny yourself of things you want just because you’re worried about what other people might do. You don’t deserve that punishment, Lena. You deserve to be happy.”

Lena thinks on it for a long moment before nodding slowly. “So do you,” she says, and Kara’s heart skips a beat.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. You really do.”

“So, like… are we in agreement, then? That we both deserve to be happy?”

Something mischievous shines in bright green eyes – almost as if Lena knows where Kara is going with this – and she smiles. “I suppose we are, Miss Danvers.”

“Oh! Okay, then. That’s, um, good. Great, actually. Happiness is super important. Not, like, super as in Super – I mean, that too, but that isn’t really where I was going with this –”

“Where are you going with this, then?” Lena asks calmly, running a finger lightly down Kara’s forearm, and Kara’s entire mind goes blank. What was she trying to say again?

Oh, right.

“I was… I was going to talk about things that make me happy. Lots of things make me happy! Like, uh, puppies and potstickers… and, um, pizza! Also things that don’t start with the letter P – because that was just a weird coincidence, I don’t just exclusively enjoy things that make a ‘puh’ sound or anything.”

Lena grins at the rambling and soft dimples appear on both cheeks, which only makes Kara lose her train of thought again. It takes her a moment to regain the ability to speak, and when she does, she isn’t any more eloquent.

   “Oh… um. What was I saying? Things… Right! Things I like that don’t start with a P. I like lots of stuff like that, like, um, the chocolate mocha I got when we got coffee together. That wasn’t my favorite part of that, though, because I liked getting coffee with you much more. It made me really happy, Lena, like so happy I didn’t know what to do with myself. And, um, I can think of lots of other things that make me happy, but one thing in particular that you might be able to help me with, if you were interested – no worries if you don’t want to or anything, no pressure at all! Just, like a friendly question, but not really friendly at all because I don’t want to be just –”

“Kara,” Lena interrupts, and Kara doesn’t think she’s ever been more grateful to be cut off before.

“Yeah?” she replies, a little breathless, and Lena bites down a smile.

“What is it you want to ask me?”

“Would you want to, um, goonadatewithme?”

The last few words are muddled together in the rush Kara took to get them out, but Lena seems to have no trouble deciphering them because she just drops her head to Kara’s shoulder and laughs. After a moment, she lifts her head slightly and stares up at Kara with shimmering mirth in her eyes.

“I can’t believe you had no problem telling me you thought I was your soulmate, but it took you five entire minutes to ask me on a date.”

“Is that a yes?”

Lena nods. “On one condition.”

“Oh gosh, yes! Of course, anything! Name your price.”

“Kiss me?” Lena asks, and Kara suddenly can’t breathe.

She takes in Lena’s appearance for a moment – sea-green eyes bright with want, the pale skin of her cheeks tinged pink, practically begging to be caressed, plush, painted lips that look like they must taste of sugar, and – Rao, how could Kara ever deny her?

So she doesn’t.

Kara knows she was just giving an example when she told Lena about the soulmate myth earlier, but maybe there’s more truth in it than she originally thought, because kissing Lena feels like the closest thing to being complete that she can imagine. The ‘silent understanding’ she was talking about earlier? Well, she can feel it right now, in the way that every single square inch in contact with Lena’s body seems content. Lena’s lips are soft and pliant, fitting perfectly against her own, and there isn’t a single movement between them that feels anything but expertly choreographed. Like they were meant to do this, like they were always meant to be linked this way – intertwined. Quantum entanglement, indeed.

When they finally pull apart for breath, Lena’s eyes are still closed, fluttering open only after a couple lazy seconds, dark and unfocused when she does. Her cheeks are flushed even pinker than before, lips swollen and smudged with the pristinely applied lipstick she was wearing earlier – something Kara’s sure is echoed on her own face, as well – and it’s probably the most beautiful thing Kara’s ever seen.

“So?” she asks, and Lena smiles, eyes soft as she does.

“You should go into physics.”

Kara just pulls her in for another kiss.