Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lena Luthor was not scared. She wasn’t exhausted after five sleepless nights, either. Nor was she desperate to find Kara and bring her home. And she definitely wasn’t concerned with the way too real possibility that this wasn’t going to work. She wasn’t thinking of how she might be too late, how Kara might not recognize her, how their bond might not be strong enough to pull her back from wherever her mind was trapped right now. Alex was her sister and even that was a longshot. What were Lena’s odds of success? Who knew? Lena sure wasn’t thinking about the measly 30% she had definitely not calculated before they left the ship, no way.

They were walking as fast as they could, but her tech wasn’t nearly as accurate as she’d envisioned. Finally, after what felt like hours, they spotted her leaning against a massive rock. She looked in pain.

“Supergirl!” J’onn called out. “We’re here.”
Kara didn’t respond, but something in the periphery certainly did. Behind her, a phantom turned toward them, drawn by the abrupt noise. “Oh, no.”

“What should we do?” Lena was rooted to her spot.
“Go get Supergirl. I’ll hold him back.”

This was not how this was supposed to go. Still, she would do her best. She made her way towards the rock her friend was leaning on. “Kara?”, she whispered, “It’s Lena.”

She was prepared for a blank look to stare back at her. She’d seen it on others under the phantoms’ effect, knew it was coming as she peered into her best friend’s eyes. What she wasn’t expecting, though, was the fear she found there instead. Kara started and probably would have run away, too, if she had any power left. Being how it was, however, all she did was let out a choked yelp and try to blend into the rock behind her.

Lena bit her lip. Here she was, trying her best, as always, and she just wasn’t enough. Why hadn’t she supported Alex in her insistence that she had to be there with her sister? This was a terrible idea, she was obviously making things worse.

J’onn seemed reluctant to step anywhere near the Girl of Steel, apparently battling his own demons and only just managing to keep the phantom at bay. No choice but to try again, she supposed. “Kara, darling, it’s me. It’s Lena. We’ve come to get you.” She took a step forward. “Kara? Kara, look at me, please!”

“Stay away from me,” Kara slurred. “You’re not her. You’re not my Lena. Haven’t you done enough? You’ve taken everything. Everything!” Her resolve was hardening, and while there was something comforting about seeing the tiniest of her old self, Lena was well aware that she could find herself on the wrong end of a superpowered punch to the gut if she didn’t consider her next words carefully. Maybe they should have waited with the sun grenade.

“Kara, I promise you, it’s really me. I’m Lena. The real Lena. Your-- your Lena, Kara. I’m your Lena.”
“My Lena?” Kara blinked.
“Yes, yes, remember?” This was overwhelming, but she had to press on. “I’m Lena. I built you your kryptosuit, I wrote the Luna Luthor protocol, I made the sun grenade that went off two minutes ago. I worked day and night to get here because, Kara, I need you to come back to me. Please. I’m your Lena, and you, Kara Danvers, you are my hero.”

Silence.

She could almost hear the cogs in Kara’s brain turning. It was a start, but unless she did something fast, she would lose her advantage. This was bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Drawing a deep breath, Lena closed the remaining gap between them and grabbed Kara’s arm. She could have sworn she heard a gasped “Lena!”, right before she rested her chin over her shoulder and squeezed tight.

“It’s really you.” Kara sounded relieved. “But how-?”
“We can talk more later. Let’s get going before the phantoms swarm us.”

Holding hands, Kara used her heat vision to shoot down the phantom that was closing in on J’onn. They made short work of the walk back to the ship, steering J’onn in the right direction whenever he started to wander off. The phantom zone was clearly getting to him.

***

Back on Earth, gathered in Alex and Kelly’s too-small living room, Lena and Kara recounted what had happened. They listened as the others told them about their own challenges, how they’d successfully isolated Alex and found a cure for her. Lena made a mental note to look further into it later.

“I do have one question,” Nia’s voice was soft, and Lena hummed back inquisitively. “How did you manage to snap Kara out of it? Didn’t Kelly say it had to be someone with a deeply personal memory or connection?”

Her cheeks reddening, Lena glanced over at Kara. “Oh, you know, we’ve been friends for ages, and after everything we’ve gone through over the past year… Well, I guess we’re lucky it worked.”

Apparently, J’onn was having none of it. “That can’t be it, Lena, I’m practically her father and I couldn’t get through to her. Couldn’t even tether myself to her being, really. How did the two of you manage to navigate us back to the ship, anyway?”

It was Kara’s turn to speak up. “I think… I think Lena and I have a, well, a different kind of connection? It’s like our souls are tied together. When she touched me… Something happened, the fog cleared. And then on our walk back, I guess we just kind of--”

“You grounded each other.” Kelly concluded.
“Yeah.”

“Huh. I guess it’s a good thing I was scratched then, if mere family ties aren’t enough.”
Everybody laughed.

***

Lena had insisted on accompanying Kara home. In the doorway, the two stalled, neither willing to say goodbye just yet.

