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Time didn't have much meaning in the Vanishing Point. The paragons’ stomachs never grumbled so they had no mealtimes to break up their days. They drank cool, clear water from a reservoir tank more out of habit than of thirst. Kara's powers hummed at their full capacity despite only feeding off the residual light emitted from long dead stars here at the end of the universe. The paragons marked the days of exile by when their bodies fatigued and they rested in a dreamless sleep.
Kara was lying down in an observation room with her boots tucked away in a corner by the door and her forearm draped over her eyes. The paragons had discovered the area with the half-collapsed ceiling spilling its entrails of electrical wiring, pipes, and dust across the floor. The outer wall, however, provided one of the few views of the outside. The panorama was of a vast nothingness, but nothingness was a change from the wreckage of the hallways. The paragons cleared out the debris and put down a quilt to sleep on when their bodies demanded it.
Kara heard Kate stagger into the room, shedding off pieces of costume from her exhausted body to clatter onto the floor. Kara wasn't sure if the noise had awakened her from a long sleep noise or if she had only been resting her eyes. Sleep was weird that way here. Kara opened her eyes and turned to watch as Kate, who had stripped down to an undershirt and leggings, dropped to her knees and eased her body down onto the ground. She buried her head into the quilt with an involuntary groan. She inhaled through her nostrils and exhaled out her mouth to catch her breath.
"You're going to split your knuckles open with how much time you spend training, even if you’re only shadow boxing," Kara said. She walked over and kneeled down to take Kate's left hand into her own.
"What are you doing?" Kate mumbled.
"Giving you a massage so that you don't cramp up or pull a muscle the next time you push yourself to the limit," Kara replied. "It's important to find the time to rest, and I wanted to be of some use to somebody." She individually massaged each finger on Kate's hand starting from the tips and moving down to the palm and then back up to the next fingertip. Kate's skin was flushed from the recent exercise. Kara caught the scent of sweat in the air. The sensations reminded Kara that they had living, physical bodies that needed care instead of unhungering, unthirsting shells condemned to serving an infinite sentence in purgatory.
Kara moved inch by inch from the wrist to the upper arm loosening tightened muscles and encouraging blood flow to begin recuperation. "Tell me if I'm pressing down too hard," Kara said, though she doubted Kate was the type to raise an objection for her own discomfort.
After Kara reached the top of the shoulder, she shifted over to straddle her hips over Kate's lower back to begin massaging the other arm starting from the fingertips again. Kara took her time fussing over each square inch of skin because they had nothing but time. Kate put her body through hell to prepare for a climatic fight that might never arrive. Kara had X-Ray vision, but she couldn't foresee that triumph on the horizon. After she had stowed away Clark's tattered cape and surveyed the space station with the rest of the paragons, there wasn't much left for her to do, but Kate's daily fire reignited an ember inside of Kara this day.
"If you could, um, take off your undershirt and bra I can work on your shoulders and back," she said. Kate complied and Kara kneaded the ridges and valleys of muscles. As she reached the lower back, Kara retrieved a towel and poured a splash of water from a pitcher onto it. As she wrung the towel dry, the cool rivulets ran down from her hands down to her forearms, and that sensation too told her that her own body was alive.
Kara blotted the sweat from Kate's arms and back and had moved to wipe the back of her neck when she noticed Kate's breathing had evened out into a slumber. Kara slipped away to hang the towel up to dry.
"Where are you going? My shoulders are still stiff and you haven't touched my legs at all," Kate said. She propped her head up on her hand and looked at Kara with a curl of a smile and eyes half lidded more with exhaustion than drowsiness.
With an exaggerated sigh, Kara shuffled back over to Kate and asked her to flip over. "The favors I do for you."
Kara kneeled behind Kate's head and pressed her fingers onto each shoulder.
“Where did you get so good as massages?” Kate asked.
“Saving everyone is typically just another day in the life of Supergirl, but I do have my own life and interests outside of being a superhero.”
Kara slid her palms back and forth beneath Kate along her back. Kate arched her chest up to give Kara purchase. Her head tilted towards Kara's face which was framed by her blonde hair hanging down above her. Kate said, "One of the timeless quirks of this place is that no matter how many months I've spent looking into your face, your lipstick has remained perfect. Makes me want to do something to smudge it."
"And what would that be?" Kara said.
Kate chewed her lips.
Kara met her eyes before retracting her hands from Kate's skin with a chuckle. "Alright, that's all you get for today because my hands are tired after absorbing all the soreness it can handle from your body."
Kara returned to her side of the room to lie back down. Kate followed after her and coiled herself against Kara's body. Kate slid up across Kara's torso until they were at eye level and their lips were a whisper apart. "Can I show you what I wanted to do?" Kate said.
Kara swallowed before nodding. Kate pressed her lips down onto Kara who surged up to meet her, to give as good as she got. Kate bit down hard and perhaps would have drawn blood if not for Kryptonian invulnerability. Kate pulled away and planted kisses across the pulse point of Kara's neck and pulled back the fabric of the Supergirl costume to nip at collarbone.
She rested her head against the Supergirl crest. "One more favor—hold me close for the night?"
Kara wrapped her cape around Kate. She hugged her tight with both arms. Kate pressed her ear down to listen to the thump of Kara's heartbeat, and she fell asleep against the rise and fall of Kara's chest with each breath she took. Kate’s warmth seeped into Kara who also found her own sleep.
Though crowned by destiny as the hope and courage needed to restore an incomprehensible number of lives, they had found in the embrace a reminder of the flesh and blood humanity they fought alongside and fought for.