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Lena stirred as the bright autumn sun filtered through Kara’s blue curtains, kicking up dust motes in the streaming light. She shifted under the covers and found herself held in place by a strong arm. Kara lay pressed against her back, one arm under her pillow, one wrapped around Lena’s waist possessively. Lena’s heartbeat kicked into overdrive as she felt soft puffs of breath against her neck.
Kara’s eyes opened suddenly.
“Lena, are you okay?” She whispered, tightening her hold around the woman’s waist.
“Fine,” Lena managed to say, fighting to keep her voice even. “You?”
“Yeah, good,” Kara replied blearily, voice thick with sleep. “I just heard your heartbeat get faster and I thought maybe something was wrong. Thought maybe you were having a nightmare or something.”
Lena’s cheeks pinkened and she thanked a god she didn’t believe in that she was not facing Kara at the moment, so the Kryptonian could not see the heavy blush that covered her face.
“Oh, no,” Lena laughed, trying to sound casual. “That was -- I just -- it’s just anxiety, you know? Joining the land of the living is always a little terrifying.”
Kara’s brow furrowed as she blinked herself awake, noticing for the first time their positions. She slid her arm off of Lena and sat up, urging Lena to turn over and look at her.
“Hey,” she offered softly, “you know you don’t have to be afraid of anything, right? I’ll always protect you, no matter what.”
Lena smiled, gazing up into the earnest blue eyes of her favourite person. Yes, she knew that. She knew Kara would always protect her. She always had.
Kara flushed as the heated silence stretched on and cleared her throat, reaching to adjust glasses that weren’t there.
“And anyway, with your new powers, you likely won’t even need me to protect you!”
Lena grimaced. Oh right. The magic shit. She groaned and let her head fall back into the pillows, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Ugh, magic. Why did it have to be magic?”
Kara laughed, rolling over to get out of bed. “Okay, Indy. Anyway, do you want to talk to Brainy today about helping you combine magic and science? I feel like between the two of you, you can come up with anything.”
Lena sat up and shifted uncomfortably. Before she could even open her mouth, Kara had zipped down to Noonan’s and back with coffee and scones.
“I’ll never get used to that,” Lena sighed happily, taking a sip of her coffee.
“Well then I’m glad I’ll always be able to surprise you,” Kara said with a grin, handing her a scone. “So? You want to talk to Brainy today?”
Lena sighed. “Actually, if you don’t mind...I think -- I think I’d like to keep this just between us for a little while. Just until I have a better grasp on my...abilities. Does that make sense? I’m -- I’m just not ready for everyone to know about this yet.”
“I’m not even ready to know about it yet,” she added with a wry laugh.
Kara nodded. She understood the need for secrets better than anyone. A thought hit her out of the blue, though, and she couldn’t suppress the laugh that burst out of her, startling Lena in the process.
“Sorry,” she snickered, “I just had a fun idea, that’s all.”
Lena arched a mischievous eyebrow. “Do tell.”
“Well, you need to practice your spells, and frankly, I need a laugh what with everything going on…”
“Yeah,” Lena said, brow furrowing suspiciously.
“So, what better way to do both than to practice on the SuperFriends!”
Lena gave a shocked laugh. “What?”
Kara sat back down on the bed and scooted closer to her.
“No really, listen. We can use this to our advantage! Really have fun with it! When Alex or J’onn is being a hardass, you can knock them down a peg -- comically! We can have some fun, just the two of us, and you can get some practice in! It’s a win-win!”
Lena smiled at the blonde’s giddy excitement. She was such a dork. Lena loved that about her. No matter what, she always found a way to find the joy in life.
“I guess...” she replied shyly, staring down at her intertwining fingers. “But I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Kara shook her head confidently. “You won’t, Lena. I believe in you too, you know?”
Lena looked up at the sparkling eyes, full of earnest truth and gave her a soft smile.
“Well then that’s all that matters.”