“Do you really think our souls are tied?” Lena blurted. She was flushed, not quite making eye contact.
“Uh, yeah, I do. Sorry, was that too intense? Did I embarrass you? Oh God I totally did I’m sorry Nia just asked and I--”
“It’s ok, darling,” Lena smiled, the other's rambling putting her heart at ease.
“It is?” Kara seemed hesitant.
“Absolutely. In fact, I reckon you’re right. Come to think of it, we should really hang out together more.”
“More than we already do?”
“More.”
“Ok.”
She leaned in, just as Kara did the same. Eyes fluttering shut, their lips finally, finally met. And it was good.

Chapter Text

So… Do you wanna ‘hang out together more’ tonight?
Kara reread the drafted message, twice, then hit Send once she was certain there were no typos and she was pleased with the tone it conveyed. She wouldn’t normally spend this long on a text to Lena, that would be impractical. But this was no ordinary text, she reasoned, so it warranted special attention.

It had been sixty hours since their return from the Phantom Zone, fifty-nine since she told Lena the truth about how she viewed their connection, fifty-three since she kissed Lena and since Lena kissed her, only for the following days to play out exactly like usual: they worked, they texted each other, they met up for lunch, they went their separate ways, they texted each other some more, and then spent an hour talking over the phone before bed. It occurred to Kara that she wasn’t entirely sure what she’d expected to happen, or even what she wanted. Definitely to kiss Lena again, if at all possible.

So when they went back to work without any more kisses for the third day in a row, Kara figured it was on her to do something about it. Indeed, here she was, making it abundantly clear that she’d very much like to get back to that conversation from three nights ago. At least, she hoped she was being clear. She was trying to be funny and cute, but maybe she ought to have saved the jokes for later, after Lena absolutely-completely-certainly understood her intentions.

She was just starting to type a clarification, I mean go out on a date, btw, when a new text from Lena popped up.
Thought you’d never ask, followed closely with, Pick you up at 8? Just gotta finish something here but I promise I’ll make it up to you :).

Relieved, Kara erased the sentence she’d just typed and instead shot off a sounds good! potstickers?

Over the next few hours, they hashed out the details: as suggested, Lena would pick her up at 8; they'd go to the food court in the mall because Lena wasn't in the mood for heavy food and this way they could order from different places and sit together; this automatically meant casual clothes (or as casual as Lena ever gets, Kara thought as she tucked her shirt into her pants self consciously); they had zero expectations and were just gonna see how things went after tonight.

Kara definitely failed at this last part, but oh well.

***

At 7:48, Kara heard Lena's car park outside her apartment building. She waited patiently for her to call, or even come to the door. And she waited some more. And yet more, as minutes ticked by and nothing happened. Suddenly worried, she used her x-ray vision to double check that the car she'd heard was indeed Lena's and that she hadn't driven off without her noticing.

Lena was there, alright, fidgeting in her seat. Something was wrong, she looked distressed. Why didn't Kara think to check on her sooner? She sped into her super suit and was out the door in seconds.

When she approached the car, however, Kara couldn't find her adversary. Must be invisible, she thought, watching the beautiful woman before her try to get up, only to slump back down before she could make any real progress.

Her x-ray vision was as useless as her normal eyesight. She'd have to rely on her other senses, then. Closing her eyes, she zeroed in on everything she usually blocked from her consciousness: her nose picked up the car's engine, its tires, the cat rummaging through the garbage can up the street - nothing out of the ordinary; her ears noticed Lena's faster-than-usual heartbeat, but that's to be expected, given the danger she was in. No unfamiliar sounds though; and Kara would really prefer not to taste any aliens today, thank you very much, so she'd just have to feel her way through this battle. Gritting her teeth and keeping her eyes tightly shut to prevent any visual deception, she moved to pry the door open and punch the douchebag interfering with her date into next week.

"Kara, hi!" Lena's voice was distant and slightly breathless, and the superhero wondered if the alien was suffocating her. "I was just about to come get y-- wait, what are you doing?"

Kara had just reached in front of her, ready to grapple Lena's assailant, but instead went right through and grabbed Lena's blouse. "Stop, wait, Kara! Kara!" Supergirl finally opened her eyes, blinking dazedly. She let go of the cloth clutched between her fingers and mumbled, "Where'd it go?"

"Where'd what go? What's come over you?" Lena's eyes were not unkind, but she was frowning slightly, as though trying to crack a problem in her lab. Maybe one involving quantum entanglement, whatever that was.

"The alien," she said, staring at Lena in disbelief.
"What alien?"
"What do you mean, 'what alien'? The one that was attacking you a second ago!"

The CEO seemed taken aback. "Kara… There wasn't any alien attacking me."
That couldn't be. Maybe this species had memory-altering capabilities and it made Lena forget? She'd have to ask J'onn about it tomorrow. "It was right here, keeping you from me, not letting you get up. Lena, please, you've got to remember, it was just a moment ago! Your heart rate's not even back to normal yet. Do you really have no idea what I'm talking about?"

