Work Text:
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“Kara, come on out here!”
Like their black cat, Finn, her head shot up at the sound of her name. “Coming!”
Setting her pencil down, Kara wondered what Lena was calling her over for. Was it something bad? Was she hurt and in need of assistance?
Making sure she had saved the project she was working on, she apprehensively walked out of her room and down the hallway.
She needn’t worry. Lena was uninjured and not in the middle of a breakdown. Instead, she was cradling their cat and humming softly to the sweet crooning of Bobby Darin.
“What’s up?”
“I thought you’d want to know. It’s raining outside.” Tilting her head toward the living room window, she kissed Finn’s jet-black head.
“Ooooh…” Dropping her arm around Lena’s shoulders, she kissed the side of her head, then kissed Finn’s forehead. “Just what I needed, thank you.”
Outside, the rain was falling slowly, in gentle pitter-patters. The garden outside swayed gently and the local squirrels and birds took shelter under their grand oak tree.
As she watched the downpour outside tap against the window, she felt the tension melt away from her shoulders. The headache behind her ears disappeared. Lena noticed her relaxing body and smiled, fixing her one stubborn lock of hair that always came free from her carefully applied pomade.
Getting a haircut was probably one of the best decisions Kara had made this year. The shorter hair was something she’d always wanted, but she was anxious about how her coworkers, friends, and family would react.
Lena helped her realize that other people’s opinions didn’t matter, especially her idiot of a cousin.
“If he’s insecure about how good you look, it’s up to him to work on those feelings and step up. It’s not your fault you look better in short hair and suits.”
“Do I look better in suits?”
“Oh, certainly. And you actually put effort into dressing yourself. Men can get away with being lazy, or so they think.”
Kara chuckled. “Thanks.”
She had been working on an important project for the past few weeks, with many sleepless nights and broken pencils. She should really learn how to reattach pieces of a broken wooden pencil together. The amount of money she had spent on pencils as of late was rather concerning. At this point, it would probably be cheaper to learn how to make her own pencils from scratch.
The project was a deep dive into TRXN, a local cult masquerading as a wellness group. The leader, a man by the name of Kit Dauber, had his members believing that he had otherworldly powers and that he was capable of healing any illness, mental or physical. The young adults of National City were eating him up. It was cool and hip to be part of the new health collective, and Dauber was incredibly charismatic and well-spoken.
But there was a dark secret behind all the smiles and fake positivity. Those who managed to get out had reached out to Kara in the hopes of exposing TRXN and Dauber for what they really were: a messed-up sex cult that assaulted young women, all in the name of “bettering” themselves.
Kara obviously wanted to help—her moral compass wouldn’t let her ignore this. But she constantly worried that she had bitten off more than she could chew. For the sake of the survivors coming forward, she didn’t want to involve anyone else in the project. They seemed uncomfortable even with just her. She was willing to sacrifice her sleep for their comfort.
Lena kept telling her that she should at least bring Nia in. She could help with reviewing the audio and transcribing the interviews. No job was worth killing herself over.
A small part of her knew that if the women she was working with knew how much stress she had about this project, they would probably tell her to offload some of the responsibility as well. And yet, she still felt like that would be a betrayal, a breach of trust. So, she was prepared for many sleepless nights until she saw the project through.
But as she stood next to Lena and heard the content purring of Finn, she had another think. Life was short and her best friend was right. No job was worth putting her health on the line, sacrificing sleep and meals.
Her mind was made up. Tomorrow, she would loop Nia into this after getting permission from the survivors. Tonight, she would sleep at a reasonable time after a nice dinner with Lena. No more working for the rest of the night.
Suddenly, she got an idea.
Running back to her room, she pulled on her favorite suit. Lena had made it for her with the same fabric she had developed for her Supergirl suit. It was lightweight, flexible, waterproof, tear-resistant, flame retardant, and tailored perfectly in her favorite color.
Doffing a grey fedora and pulling her wooden-handle umbrella out of her closet, she walked confidently past a bewildered Lena and Finn, out to the patio. Connecting her phone to the Bluetooth speaker inside, she pulled up “Singin’ in the Rain” on Spotify, opened her umbrella, and walked past the window.
“I’m singin’ in the rain, I’m singin’ in the rain…”
Musicals were a source of comfort when she was growing up, especially older ones. They helped her cope with her big feelings and learn English. She enjoyed Old Hollywood classics like “Holiday Inn”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, “An American in Paris”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Stormy Weather”, “Meet Me in St. Louis”, and of course, “Singin’ in the Rain”. There was something so calming about Judy Garland’s soulful voice and Fred Astaire’s dancing feet.
When she felt sad, she would dance and sing to the most popular part of “Singin’ in the Rain”, Gene Kelly’s best work in her opinion. She’d spent many nights teaching herself the entire routine from start to finish.
From inside, she could hear Lena chuckling and see her filming. When she finished the song, she bowed dramatically and headed back inside. Setting her umbrella down next to the patio door, she shook off her coat and hat, hanging it on the back of a kitchen chair.
These were the types of memories Kara wanted to make when she was still young, instead of wasting her time on work that could wait. How grateful she was that she had Lena to remind her of that. She was glad she had a reason to smile when it rained.
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