They started off innocently enough. Lena was too scared to hurt anyone before she got a grip on her powers, so she began by disappearing one of Brainy’s tools from its set place. He was a perfectionist, and every tool and instrument had its proper place, so he was always 100% certain where it was.
So she just...moved them. A positronic driver here, a bunsen burner there, just enough to practice levitation and disappearing spells, and make Brainy pull his hair out a little bit too. If nothing else, Kara got a kick out of it.
“Come on, Brainy. I just need a flathead screwdriver,” Kara goaded, trying not to laugh as Brainy whipped around from table to table searching for his screwdriver, which Kara knew was safely in her boot due to the fact that Lena had just magicked it there 2 minutes prior.
“It was right here ,” said Brainy frantically. “I always put it here! It should be right here! Who touched my things?”
“Brainy, no one has been in here all morning,” Lena replied calmly, setting down her tablet and walking over to where he was standing, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Now just calm down. Relax. And try to think of where it would be. It may help if you close your eyes.”
Brainy took several deep breaths and let his eyes fall closed.
Lena stepped back and muttered, “ Reisenus.”
With a graceful swipe of her hand, the screwdriver flew out of Kara’s boot and into its proper place on Brainy’s table.
A moment later, Brainy opened his eyes and sighed.
“It’s no use. It should be here --”
He stopped short as he saw the screwdriver in its proper place.
“What is going on here?!”
Kara clapped him on the back and stifled a laugh.
“You know what Brainy? I don’t think I’ll need it after all.”
The two women walked out of the lab giggling conspiratorially, leaving Brainy to mutter to his screwdriver.
As Lena became more comfortable with her gifts, she began to branch out with her magic, changing the colour of Kelly’s clothes to be horribly mismatched, making J’onns’ little green alien boxers appear on the outside of his pants, adding a slew of rhinestones that spelled out “Dreamer” onto Nia’s suit so that the next time she went into battle, Catco ran a fashion story on the topic and Nia nearly decapitated Brainy, thinking it was his doing.
Kara cackled with delight every time and even though Lena felt a little guilty at messing with all of her friends, the way Kara’s eyes lit up every time she watched her do a spell made her want to keep doing it. She’d do anything to keep that crinkly smile directed her way. She had missed Kara so much between their fight and the Phantom Zone, and she felt like they needed to make up for lost time. So she pushed aside her guilty conscience and kept right on casting.
She still had reservations about changing anything that the SuperFriends might consume, but the way Kara encouraged her and egged her on with words of assurance that she could do anything she set her mind to, it wasn’t long until she was convinced to do that too.
In her defense though, Alex was being incredibly annoying.
It was game night -- the one constant in an ever-changing world -- and for once, Alex was dominating at Uno. She had won four straight games and, between the success and the alcohol, it was definitely going to her head.
“Boom! Sucks to suck, losers!” She yelled, laying down her last card for her fifth win of the night.
“Ughhhhh,” Kara groaned, “come on Alex, don’t be a sore winner.”
“You know what, I am sore,” sneered Alex cheekily. “My back is sore from carrying all these wins! Even Supergirl can’t keep up!”
She reached for her glass of scotch and Lena couldn’t help herself. It was a benign comment, but she didn’t want Kara to feel deficient -- not ever, not about anything.
“ Zitrosaft, ” she whispered with a flick of her fingers.
Alex brought her glass to her lips and took a long pull. Her face contorted and she spat her scotch all over the coffee table.
“Yo! Alex, what the fuck!” Nia yelled, trying to dodge the spray.
Alex coughed and spat, trying to clear the taste from her mouth.
“My -- my scotch. It tastes like -- like... lemon juice !”
Kelly reached for the glass and Lena quickly reversed the spell. Kelly brought the glass to her nose and sniffed it, the hard alcohol making her squint.
“Smells like regular scotch to me,” she said with a shrug before taking a sip. “Yep, just regular old lighter fluid,” she gasped, handing the glass back to Alex.
Alex smelled it and took a tentative sip.
“What the fuck, man?!” She cried, setting the tumbler down. “I swear it tasted like straight up lemons, dude.”