For some reason, Lena's cheeks grew pinker with every word leaving Kara's mouth and she wouldn't make eye contact. Finally, she spoke. "Kara, I-- I'm really sorry. That wasn't an alien, it was… uhm…" She grew quiet.

Kara still couldn't figure out what she was saying. She waited for Lena to complete her sentence.

"It-was-just-my-anxiety."

Chapter Text

Oh. Oh. It was Kara's turn to blush. "Oh, Lena, I'm sorry! I just assumed-- you looked distressed-- I just wanted to help-- and now I've broken your car's door and crumpled your blouse and wasted your time and I scared you, Lena, and and and I've ruined our date, and I'm so sorry Lena, please let me try again because I really like you and I can't believe I thought you were under attack I'm sorry let me just run back and get changed please still be here in twenty seconds."

The rambling superhero dashed without giving Lena an opportunity to utter a single word. Exactly twenty seconds later, she reemerged from the building, clad in her usual civilian work clothes. Lena rose out of the car and walked towards her, opening her arms for a hug that was returned just the tiniest bit too enthusiastically, lifting her off the ground.

"I could have another car brought here within fifteen minutes, if we'd like," Lena offered once she was placed gently back on the sidewalk. "But I think it might be a better idea to have a calm evening at home. What do you say?"

Honestly, Kara wasn't sure what to say. She was so excited to go on her first date with Lena, and having her over seemed a little too intimate for a first date. Would that mean they were postponing it? Then again, this was Lena. They'd had movie nights before, it's not like it would be awkward, right? So maybe they could have their first date at home and it wasn't weird. Besides, did Lena even want to go out with her, after her freak out just now? Maybe the suggestion to change their plans was her way of letting Kara down gently. There were supposed to be zero expectations, it wasn't Lena's fault that Kara got ahead of herself. She couldn't imagine spending another day not knowing where they stood. Going out on that date was the best way for her to find out. On the other hand, she truly was exhausted and a quiet evening with a movie and take-out was certainly tempting.

She refocused her attention on Lena and noticed that she was biting her lip. She did mention her anxiety, and the past few minutes couldn't have made it any easier on her. That helped Kara make up her mind. "Yeah, I think you're right. Movie night it is!" she grinned and felt her heart lurch at the relieved smile she got in return.

***

With food on its way and the movie selected, they sank into their comfortable routine. Kara moved the sofa to the center of the room. Lena took out plates and cutlery. They grabbed two blankets, though they both knew that by the end of the night Kara would find herself under Lena's, trying in vain to keep her warm despite the apartment's poor insulation.

They got settled on the sofa and Kara almost felt normal again, when Lena asked quietly, "Do you want to talk about what happened out there?"
Feeling her chest constrict in shame and dread, she shook her head. "I'm fine, thanks," she smiled. She should change the subject before Lena saw through her.

There was only one other subject her mind seemed stuck on, and it wasn't exactly an easy one, but it was better than the alternative, so she went with it. "Can I ask… Is this our date-date or is it a friend-date? I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

Lena's brow furrowed. "That's a good question," she said. "Do you want this to be a date-date?"

Kara wanted to make an informed decision on this highly important topic, so she replied, "What would that mean, exactly, if this were to be a date-date?"

Lena took a deep breath and met Kara’s gaze. "Kara, dear, nothing has to change or be different, romance is what we decide it is. If we say that our lunch dates and movie nights are romantic, then poof — they become romantic. If we say that our cuddling is romantic — then that's romantic too. And the reverse is also true, by the way." For the second time this evening, the brunette was biting her lip.

"Huh?"
Very eloquent, Kara, she chastised herself.
Lena carried on, "If we decide that, say, kissing isn't romantic for us... then it's not. It's up to you, to us, to define things."

Lena’s next words were so fast, so jumbled, that it was impossible to parse. "Sorry, uh. Could you repeat that last sentence please? I didn't catch it."

"I… I said 'I really hope you decide to make it romantic'," Lena looked away. "Because… well, because I want it to be romantic."

All Kara wanted to do in that moment was reach across and comfort the timid woman sitting before her. So she did. She shuffled over, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and murmured into her ear, "Good. I want that too."

Lena's blush somehow worsened, but she was smiling, so Kara counted that as a win.

"And about what exactly it is we define as 'romantic'... Now that you've explained it this way, I think that's just about everything? I'm not saying I'll do these things exclusively with you, I mean," she clarified. "Though there are things we probably do want to be exclusive with? Nevermind, we can discuss this later. What I meant is that when I do these 'friendly' things with you, I want them to be romantic. Did that make any sense?"

"Yeah, exactly! That's what I was trying to say, but I guess I can't hope to compete with a Pulitzer-winning reporter," she poked Kara's side and the blonde let out a surprised giggle.

Five minutes later and thoroughly giggled out, they sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, waiting for their food. Eventually, the doorbell rang and Kara hopped up to get their dinner.

The two enjoyed a lovely, romantic, first date-date.