“Maybe you’ve just had a little too much,” Kara snickered, casting a proud glance at Lena. “Or maybe you just got a taste of your personality when you win.”
Alex rolled her eyes but for the rest of the night she was blessedly cordial. Kara and Lena shared a triumphant look, but didn’t say another word.
It was their little secret.
Christmas was upon them before they knew it. With Nyxly and now Lex in the picture, holidays just didn’t seem important. There was too much happening, too many people in danger, too much at stake to take time out for holiday traditions.
But for some reason, the villains seemed to quiet down as December drew to a close. Maybe they liked caroling, maybe they needed to regroup, but whatever the reason, Lena was grateful for the respite and the team decided that some normalcy needed to be reintroduced, so they decided to have a Christmas party.
For the first time in a long time, Lena put on heels and a form-fitting red dress. There had been so much action and danger, and since she was no longer a CEO, she had abandoned her classic boardroom look in favour of more practical and comfortable jeans and trainers.
She arrived an hour early to Kara’s in case she needed help decorating and setting up -- and also because she just wanted to be around the hero. She was a little nervous about being overdressed, but if the gaping look on the blonde’s face was anything to go by, she’d apparently done well.
Kara followed her around all night like a lost puppy, to the point where even Alex noticed and had to pull her away just so Lena could go to the bathroom and touch up her lipstick. She couldn’t even pretend to be disappointed.
As the party went into full swing with crackers popping, Christmas music playing, laughing and merriment in the air, Lena stepped out onto Kara’s balcony to enjoy the crisp December air and clear her head. A thought had been growing inside of her ever since the night she had told Kara about her powers -- even longer if she was honest with herself, which she rarely was, and she wasn’t sure what to do with the enormousness of it.
She was in love with Kara. Always had been, if she thought about it. Now it was just a matter of what to do about it. Keeping it a secret was her first instinct, but secrets had a way of hurting people -- the two of them had learned that the hard way. And she desperately wanted to be honest with Kara, because...sometimes she thought maybe Kara felt the same way. She wanted to know. She needed to know.
The door opened behind her and she didn’t even need to turn around to see who it was. Something about Kara charged the air around her, like her presence was too big for the atmosphere to properly contain it. Lena smiled to herself.
“Hey,” the blonde called softly, coming to stand next to her.
“Hey,” Lena replied softly, not taking her eyes off the stars above.
“Missed you in there,” Kara murmured, placing her hand on the railing next to Lena’s. “Everyone’s paired up and there I was, missing my other half.”
Lena turned her head a little too quickly to look at Kara. What did she mean by that? Did she realise how it sounded? Her heart swelled a little too quickly and she had to take a deep breath to calm herself.
Kara smiled and Lena knew that she knew. Kara always knew.
“You look beautiful tonight,” Kara said quietly, as if speaking any louder would break the moment. “I mean, you’re always stunning, but…”
Lena’s mouth was dry and she took the opportunity to try a nonverbal spell.
A wisp of mistletoe sprang from the roof of the balcony and grew until it hung between them.
“Kara, I…”
Kara stepped closer and cupped her jaw with her large warm hand and Lena’s eyes fluttered closed.
“Me too,” she said, the breath ghosting over Lena’s lips.
Lena opened her eyes and searched the blue ones for any sign of deception, but she knew she would find none. They had agreed on no more lies, no more secrets.
Kara stroked the soft skin of her cheek with her thumb and leaned in, their lips brushing together.
“Is this alright?” She whispered softly.
And Lena gave the only answer she could, pressing up into the hero’s embrace, pushing their lips together in the long-awaited connection she thought would never come.
It was imperfect, as all first kisses are, a little too enthusiastic and messy, but that was just the way Lena liked it.
As they pulled apart, Kara leaned her forehead against hers and breathed in deeply.
“Looks like we have another secret,” she laughed, pressing a kiss to the delicate, pale skin under her lips.
Lena smiled.
“I won’t tell if you won’t.”